Sep 10, 2015 | Annual Conference, Events
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Conference Program
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Opening Remarks by Arun Mahizhnan, Chairman, AMIC Board of Directors
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Communicating Across Cultures in the Digital Media Era by Philip Seib, Ph. D.
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Parallel Sessions
- A1-Women and Media Presentation
- A2-Challenges in Media Freedom
- A3-Journalism in the Information Age
- A4-Television in Nation-Building
- A6-Democracy and the Mass Media
- B1-Challenges in Media Literacy
- B2-Media Modalities and Mobility
- B3-Environment and Media Movement
- B5-Knowledge Society and Media Paradigms
- C1-Governance in the Information Age
- C2-Mediating Realities in the Information Age
- C3-Family, Culture and the Impact of New Media
- C4-Persuasion and the Public Realm
- C5-E-learning and Media Technologies
- Media – Past, Present and Future
- D2-Socio-Political Economy and the Media Dynamic
- D3-Mainstream and Alternative Video Production
- D4-Media Responsiveness and Responsibilities
- E2-ICT and Classroom Convergence
- F2-Power,Politics and the Public Sphere
- F4-Gender Issues and the Mass Media
- G2-Policy and the Research Agenda
- G3-Cultural Narratives, Ethical Contexts
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Closing Remarks of Chairman Arun Mahizhnan
Sep 8, 2015 | Annual Conference, Events
The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) has successfully conducted its 24th International Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on June 10-13, 2015.
Hosted by the American University in Dubai (AUD), the Conference carried the theme Communicating in an eAsia: Values, Technologies, and Challenges. It was AMIC’s first time to hold its annual conference in the Gulf region. The event was widely covered by the Dubai media.
The Conference was honored by the presence of university officials led by President Lance de Masi, Provost Jihad Nader and Associate Dean Carol Moufarrej.
The Conference was attended by about 180 participants, two-thirds of whom were foreign delegates from various continents, including Asia-Pacific, North America, and Africa.
The conference featured three plenaries and 31 parallel sessions. (See Highlights and Papers here.)
Speakers
The keynote speakers were Ms. Erin Burnett of CNN, and Professor Philip Seib, Vice Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
The AMIC Distinguished Forum was also held, with the theme Communication and Media Education in an ‘e-Century’: Future Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges.
Speakers for the AMIC Distinguished Forum were leading educators Dr. Janet Wasko (University of Oregon, USA/President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research), Professor Ang Peng Hwa (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore/President-elect, International Communication Association), Mr. Daoud Kuttab (Community Media Network/International Press Institute, Jordan), Professor Binod Agrawal (TALEEM Research Foundation, India), and Dr. Juhad Nader (Provost, American University in Dubai) as confirmed panelists.
The UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue, with the theme Changing Roles, Shifting Perceptions:Gender and Diversity in the Digital Environment, was also held as a special section during the Conference.
Speakers in the UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue included Dr. Abeer Al-Majjar (American University of Sharjah, UAE), Dr. Pirongrong Ramasoota (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), Professor John Lent (Temple University, USA) and Associate Professor Pradip Thomas (University of Queensland, Australia).
Special breakout sessions were also include in the conference, with the themes Media and Health in Asia: Exploring a Core of Asian Cultural Issues(with Dr. Muneo Kaigo of University of Tsukuba, Japan, as session chair), and Challenges for Emerging Media in the Arab World (with Dr. Moussa Barhouma, AUD).
The plenary closing session was held with the theme E-Communication in the Arab World: Technologies, Opportunities and New Frontiers.
AMIC Asia Communication Award
During the Conference, AMIC honored three communication icons with the AMIC Asia Communication Award. These were Juan L. Mercado (2014 awardee), and Dr. Alan Hancock and Prof. David Robie (2015 awardees).
While he was cited in 2014, Mercado received the AMIC Communication Award only this year. The 2014 International Conference slated to be conducted in Bangkok, Thailand was cancelled following the May 2014 coup in this country.
AMIC also recognized the significant contributions of three institutions that nurtured and sustained the organization in the past 44 years—the Government of the Republic of Singapore, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and Nanyang Technological University.
Eminent Filipino communication scholar Dr. Crispin C. Maslog took over from Arun Mahizhnan as chairman of AMIC’s Board of Directors.
