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UNESCO Periodicals: General/Mass Communication

General/Mass Communication Periodicals (Listed Chronologically by Date of First Publication)

Mercury/Staff Association Bulletin/Opinion (STA/01, STU/02)

Years of Publication: 1946 - 2007

Audience: UNESCO Secretariat staff

Languages: English, French

Purpose: This newsletter was first created to inform UNESCO staff members of their colleagues' projects. It also served as a platform for UNESCO staff to share their personal announcements and perspectives on various subjects related to working at UNESCO.

 

UNESCO Monitor (MC/05, MC/012)

Year of publication: 1947 (superseded by: The UNESCO Courier)

Audience: General public

Languages: English, French

Purpose: The Monitor informed the public about the aims and activities of UNESCO through reports and announcements. The issues include a report by Director-General Dr. Julian Huxley on UNESCO's first year and news about the General Conferences.

 

UNESCO Courier/The New Courier (MC/012, MC/216)

Years of publication: 1948 - Present

Audience: General public

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Esperanto, Sicilian, Korean

Purpose: As UNESCO's flagship journal, the UNESCO Courier's mission has been to promote UNESCO's ideals, maintain a platform for dialogue between cultures and provide a forum for international debate. The issues have featured discussions on the environment, racial discrimination and the works of influential artists and authors.

 

UNESCO Official Bulletin/UNESCO Bulletin (MC/014, XR/01)

Years of publication: 1948 - 1955 (superseded by: The UNESCO Chronicle)

Audience: National Commissions, international non-governmental organizations, various co-operating bodies

Languages: English, French

Purpose: The Official Bulletin and Bulletin were created to share information about UNESCO's work and activities. Each issue typically contained overviews of meetings, official texts and documents, a time-table and news from the Member States, National Commissions, the Secretariat, the United Nations and its specialized agencies as well as international organizations. 

 

UNESCO Features (MC/021)

Years of publication: 1949 - 1986 (superseded by: UNESCO Special)

Audience: Press, radio, television, general public

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Purpose: This periodical was intended "to be part of a scheme to supply highly readable material about the sciences, education and culture, to over 2,000 publications in the Member States of Unesco as well as Germany and Japan" (UNESCO Courier vol. II, no. 6, 1949, 001(100) [24904]). While the earlier issues included briefs, special articles and columns, the later issues primarily consisted of features on UNESCO's activities.

 

UNESCO Newsletter (MC/018)

Years of publication: 1949 - 1953 (superseded by: The UNESCO Chronicle)

Audience: General public

Languages: English, Arabic, Urdu, German

Purpose: The UNESCO Newsletter was "issued to provide a continuous record of the Organization's work at Headquarters, in the field and in Member States" (UNESCO Newsletter no. 41, 1955). The 6th to 27th issues were dedicated to providing news on UNESCO's work in Asia, South East Asia and Eastern Asia in particular. Some issues have also included announcements about UNESCO's publications.

 

UNESCO World Review (MC/016)

Years of publication: 1949-1955

Audience: Radio organizations

Languages: English, Arabic, French, Spanish

Purpose: The UNESCO World Review was a weekly radio bulletin about education, science and culture distributed to radio organizations around the world. 

 


UNESCO Chronicle (MC/046)

Years of publication: 1955 - 1980

Audience: UNESCO staff, Member States, National Commissions, general public

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian

Purpose: The UNESCO Chronicle was created to share news about UNESCO's aims and activities at the international level, the regional level and in the Member States. The publications featured Executive Board reports, overviews of recent publications, interviews, timetables of UNESCO events, news on the activities of Member States and National Commissions, and updates regarding UNESCO's cooperation with international non-governmental organizations.

 

Staff Information Letters/UNESCO House News (ODG/17)

Years of Publication: 1956 - 1958  (superseded by: The UNESCO Chronicle)

Audience: UNESCO staff

Languages: English, French

Purpose: The intent of the "Staff Information Letters" was to inform UNESCO personnel about administrative matters, changes in personnel, other relevant news from the various departments and the Staff Association. When the Letters were renamed "UNESCO House News" in 1956, Director-General Dr. Luther Evans hoped that the new publication would help staff "find that unity of spirit and happy relationships necessary for the successful achievement of our difficult and pioneering work of co-operation and understanding” (UNESCO House News vol. 1, no. 1, 1956). The contents of the publication ranged from formal updates on UNESCO's activities to perspectives of personnel and even fun facts about UNESCO.

 

Newsletter on International Book Year (MC/0111)

Years of publication: 1971 - 1972

Audience: General public

Languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish

Purpose: The Newsletter on International Book Year was published monthly to report on activities undertaken by governments, UNESCO National Commissions, other national bodies and relevant organs of the United Nations system to help achieve International Book Year's mission of increasing access to books around the world. In addition to sharing news, the publication features "articles on practical questions affecting the world of books." (Newsletter on International Book Year, no. 1, 1971, 655.4(100) [14])

 

Inter-Clubs UNESCO (MC/097)

Years of publication: 1972 - 1995

Audience: UNESCO staff and UNESCO Club members

Languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian

Purpose: Inter-Clubs UNESCO was published semiannually to recount the activities of UNESCO Clubs around the world and promote exchanges between them. From 1972-1990, the publication was released as a magazine before being reformatted as a newsletter to enhance readability. 

 

UNESCO Flash (MC/0137)

Years of publication: 1976 - 1978

Audience: UNESCO Secretariat staff

Languages: Multilingual, English, French

Purpose: UNESCO Flash was created to help UNESCO Secretariat Staff learn more about one another's projects to ultimately promote the sharing of ideas and a feeling of solidarity among the staff. 

 

 

UNESCO Co-Action Newsletter (MC/0143)

Years of publication: 1977 - 1982

Audience: General public

Languages: English, French

Purpose: The UNESCO Co-Action Newsletter aimed to illustrate progress being made in the UNESCO Co-operative Action Programme by sharing detailed updates on the various projects and letters from stakeholders collected over the years. 

 

 

News from UNESCO (MC/0146)

Years of publication: 1978 - 1980

Audience: General public

Languages: English, French, Spanish, 

Purpose: News from UNESCO was created to keep the public informed of UNESCO's initiatives and progress made in different regions of the world.

 

UNESCO News/UNESCO Sources (MC/0151)

Years of publication: 1979 - 2001

Audience: National Commissions, permanent delegations, UNESCO staff

Languages: English, Catalan, French, Spanish

Purpose: UNESCO News, and subsequently UNESCO Sources, aimed to provide information on the Director-General's activities, missions by the Deputy Director-General, permanent delegations, recent meetings, bodies such as the Regional Offices, the International Bureau of Education and the International Institute of Educational Planning, and UNESCO's operational activities. 

 

UNESCO Special (MC/021s)

Years of publication: 1986 - 1988

Audience: press, radio, television

Languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish

Purpose: The UNESCO Special was created to provide information for the press, radio and television. The short articles of each special covered issues important to UNESCO, such as malnutrition as a cause of educational wastage, and UNESCO projects, including the organization's restoration projects in Sri Lanka.

Dates of Creation and Revision

Created by Hazel Koh, 18 July 2023