AMIC Country Representative edits newly launched Bengali daily

Ajker Patrika, a daily hit the market in Bangladesh on 27 June 2021 and became third highest circulated newspaper in four months of its inception.

A Bengali daily with a slogan, “Country’s Local Newspaper,” with 10 editions became popular among families in the country. Ajker Patrika publishes the highest number of regional editions emphasizing regional news to cater its local readers in the country.

Keeping proximity as a focus, the paper strives to provide the readers with relevant news, as well as investigate and explain news and events in detail. The paper has a working force of about 550 people, along with a network of 350 correspondents across the country. The paper is equally popular with its e-paper and online services.

A group of young, enthusiastic journalists and business professionals have joined the ranks and are led by industry veterans with many years of domain knowledge and experience. The Editor of Ajker Patrika Professor Dr. Md. Golam Rahman is a leading educationist, media researcher and communication expert of Bangladesh. He has served as the Chief Information Commissioner of Government of Bangladesh and also served as the Chairman of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), a national news agency as well as the Chairman of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of University of Dhaka. He taught about four decades in the university.

Ajker Patrika has introduced a section called ‘fact-checking,’ because of fake information that are occupied in social media. The paper adopts a multilevel fact-checking process to confirm the overall authenticity of the news before publishing it on the print or digital platform. The paper maintains its Ethics Policy.

Ajker Patrika belongs to Bijoy Bangla Limited and is a sister concern of US-Bangla Airlines.

AMIC SG participates in 2022 Global MIL Week Celebration

AMIC Secretary General Ramon R. Tuazon spoke in several global and regional events commemorating the 2022 Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

The celebration was from 24-31 October 2022 with the global theme, “Nurturing Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative.” The main commemorative events were held in Abuja, Nigeria. Additional commemorative events were held in November 2022.

Tuazon was the sole speaker in the session, “Media Audiences and Citizens” on 14 October 2022 on the Short-Term Programme on Media and Information Literacy for Trainers organized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University-UNESCO.

In his talk, Mr. Tuazon highlighted the communication rights of citizens, e.g., right to expression and information, right to privacy, and even the “right to be forgotten.” He reminded the participants of the media responsibilities of citizens to protect and defend independent media, resist information disorder, and support community media.

As virtual panelist for the session on “Global Conversation with Teachers on Media and Information Literacy and Trust” held on 26 October, SG Tuazon recalled several creative and innovative strategies in MIL education in selected Asian countries. This session was part of several parallel sessions in Nigeria. 

Tuazon was panel chairperson and plenary speaker at the forum “Bridging Digital Divides and Empowering Digital Competencies in the Asia-Pacific” which was held on 7-8 November 2022 and convened by UNESCO Bangkok Office. He was chairman of the Parallel Session 6B: “Youth Engagement and Joint Efforts for MIL Education in Southeast Asian Countries.” He presented the session overview and framework to guide the discussion of the parallel session.

Tuazon also reminded participants that digital literacy has been included as among the three main elements of Media and Information Literacy (MIL). The two others are media literacy and information literacy.

As plenary speaker for Plenary Session 07, “Policies and Approaches for Developing Media and Information  Literacy (MIL),” Tuazon gave a summary of MIL policy issues and options. In his presentation, he discussed the importance of public policies and the desired standards in public policymaking. He also noted that other sectors, e.g., business and industry, civil society, academe are also engaged in policymaking. He identified the different policy areas that these sectors should address.

According to Tuazon, while we recognize the overarching importance of MIL public policies, we should recognize the emerging dominating power and influence of the private sector especially transnational telecommunications companies.  Meanwhile, among the challenges in crafting MIL policies is the absence of baseline data on MIL competencies, which hinders the development of  informed, evidence-based policies and programs. 

SG Tuazon was one of the three resource persons for the “UNESCO Myanmar Education Webinar Series: Enhancing MIL and Digital Literacy Skills among the Teachers and Youths.” The webinar was held on 09 December 2022. His presentations focused on the principles of MIL and the integration of MIL competencies in teaching learning activities and classroom practices.

SG Tuazon is co-author of the MIL Curriculum for Teachers (UNESCO, 2011) and its 2^nd edition, Media and Information Literate Citizens: Think Critically, Click Wisely (UNESCO, 2021). 

AMIC oo-organizes 3^rd Mobile Studies Congress

The 3^rd Mobile Studies Congress was held on 09-11 December 2022 with the theme, “Go Mobile, Stay Innovative.” The in-person sessions were held at the School of International Communications, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Many other participants also attended online sessions. The Congress gathered over 150 participants from all over the world.

The Congress was organized by Institute of Mobile Studies (IMS), International and Mobile Innovation Network and Association (MINA). The co-organizers were University of Nottingham China, Zhejiang University, Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), and Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).

The first Mobile Studies Congress with the theme, “Go Mobile, Stay Healthy,” was held on 13-15 November 2020 which was followed by the second Mobile Studies Congress with the theme, “Go Mobile, Stay Sustainable,” on 12-14 November 2021.

The congress is one of the annual events of IMS. The other event is Mobile Studies Summer School.

Since its inception in October 2019, IMS has been at the forefront in promoting and conducting mobile studies as an emerging field of scientific research. Areas of study include mobile media, mobilities, and mobile communications.

IMS has obtained its national and international reputation as the leader in mobile studies in higher education in China and one of the leaders in higher education globally.

This year’s congress had two pre-congress workshops: Workshop 1: “DiVoMiner for Innovative Mobile Studies,” with Dr. Angus Cheong and Lawrence Dang as resource persons. This was held on 03 December 2022. Workshop 2 was “Micro-Documentary” (in Chinese) held on 4 December 2022 with Ms. Lei Chen as resource person. A Pre-Congress Partner Session consisting of four panel sessions was held on 08 December 2022.

