AMIC REPRESENTATIVES

Fifth CJEN Bangladesh Networking Conference held at ULAB

The Department of Media Studies and Journalism at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) organized the conference titled, “Communication and Journalism Educators Network (CJEN) Bangladesh Fifth Networking Conference 2022” on 13 and 14 May 2022, where 67 educators and 20 students from different universities in the country participated.

Professor Imran Rahman, ULAB Vice-Chancellor, in his opening speech  said the authorities of the university had a strong commitment to promoting media in the country. So, the Media Studies and Journalism Department (MSJ) always tries to prepare its graduates by updating its courses and curriculum in consultation with stakeholders from the media industry on regular basis.

Addressing the session, Professor Jude William Genilo, MSJ Department Head, said the media and journalism education institutions must think critically about their roles and know their strengths and weaknesses.

“We at the ULAB try to prepare our graduates who are equipped with knowledge and skills needed in their real-life professional work,” he added.

In the plenary session entitled, “What is wrong with journalism education in Bangladesh,” Professor Jude called for building a strong network among media and journalism educators in the country to share experiences and expertise, and to enhance research and scholarships in the field.

In the session, ULAB MSJ Assistant Professor Dr. Abdul Kabil Khan presented findings of research on “What I wish my faculty would do and not do for my career development.”

In another plenary session, a roundtable discussion titled, “The future of media industry- new approaches and business models” was held.

Journalists participated in the discussion, namely, Harun Ur Rashid, Executive Editor of Bangla daily Somoyer Alo; and Mohsin Ul Hakim, Jamuna TV Special Correspondent and Bangladesh Times online journalist. It was moderated by MSJ  senior lecturer Nandita Tabassum Khan.

Dr. Esther Dorn-Fellermann, Deutsche Welle (DW) Media Services GmbH Program Manager, and Priya Esselborn, DW Akademie Program Director in Bangladesh, also attended the event.

On the second day, Dr. James Gomez, Regional Director, Asia Centre, Thailand, presented a keynote on “Media and Journalism Schools: Best Practices, Lessons Learned.” Dr. Sarkar Barbaq Quarmal MSJ Assistant Professor and Convener of the conference, disclosed the research findings on “Media and Journalism Education: Challenges Ahead, Needed Response.” Both of them recognized the importance of networking and ways to prepare for a new industry environment. The session was moderated by Aminul Islam, MSJ Lecturer.

Later, a student workshop on Mobile-first Journalism: Creating Native Content for Social Media Platforms took place. The instructors were Dr. Abdul Kabil Khan, MSJ Assistant Professor,  and Rajib Nandy, MSJ  Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Chittagong.

At the closing speech, Dr. Esther Dorn-Fellermann, conference program manager, Deutsche Welle – Media Services GmbH, said, “We at DW Akademie are happy to support you in this. We create the platform for exchange, we see ourselves as a catalyst.”

The two-day conference ended with a vote of thanks to the organizers, volunteers, and the participants by Nandita Tabassum Khan, MSJ Senior Lecturer. Khulna University will host the next CJEN Bangladesh in 2024.

Earlier, on 11 March 2020, ULAB and DW Akademie held a pre-CJEN Conference with the theme: “Looking Back, Moving Forward.”  The keynote speaker of the event was Ramon Tuazon, Secretary General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).

New Books published by AMIC UAE Country Representative

Dr. Sadia Jamil, AMIC Country Representative for the United Arab Emirates and Chair of the Journalism Research and Education Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), has announced the publication of three books that she has edited or co-edited.

These are: 1) Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety (IGI Global, 2019); 2) Discrimination, Gender Disparity, and Safety Risks in Journalism (IGI Global, 2020), co-edited with Professor Baris Coban, Professor Bora Ataman and Dr. Gifty Appiah-Adjei; and 3) Ethnic Journalism in the Global South (2021, Palgrave MacMillan), co-edited with Ana Gladkova.

In addition to these volumes, Jamil said that during the past two years, she has produced book chapters  as well as articles which she contributed to several peer-reviewed journals.

Jamil said,  “Research has never been just a career for me, rather it is a passion that drives me. I have ten years of academic research experience, and the passion to create knowledge keeps growing.”

She added that the past two years were challenging for all (academics) as they all continued to struggle with the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on their personal and professional lives.

“But I call the ‘pandemic period’ as the most productive time of my research career as I could focus on writing…”

JRE Book Launch 2022

Message by Ramon R. Tuazon
Secretary General, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC)

In our continuing war against disinformation, journalism education is our best defense.

Today, we launch nine journalism and communication books which will be part of our truth defense tools.

Journalism education is our best defense because it will develop an inter-generation of truth seekers and truth tellers. Journalism education is not only for today’s journalists but more important, for future journalists who must imbibe the culture of truth-telling.

If we lose the war against disinformation today, we will be staring at a generation which is unmindful of deceit and celebrates calumny and idiocy.

The books we are launching today present an array of subjects which will complete our defense mechanisms – media theories, research methods, journalism skills, political economy (media ownership), convergence and digitization, and alternative and indigenous media.

Another distinguishing quality of these books is that the authors and contributors come not only from the West but also from all the continents including Asia which I am proud to represent today.  In this regard, AMIC is committed to work with IAMCR in producing more publications written by Asian journalism and communication professionals but not from a myopic perspective.

While we recognize the diversity of the topics and origins of these books, we are reminded that the journalism community, including journalism educators, must be united in their adherence to the Paris Declaration on Freedom of Journalism Education and their commitment to the defense for truth.

I end by congratulating, in behalf of AMIC, the Journalism Research and Education Section of IAMCR led by Dr. Sadia Jamil for providing us today’s platform to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues.

I’m cheering the authors and contributors and encouraging them to publish more in the near future as this will make us better understand the endangered, lied upon, and challenged world we live in today, and hopefully enable us to survive tomorrow.

Let us work together in our defense for truth, as ONLY TRUTH MATTERS.