Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli has been elected onto the Executive Board of IAMCR, the International Association of Media and Communication Research, as a Vice President, at a biennial meeting held in Barcelona, Spain. Professor Teer-Tomaselli holds the portfolio of Membership Extension and Diversity. She served on the International Council from the year 2000, and was elected to the International Publications Committee earlier this year.

Her task is to address the relative lack of participation in the organisation by media and communication scholars from the Third World. Only 3% of the present membership is drawn from Africa, a situation IAMCR would like to see redressed. Recent efforts at encouraging women academics and junior scholars into the organisation are beginning to show encouraging results, and the emphasis now is on being more globally inclusive.

The greatest part of the membership is drawn from Europe and North America, with a growing representation from both Asian and South American countries. The association is the largest professional organisation in the field of communication research, and during the Cold War years met alternately in the West and Soviet blocs. Established in 1957, it now has more than 2,300 members in some 70 countries.

IAMCR has consultative status with Unesco and is accepted as the umbrella organisation in the field of media and communication research. Category "A" status is given to a restricted number of non-governmental organisations which are broadly international in their membership, and which have a record of proven competence in their contribution to Unesco's work. They are invited by the Director-General to advise him in the preparation of Unesco's work programmes.

As a body, IAMCR is active in promoting and defending the interests of the professional community of media and communication researchers, in terms of scientific value of their field, their freedom of academic thought and expression, and career development.