Social Media a Hot Topic at AMIC’s Annual Conference

Sep 12, 2013 | News

Indonesians are some of the most dynamic Internet users in the world.

That was the message from Dr. Freddy H. Tulong, Director-General for Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, speaking at the opening session of AMIC’s 22nd international conference in Yogyakarta.

Of Indonesia’s population of 250 million people, some 63 million are using the Internet, with 95% of them having social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Dr. Tulung told the audience that Indonesians are the fourth largest group of Facebook users in the world, after the USA, Brazil and India. More than 29 million Indonesians also have Twitter accounts, making them the fifth biggest global Twitter community, after the USA, Brazil, Japan and the UK. There are now more than 280 million cell phones in use in Indonesia, of which 63% are ‘smart phones’.

Dr. Tulung was speaking on behalf of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Tifatul Sembiring.

The second keynote was given by Mr. Roy Suryo Notodiprodjo, Minister of Youth and Sports. The Minister outlined the way in which Indonesia’s huge population of young people was actively involved in new technologies and how these tools were changing society.

An opening address of welcome at the inaugural session was given by the Rector of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Pratikno. UGM is the host organisation for AMIC’s annual conference. The Chair of AMIC’s Board, Professor Ang Peng Hwa, and Secretary-General, Associate Professor Martin Hadlow also spoke.

The conference, which has attracted paper presenters from 24 countries, runs from 4th-7th July.

New Era for Development Communication

Sep 12, 2013 | News

“Much room remains for the future of development communication in Asia” is the view of Professor John Lent, speaker in the UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue at AMIC’s 2013 international conference.

A veteran specialist in the field of Asian development communication, Professor Lent, of Temple University, USA, said that poverty in Asia had not dropped as much as had been hoped and that most of the world’s chronically malnourished live in the Asia-Pacific region. He said that small communication projects initiated by communities to address poverty issues at the grassroots level are still important.

The UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue was held as the first plenary session at the AMIC 2013 conference in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (4th-7th July). The topic for discussion was Development Communication and the New Asia: still a role?

Another speaker, Chin Saik Yoon, Southbound Press publisher from Malaysia, asked about the role of development communication 50 years hence. “What will be the ‘new poverty’ for Asia in 2052?” he asked.

According to Mr. Chin, the main future issues relate to climate change and sustainable development. He talked of consumption patterns and contended that “we may have to admit our messages in the past were wrong.” Given the long-term implications of climate change, Mr. Chin said that “solutions may take two or three generations to complete”. In the future, there will be no more “personal gain” messages he believes. He offered the view that messages will have to play on altruism and that people will have to accept that “you do this so your great-grandchildren will still have water to drink.”

Long-term Philippines development communication expert, Professor Crispin Maslog, reinforced the view that “development communication still has a place in the world while there is poverty”. Similar views were held by other UNESCO Emeritus Dialogue speakers, Professor Alwi Dahlan from Indonesia, and Professor Binod Agrawal from India.

In a world of new technologies where poverty is still widespread, “we have to recapture our humanity” Professor John Lent reminded the audience.

Country Representatives

Jul 15, 2013 | News

AUSTRALIA Assoc. Prof. Martin Hadlow Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Communication and Arts University of Queensland Australia Email: m.hadlow@uq.edu.au BHUTAN Mr. Dawa Penjor Executive Director Bhutan Media Foundation P.O.Box. 1655 Thimphu BHUTAN Phone: +975-2-331716 E-mail: ed@bmf.bt CAMBODIA Mr. Sovannara Chan Project Coordinator Cambodia Communication Institute Royal University of Phnom Penh Phone: +855 12 770 891 Skype: chansovannara Facebook: www.facebook.com/naragraphy Email: csvannara@gmail.com INDIA Dr. Pradeep Krishnatrey Mudra Institute of Communications – MICA Ahmedabad Email: cbpattanayak@gmail.com Prof. Chandrabhanu Pattanayak Centurion University of Technology and Management Khurda, Odisha, India Email: cbpattanayak@gmail.com Dr. Mira Desai Associate Professor University Department of Extension Education S.N.D.T. University Mumbai Juhu Campus, Santacruz (West) Mumbai 400049 INDIA Email:drmiradesai@gmail.com, sndtmedia@hotmail.com INDONESIA Dr. Phil. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, M.Si. Lecturer Communication Department Faculty of Social and Political   Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada Jl. Sosio Yusticia, No.2,   Bulaksumur Yogyakarta. 55281 INDONESIA Email : hermin_iw@ugm.ac.id            herminkilo12@gmail.com Tel.: (+62) 81-7261770 JAPAN Dr Muneo Kaigo Associate Professor University of Tsukuba Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 1-1-1 Tennodai Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-8571 JAPAN Email : mkaigo@japan.tsukuba.ac.jp  KAZAKHSTAN Dr. Saule Barleybaeva Faculty of Journalism Kazakh National University (KazNU) Almathy KAZAKHSTAN E-mail: tv.headmaster@gmail.com LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Ms. Hommala Phensisanavong Head of Newspaper Academic Unit Senior Lecturer, Lao Language-Mass Communication Department Faculty of Letters National University of Laos Dongdok Campus Xaythany District, Vientiane, Lao PDR, P O Box: 7322 LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Phone: (856-21) 770 308 Mobile: (856-20) 5611 2849; Fax: (856-21) 770 381 Email : hommala39@hotmail.com