With his appointment, Dr. Maslog comes full circle at AMIC. He was part of a select group of Asian scholars and practitioners who conceptualized AMIC in Singapore in 1971.
Annual General Membership Meeting
AMIC convenedits Annual General Membership Meeting on June 11, during which the members agreed to ratify the earlier decision of the Board of Directors to transfer the AMIC headquarters from Singapore to Manila, Philippines.
The Philippine Women’s University-Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (PWU-AIJC) consortium will host the new headquarters.
In his letter to the AMIC members, Secretary-General Tuazon said that while AMIC’s transition is fraught with daunting challenges, he hopes continuous dialogue will bind the members together and strengthen the organization. He thanked the members for their continued support since his interim appointment in September 2014.
He also reiterated AMIC’s gratitude to AUD for hosting the conference and “for coming forward at a crucial time when AMIC needed help in boosting its membership andin expanding its frontiers to other parts of Asia.”
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Photos of the 2015 AMIC International Conference can be viewed at:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1n8JBgUuzs3fmw2RzlldzBUaW0zbkpIRmRGUFhoaEV6UHpSQzBaVERtaG50WEl0TUY5MnM&usp=sharing
Credit should be given to the AUD.
Sep 8, 2015 | Member Updates, News
The Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC) General Membership has ratified the selection of Manila as the new location for AMIC headquarters during its AMIC Annual General Membership (AGM) held on June 11, 2015.
The AMIC AGM is one of the highlights of the 24th AMIC International Conference held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference was hosted by the American University in Dubai (AUD).
AMIC is now hosted by the consortium of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU)-Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC).
The AMIC Board of Directors, composed of outstanding communication professionals and educators from the Asia-Pacific region, also announced the election of Dr. Crispin C. Maslog as new Board of Directors chairman.
Dr. Maslog is currently senior adviser and former vice president for academic affairs of AIJC. He will replace Arun Mahizhnan of Singapore.
With his appointment, Dr. Maslog comes full circle at AMIC. He was part of a select group of Asian scholars and practitioners who conceptualized AMIC in Singapore in 1971.
AIJC President Ramon R. Tuazon also assumed the post of secretary-general starting June 2015. He first served on an ad interim basis starting October 2014.
During the AMIC Annual General Membership, Tuazon presented the AMIC Strategic Plan (2015 & Beyond).
Among its programs are the revitalization of the AMIC international conference, revival of AMIC regional and sub-regional seminars and workshops, and textbook publishing.
AMIC will continue publishing the Asian Journal of Communication (ACJ) and Media Asia, two leading academic and professional publications in the Asia-Pacific region. Both are published by Taylor & Francis Group, a leading international academic publisher.
An independent, non-profit organization registered as charity in Singapore, AMIC has bloomed into the premier media research, publication, and information center in the Asia-Pacific region. With its transfer to Manila, it will also be registered at the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Since its founding in 1971, AMIC has been based in Singapore. From 1997 to 2014, it was based at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Sep 8, 2015 | AMIC Communication Awards
Dr. Alan Hancock and Dr. David Robie, two prominent communication professionals, received the 2015 AMIC Communication Award during the 24th International AMIC Conference held in Dubai on June 10-13, 2014.
The 2015 AMIC Communication Award was also received by three longtime AMIC institutional collaborators: the Government of the Republic of Singapore, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Nanyang Technological University.
Dr. Alan Hancock of the United Kingdom received the award for“his meritorious lifetime contribution to communication education and research,institutional development and media advancement in Asia and internationally”.
From the 1960s, he was involved in many strategic interventions that impacted on educational media, and communication for social change and development in Asia.
From 1969-72, he was based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he initiated and coordinated UNESCO’s communication and media activities in the geographical region in the Pacific that stretch from Turkey to Japan.
He helped plan the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), a regional training organization for media practitioners.
Dr. Hancock actively supported the establishment of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) as a regional institution in 1971.
He helped plan and develop major national educational television and radio projects in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He worked closely with universities in Malaysia, India and other countries to establish programs in communication research and education.
As Director of UNESCO’s key Communication Division in its Paris headquarters, Dr. Hancock initiated and provided technical expertise and funding support to establish many media and communication projects worldwide, especially in Asia and the Pacific.
