An objective of Global Media Journal is to encourage thinking about communication by graduate students. Graduate students represent new blood, fresh thinking, as they view the accomplishments of those before them through the eyes of a new world, a different generation. Most past achievements endure but there are some that need adaptation to the new conditions of a changed environment. In the passage of time, some important theories are forgotten or overlooked but graduate students, as they go through the paces, can renew their value for us.

Global Media Journal offers two platforms for student work. The refereed section presents work that is creative, well-grounded, theoretically-sound, the outcome of rigorous personal and professional standards of endeavor. It is intended for students who consider their work is ready to be scrutinized by their peers at-large. The evidence, proof and argument are 'good enough' and cogently articulated. The non-refereed section presents work that indicates important ideas and demonstrates research impulses appropriate for the topic. One might describe it as the experimental laboratory of graduate thinking, where imperfections are plenty, but expected, where the raw materials is assembled, the idea is tentatively mapped out, but the communication scientist still must tinker and fine-tune.

Like other professional online journals, Global Media Journal strives for high standards to nurture graduate student thinking. Consider me a coach rather than a referee. So as editor, I will work closely with you to refine your work by feedback. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my reviewers who worked with me, especially Drs. Campbell, Crabtree, Palmer, Semati, and Thussu. Despite their busy schedules, they think it worthwhile to encourage graduate work and we would like to recognize their support.

Four essays by graduate students are presented in this issue. Hayden's refereed article "Power in Media Frames: Thinking about Strategic Framing and Media System Dependency and the Events of Sept 11, 2001" is a thoughtful and cogently written essay. It effectively builds its case: charting the power relationships between theoretical notions of framing and the ecological viewpoint of Media System Dependency theory as it pertains to the unique context of media representation and an 'extreme event'. The analysis provides a good overview of 'framing' theories and smoothly synthesizes media systems dependency to argue - even if, as Hayden reflects, "some of the arguments bordered on polemical" - how agentic 'strategic framing' is mitigated by structural relationships and dependencies. Hayden observes "At the point where frames are themselves dependent on the range of media messages they are based upon, they are subject to the relationships of dependency and power embedded in media systems" (p. 6). Consequently, he concludes, a mass-audience prone to deferring authority over a specific strategic frame is more likely to be dependent on structural inequalities of the media system, thereby creating a form of social knowledge that gains its own currency of legitimacy in an uncontested environment.

Injy Galal’s paper "Online Dating in Egypt" explores cyber-dating among Egyptian youth at a university in Cairo. Although the purposive sample is small (66 students in all, 30 males and 36 females), Galal asks well-researched and ample questions including on Internet usership habits, the nature of the cyber-relationship (e.g. website membership, instant messenger systems), what adds to the allure of the communication medium, and the effects of cyber-relationships. The most commonly cited reasons for engaging in a cyber-relationship were "I can express myself better over the internet" and "It provides me with comfort, excitement and distraction from my daily life". Much like youth and adults researched on the same topic in the U.S. and other countries. Galal’s research supported her hypothesis that a majority of young well-to-do Egyptians were involved in online dating. Both genders are involved but for different reasons. She concludes "The older Egyptian generations seem oblivious of the Internet’s potential impact on the social arena. As more Egyptian couples meet over the Internet and more of them get married, more serious attention will probably turn to that medium." Although the Internet is still in the experimental phase in Egypt, as Galal observed, the reader perceives many of the reasons why Egyptian youth resort to the Internet for finding romance and some of the effects of cyber-relationships on Egyptian youth.

Interestingly, all four articles focused on media and contemporary society - how media might influence individual's way of thinking, how media might be influenced, and how media might influence a society's democratic aspirations. Much thought and work were invested in producing the papers. I enjoyed reading all the papers and it is my pleasure to offer them to you to share.