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.

AMIC partners with JRE-IAMCR and AIJC in book launch

Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) in partnership with the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) and the University of Pretoria sponsored the launching of the books produced by the Journalism Research and Education Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), on June 20, 2022.

Moderated by Dr. Sadia Jamil (Chair, JRE Section), with Bruce Mutsvairo (Associate Professor, Utrecht University) as discussant, the online event presented 10 books.

Special guests were Tawana Kupe (Vice Chancellor, University of Pretoria), Olivia Celeste Villafuerte (President, AIJC), and Ramon Guillermo Tuazon (Secretary General, AMIC).

In his message at the launching, AMIC Secretary-General Tuazon said:

“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…” (It was an online the event  where scholars in journalism research and education from all over the world presented their latest works and interacted with the participants and colleagues in the field.

(click here for full text of Tuazon’s speech)

The books presented are the following:

1. McQuail’s Media and Mass Communication Theory – Denis McQuail and Mark Deuze
2. Global Journalism: Understanding World Media Systems – Daniela V. Dimitrova (Editor)
3. Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies – Bonnie S. Brennen
4. Insights on Peace and Conflict Reporting – Kristin Skare Orgeret (Editor)
5. Public Television in Poland: Political Pressure and Public Service Media in a Post-communist Country – Agnieszka Węglińska.
6. Indigenous African Popular Music, Volume 1: Prophets and Philosophers – Abiodun Salawu and Israel Fadipe (Editors.)
7. Indigenous African Popular Music, Volume 2: Social Crusades and the Future – Abiodun Salawu and Israel Fadipe (Editors)
8. The Transformation of the Media System in Turkey: Citizenship, Communication, and Convergence – Eylem Yanardağoğlu
9. The House that Zee Built – Surbhi Dahiya
10. Indian Media Giants: Unveiling the Business Dynamics of Print Legacies – Surbhi Dahiya

Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective 2022 edition launched

The 2022 edition of COMMUNICATION THEORY THE ASIAN PERSPECTIVE was launched on 04 December 2021, the last day of the 28^th AMIC Annual Conference. This authoritative reference on the foundations of Asian communication scholarship is published by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) as it celebrates its 50^th founding Anniversary. A revised edition of the 1988 original, it contains old and new articles written by Asia’s leaders in communication and journalism theory and research. 

When AMIC was founded in 1971, its founders’ vision was to establish a regional organization which would commit themselves to enrich and expand the global communication setting with Asian communication theories, perspectives, paradigms, values, and practices.

AMIC celebrated the first publication of Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective in 1988 as a resource for rediscovering Asian communication theories and how to go about such rediscovery.

Fifty years later, the book’s 1988 and 2022 editor, Dr. Wimal Dissanayake, says,  “We are beginning to observe the emergence of a sub-field of Asian communication theory studies…”

In this new version, Dr. Wimal Dissanayake asks and answers five key questions related to the exploration of Asian theories of communication: 1) Why is it important to direct our attention to Asian approaches to communication research and theory? 2) In what ways does research into Asian communication theories offer challenges to the ruling intellectual cartography of communication studies? 3) What progress have we made so far in Asian communication research and theory and what is its significance and impact? 4) What are some of the obstacles and challenges we still are likely to encounter? and 5) In what ways can we productively overcome these challenges?

Table of Contents

Foreword — Ramon R. Tuazon
Foreword — Vijay Menon
Introduction to the Previous Edition – Wimal Dissanayake
Introduction to the New Edition – Wimal Dissanayake
1. The Need for Asian Approaches to Communication – Wimal Dissanayake
2. Deep Structure and Communication – Lawrence Davis
3. Foundations of Indian Verbal Communication and Phenomenology – Wimal Dissanayake
4. The I Ching as a Symbolic System of Integrated Communication – Chung Ying Cheng
5. Taoism and the Chinese View of Literary Communication – Kwok-Kan Tam
6. Mass Communication Theory: A Chinese Perspective — Leonard L. Chu
7. The Individual in Japanese Discourse: The Artist as Speaker – Linda C. Ehrlich and Naomi Tonooka
8. Japanese and American Modes of Communication
and Implications for Managerial and Organizational Behavior – Muneo Jay Yoshikawa
9. Communication Theory and Islamic Perspectives – Majid Tehranian
10. In Search of An Asian Perspective of Communication Theory – Godwin Chu
11. Go East young ‘man’: seek wisdom from Laozi and Buddha
on how to metatheorize mediatization – Shelton Gunaratne
12. Communication Theory-Building at the Periphery: The Broken Chain in Dialectic Discourse
– Georgette Wang
13. An Anatomy of Eurocentrism in Communication Scholarship:
The Role of Asiacentricity in De-Westernizing Theory and Research – Yoshitaka Miike
14. DevCom Los Baños Style – Nora C. Quebral