While he had worked as television and radio producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. Hancock earned eminent academic and publishing credentials at the East-West Communication Institute in Hawaii. He wrote and published extensively, initiating the first UNESCO World Communication Report.
He earned his doctorate from the Open University in the United Kingdom. Both his BA and MA qualifications are from Oxford University.
Meanwhile, New Zealand-based Prof. David Robie is the current Director of the Pacific Media Centre at the Auckland University of Technology where he made outstanding contributions in all award categories: Research, Education, Institution-Building and Excellence in Journalism.
He also has a journalistic background of over 40 years, with two decades focusing on such critical issues as human rights and environmental issues.
Professor David Robie is an A-ranked researcher, the highest rank for a university-based researcher in New Zealand.
In 2014, he received the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence for “Critic and Conscience of Society,” for the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch freedom regional project.
This year also sees a new edition of Professor Robie’s 1986 book, Eyes of Fire.
This republication marks the 30th anniversary of the bombing by French secret agents of Greenpeace’s MV Rainbow Warrior on July 10, 1985.
Professor Robie also wrote the book Don’t spoil my beautiful face, a tribute to human rights in the Asia-Pacific. It captured the struggles of the oppressed, and the pivotal role that journalism plays to bring about positive change.
As journalism educator, Professor Robie is helping develop critical, reflective and ethically-inclined journalism scholars.
In 2014, the Journalism Education Association of New Zealand (JEANZ) cited him for the “significant role (he has) played in fostering journalism and journalism education and research in the Asia Pacific Region.”
He was awarded the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies Award for Critic and Conscience of Society (2014); Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (2012); Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2011); and Creative Stimulus Award for innovation in covering “hot topics” in the Pacific Journalism Review research journal (2010).
In 2005, he received from the Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) the Pacific Media Freedom Award for an “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of journalists in the Pacific and New Zealand” (2005).
Sep 8, 2015 | AMIC Communication Awards
The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) has given its special AMIC Asia Communication Award 2015 to three long-time partners that have consistently supported the organization since its birth in 1971.
Awarded were the Government of the Republic of Singapore, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The AMIC Asia Communication Award is a yearly award given to outstanding personalities in Asian media and communication. Awardees are chosen based on a decision of a jury of AMIC Board members.
By contributing to AMIC’s growth as an organization,the three institutions have promoted the cause of Asian media and communication.
The award was given on June 10, 2015 during the gala dinner for the 24th AMIC International Conference hosted by the American University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Founded in 1971, AMIC established its first headquarters office in Singapore, with support from various partners, including the Government of Singapore, FES and NTU. AMIC remained in Singapore until 2014.
The Singaporean government provided AMIC with its first research, administration, and library facility at #39 Newton Road. It also subsequently sustained its logistical and financial support to enable AMIC develop its activities and programs.
Meanwhile, since 1971, FES actively fundedAMIC’s activities, including conferences, research, publishing, education, and project implementation.
FES funded AMIC’s journals, monographs, and conference programs for 40 more years. It also provided full-time senior research staff, visiting scholars, and specialists to help AMIC develop its regional membership base.
It has consistently provided AMIC with vital intellectual and infrastructural capacity over an extended period, and remains committed to AMIC as an international collaborator.
FES is a non-profit German political foundation that advances the basic values of social democracy through education, research, and international cooperation.
FES was founded in 1925. It is named after Friedrich Ebert, Germany’s first democratically elected president.
For nearly 20 years, the NTUhas hosted the AMIC’s regional headquarters within its Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI). The University made available extensive office, library, and seminar facilities for AMIC’s operations.
With its generous annual grant, NTU enabled AMIC to recruit and retain staff members from Singapore and the international community. It expanded with in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond with its programs, projects, publications, and recruitment of members.
AMIC and NTU’s WKWSCI also jointly published peer-reviewed journals and monographs. As partners, AMIC opened its extensive Asian Media Resource Library to the WKWSCI.
With assistance from the Singaporean government, FES, NTU and other collaborators, AMIC evolved as an international, not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization that is now a regional research hub for media and communication studies.
AMIC encourages ethical practices and social responsibility in media and communication. It promotes democratic access and participation in media development and production by empowering disadvantaged sectors in Asia’s developing countries.
