John Downing, vice-president of IAMCR and editor of the newsletter is introducing a new feature to the newsletter – a series of brief reflections by IAMCR members on intellectual issues relevant to the Association’s work. In this issue John looks at 'Social Movement Media, Democracy, and the Question of Time-Frame'. IAMCR members are invited to send their ideas for future newsletters to John at news[AT]iamcr.org.