The three-day congress consisted of four partner sessions inclusive of 21 panel sessions featuring diverse subjects such as digital divide and digital equity, mobile communication literacy, mobile health, mobile education/learning, intelligent communication, mobile creativity, mobile and smartphone filmmaking.

Day 03 also featured two Smartphone Film Forums. Two post-conference workshops were held on 17 December and 18 December with the themes, “Mobile Documentary Workshop” and “Mobile City Storytelling Workshop,” respectively.

In his welcome speech, Founding Chair of Mobile Studies Congress Dr. Xiaoge Xu emphasized Mobile Studies Congress as a global annual event, aiming to promote mobile studies as an emerging field of research and to share experience and expertise in leveraging mobile for enhancing mobile communications.

Dr. Xu Xiaoge is also the Founding Director of Institute for Mobile Studies, School of International Communications and founder of the Mobile Studies International.

Dr. Sadia Jamil, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the University of Nottingham Institute for Mobile Studies, and AMIC Country Representative for the United Arab Emirates and China, chaired the opening session and Keynote Session 1.  She also chaired the closing session of the Mobile Studies Congress.

According to Dr. Jamil, mobile phone technology is not just transforming individual’s routine life but also reshaping business practices and operational strategies in many sectors. She acknowledged the transformations brought by mobile phone technology and the need to broaden the research within this area, incorporating diverse areas of exploration including mobile economy, mobile health, mobile learning, mobile journalism, mobile filming, and mobile governance.

She further urged to recognize the issue of digital inequalities that continue to affect people’s usage of mobile phones for diverse purposes and influence the national governments’ progress towards the achievement of sustainable development goals.

AMIC Secretary General Ramon R. Tuazon spoke at the plenary for Keynote Session 2. In his presentation entitled, “Rediscovering Mobile Technology for the Common Good,” Mr. Tuazon called the participants’ attention to the “imbalanced” interest in the application of mobiles as there seems to have many “blind spots.”

For example, academic papers or studies which feature the impact of mobiles in food security seem wanting amid worsening hunger gripping many countries today. Other blind spots include migration issues and the impact of mobile on democracy and human rights.

According to SG Tuazon, for democracy to move forward and to reverse authoritarianism we need access to accurate information, transparency, civic engagement, and digital inclusion. All these can be facilitated by appropriate use of mobile technology. 

UNESCO, AMIC hold forum on Artificial Intelligence Regulation

Dr. Dorothy K. Gordon, chair of UNESCO Information for All Programme (UNESCO IFAP), has echoed the call for media, academe and other sectors to establish Artificial Intelligence governance that would  serve humanity and enable individual, rather than corporate and government, control over personal data.

Gordon said Artificial Intelligence, which allows computers to make independent decisions and conclusions based on data extracted from people, is being used for human convenience and the wellbeing of society, but it has also created problems of privacy, security, social exclusion and other issues.

Gordon was speaking at a virtual international forum, “Shaping a Digital Future in Line with our Values: Why AI Regulation Matters,” sponsored by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) with UNESCO and UNESCO IFAP, and virtually attended by 205 media practitioners and educators from 13 countries last November 24.

Gordon encouraged people to think about addressing the issues in the context of UNESCO’s mission to provide everyone “access to information in a fair way that no one is left behind…  a digital transformation that serves our needs and supports the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

She said: “It is a shocking statistic that globally there are only 200 companies controlling almost 80 per cent of the development of of AI (some are very big and the rest are minor), and only 15 platforms are controlling the data. These companies and platforms are based in only five countries.”

Development of Artificial Intelligence is so fast, she added, but governments have been slow in creating a legal system for digital governance. She also said media and the academe are not paying enough attention to these digital issues.

However, she said, in November 2021, 193 UNESCO member states adopted the first ever global agreement on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

In a press statement, UNESCO said “the historical text defines the common values and principles which will guide the construction of the necessary legal infrastructure to ensure the healthy development of AI.”

While recognizing the remarkable results delivered by AI in various fields like medicine, poverty reduction, global aid, combatting climate change and world hunger, UNESCO also sees new challenges posed by AI in terms of “gender and ethnic bias, threats to privacy, dignity and agency, dangers of mass surveillance and increased use of unreliable AI technologies in law enforcement, to name a few.”

It said, “Until now, there were no universal standards to provide an answer to these issues.”

The UNESCO Recommendation “ensures that digital transformations promote human rights and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing issues around transparency, accountability and privacy, with action-oriented policy chapters on governance, education, culture, labour, health care and the economy.”

The Recommendation calls for action to ensure that individuals get more protection of their data beyond what governments and private tech companies are doing.

The Recommendation bans social scoring and mass surveillance, a very invasive infringement on human rights and fundamental freedoms, the statement said.

During the forum, Gordon said AMIC has the opportunity for greater information dissemination and education toward media literacy among its members worldwide, beginning with helping journalists acquire the tools for AI reporting.

Ramon Guillermo R. Tuazon, AMIC Secretary-General and UNESCO Myanmar Senior Information Specialist/Consultant, agreed with the speaker that media are not on top of digital issues coverage, simply because generally there still is lack of understanding of AI among journalists.

This forum was the second in the AI series scheduled by AMIC. The next forum is on AI Competencies for Journalists and Civil Servants.

The first forum was held last October, featuring Dr. Mohamed El-Guindy, on the topic, “Malicious Use of AI: Legal and Ethical Implications.”