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.
Sep 8, 2015 | AMIC Communication Awards
Filipino journalist and communication practitioner Juan L. Mercado has received the 2014 AMIC Communication Award.
Mercado is founding Director and Trustee of thePress Foundation of Asiaand founding Director of the Philippines Press Institute. He is an illustrious pioneer in the field of Asian journalism and mass communication.
Mercado started his illustrious journalism career in the 1950s as a reporter with the Cebu daily newspaper, the Southern Star. He became an associate editor of the same paper before joining the Evening News in Manila.
He was based at the United Nations in New York for the Evening News (1961-1963). Upon returning to the Philippines, he worked as Manila-based correspondent for several foreign publications.
Mercado co-founded Depth Newsas a ground-breaking service of the Press Foundation of Asiain the 1960s. Depth News provided development news and features to newspapers and radio stations in Asia and the developing world. It was active for more than 20 years.
Mercado was founding Director of the Philippine Press Institute, and co-founded the Philippine Press Council.
In 1972, Juan L. Mercado was detained with 21 other journalists when martial law was declared by then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. While no charges against him were ever filed, Mercado and the other detained journalists were kept under city arrest. During this period, he edited several ‘underground’ newspapers.
After his release in 1975, Mercado joined the United Nations as Communication Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regional office in Thailandand later at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.
After the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines, and after 19 years of UN service, Mercado returned home and resumed his media work. He continues to write as one of Manila’s leading newspaper columnists to this day.
Sep 8, 2015 | AMIC Communication Awards
Filipino journalist and communication practitioner Juan L. Mercado has received the 2014 AMIC Communication Award.
Mercado is founding Director and Trustee of the Press Foundation of Asia and founding Director of the Philippines Press Institute. He is an illustrious pioneer in the field of Asian journalism and mass communication.
Mercado started his illustrious journalism career in the 1950s as a reporter with the Cebu daily newspaper, the Southern Star. He became an associate editor of the same paper before joining the Evening News in Manila.
He was based at the United Nations in New York for the Evening News (1961-1963). Upon returning to the Philippines, he worked as Manila-based correspondent for several foreign publications.
Mercado co-founded Depth News as a ground-breaking service of the Press Foundation of Asia in the 1960s. Depth News provided development news and features to newspapers and radio stations in Asia and the developing world. It was active for more than 20 years.
Mercado was founding Director of the Philippine Press Institute, and co-founded the Philippine Press Council.
In 1972, Juan L. Mercado was detained with 21 other journalists when martial law was declared by then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. While no charges against him were ever filed, Mercado and the other detained journalists were kept under city arrest. During this period, he editedseveral ‘underground’ newspapers.
After his release in 1975, Mercado joined the United Nations as Communication Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regional office in Thailand and later at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.
After the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines, and after 19 years of UN service, Mercado returned home and resumed his media work. He continues to write as one of Manila’s leading newspaper columnists to this day.
Sep 8, 2015 | News
As he bowed out as AMIC’s chairperson, Dr. Arun Mahizhnancalled on AMIC members to get rid of the “blind subservience” to the Western perspective in analyzing Asian media and communication systems.
“Far too long, we have submitted and submerged ourselves in Western perspective and Western theories, and worst of all, Western validation of our own nascent attempts to create anything Asian,” lamented Dr. Mahizhnan, speaking during the 2015 AMIC International Conference held in Dubai.
He added, “We have a long way go in establishing an Asian perspective and Asian theories of communication” and “it is going to be even more challenging to do this than before.”
A clear research agenda looms ahead for Asian communicators and scholars to differentiate and distinguish Asian communication practices and build theories based on them.
While there are attempts in the past to ground research in local practice, some try to fit them to Western theories.
More work and people are needed in seriously observing and analyzing Asian media and communication practice
Dr. Mahizhnanwas also commended for his long years of distinguished service to AMIC as chairman and member of the Board of Management, and as chairman of the Board of Directors.
In turn, he cited AMIC colleagues Dr. Ang Peng Hwa and Dr. Eddie Kuo, Mr. Martin L. Hadlow and the AMIC Secretariat for their support to AMIC.
He also expressed gratitude to the American University in Dubai, especially its leaders Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President Lance de Masi, Provost Jihad Nader and Dean Ali Jaber, for hosting the 2015 AMIC International Conference.
Sep 8, 2015 | News
The 4th World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) will be held in Auckland, New Zealand from July 14 to July 16, 2016.
The WJEC will be hosted by Auckland University of Technology’s School of Communication Studies.
It will provide a discussion forum on socio-technological changes that impact on the journalism and journalism education worldwide.
The WJEC was occasioned by contemporary developments that signal significant shifts in the place of journalism programmes within the academe and the broader educational environment, and in relationships with industry and wider society.The implications of this transition will be WJEC’s focus.
Journalism Education in the Asia-Pacific will also be a strong feature of the conference, in partnership with the Pacific Media Centre.
Topics to be discussed at the WJEC include:
- Mobile/Social/User-generated Media and Journalism
- Research Trends in Journalism
- Utilising the Professional Connection Work in Journalism Education
- 21st Century Ethical Issues in Journalism
- Journalism Education and an Informed Citizenry
- Journalism Programmes Offered by the Industry
- Journalism Education in the South Pacific
- Journalism Education in Asia
Conference organizers are calling for abstracts. Please contact: Steering Committee chair Associate Professor Verica Rupar.
For inquiries from the Asia-Pacific, please contact Professor David Robie, New Zealand Country Representative of AMIC and 2015 AMIC Communication Awardee.
More details can be viewed at the WJEC conference website at AUT, and the AUT School of Communication Studies.