MYANMAR U Ko Ko Chairman, Yangon Media Group, Ltd. President, Myanmar Journalists Association MYANMAR Email : kksmtkt@gmail.com  NEW ZEALAND  Dr. David Robie Professor Director, Pacific Media Centre School of Communication Studies AUT University, Private Bag 92006 Auckland NEW ZEALAND Tel: (649+) 921 9999 x:7834 Email : david.robie@aut.ac.nz Website: www.pmc.aut.ac.nz  PAKISTAN   <imgsrc=”images/stories/flag/flag-papuanewguinea.gif” border=”0″ alt=”Papua New Guinea” width=”25″ height=”25″ align=”absmiddle” /> PAPUA NEW GUINEA Mr. Patrick Matbob Communication and Arts Department Divine Word University PAPUA NEW GUINEA Email: pmatbob@dwu.ac.pg           patrick.matbob@gmail.com Mobile Number: (+675) 7331-6708 Fr. Rey JoSev Hechanova Caigoy, OCarm. Diocesan Pastoral Vicar Archdiocese of Port Moresby PAPUA NEW GUINEA Email : rey.caigoy@yahoo.com PHILIPPINES Dr. Ma. Margarita Acosta Department of Communication Miriam College Quezon City Email: macosta@mc.edu.ph Office Landline: (+63-2) 580-5400, loc. 2120/2022/2127 Dr. Rosario M. Baseleres Director,  Instructional Media and Technology Center Silliman University, Dumaguete City Visayas PHILIPPINES Email: rose4basel@gmail.com           rosariombaseleres@su.edu.ph Office Landline: (+63-35) 422-6002, local 255 (Secretary to the Dean); local 256 (Dean’s Office) Dr. Ma. Theresa M. Rivera Associate Professor Far Eastern University Manila, PHILIPPINES Email: riveramtm2@gmail.com Tel: (+63-88) 858-3116, local 3100/3107 SRI LANKA Mr. Asoka Dias Director, Broadcasting Stations, MTV Channel Pvt Ltd, No. 36,Araliya Uyana, Depanama, Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka Office Landline: (+94) 11-2840270 Mobile: (+94) 777 302109 Email: mpasokadias@gmail.com; asokadias@sirasatv.maharaja.lk THAILAND Dr. Kamolrat Intaratat Director & Founder,  The Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM), Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi, 11120, Thailand Chair of Communication Arts for ASEAN International Program (Master Degree Program) Line ID : kamolratccdkm Phone : (66) 86 5299551 Skype : kamolrat.intaratat Twitter : @kamolrat10 E-mail : kamolratchim@gmail.com, kamolrat.int@stou.ac.th Website : www.CCDKM.org; For Master Degree Program: asean-commarts.stou.ac.th  UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.) Dr. Bradley Freeman Associate Professor of Communication and Information Studies American University in Dubai Address: P.O. Box 28282, Dubai , U.A.E. Direct line: (+9714) 318 3429; Landline: (+9714) 399- 9000 Ext. 429;  (+9714) 399-8899 Email : bfreeman@aud.edu Website: www.aud.edu   UNITED KINGDOM Dr Venkat Iyer Senior Lecturer  in Law, Ulster University Office Address: School of Law, Ulster University, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 0QB, UK Email Address: venkat_iyer_@hotmail.com: Mobile Number:(+44) 7811-062951

Social Media Takes Centre Stage at Radioasia 2013

Jul 12, 2013 | News

The Prime Minister of Vietnam has called on radio broadcasters to be more dynamic, creative and co-operative to meet the increasing demands of society.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was speaking at the opening ceremony of the RadioAsia 2013 conference in Hanoi. The conference theme was Radio and Social Media: Where to Next?

“Digital technology and the booming social media have given the public greater access to diverse sources of information” he said. The Prime Minister noted that this is “gradually changing the media context in each nation and the world over”.

In his opening address, the President of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), Mr. Nguyen Dang Tien, said that VOV “has adopted the current trend and made good use of opportunities offered by social networks to diversify its programming”. He reminded delegates that VOV is the only national media organization in Vietnam with four media platforms- radio, television, print and on-line.

Also speaking at the opening ceremony, AMIC’s Secretary-General, Assoc. Prof. Martin Hadlow, said that radio still had a vital role in society. “The messages it carries are understood by all, even those who cannot read or write” he said, “and radio brings life-long educational opportunities, life-saving information, culture and entertainment to individuals no matter where they are, or what they are doing”.

The Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Dr. Javad Mottaghi, told delegates that radio in a digital age “is going through a watershed change, with digital radio providing many possibilities for new content applications, data based services, graphics and still pictures”.

Digital technologies and the impact of social media on radio broadcasting were key issues discussed at  RadioAsia, the region’s premier conference dedicated to the medium. The three day event, which brought together several hundred delegates and speakers, was hosted by Radio the Voice of Vietnam and co-organised by AMIC, the ABU and VOV.