HAU Communication students spearhead anti-fake news campaign

By Edgar Delalamon and Marvin Viado

Communication students of Holy Angel University, Philippines, are at the forefront in a campaign to fight disinformation. The initiative covers seven provinces in Central Luzon Region of the Philippines. 

They organized a series of workshops and conferences in cooperation with their counterparts coming from key Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in those provinces, in partnership with Non- Government Organizations.

To complement the anti-disinformation campaign, they also conducted research projects with international collaboration among HEIs in Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand. The other significant output of the cooperation was the creation of an anti-“fake news” website which was maintained by the Communication students.

Last February 3, the Communication students launched the I AM REAL: Looking Beyond the Shadows Of Disinformation which was graced by famous anti-“fake news” advocates Adrian Puse, Ted Lerner and John Nery.

Holy Angel University is an institutional member of AMIC. 

UNESCO calls to regulate digital platforms amid online disinformation and hate

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-call-regulate-digital-platforms-face-online-disinformation-and-hate

UNESCO’s Internet For Trust Conference held on February 21 to 23 brought together 4,300 participants to discuss regulatory solutions to the ongoing crisis of online information – the first ever such global conference.

Speakers from UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay to the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa underlined the urgent need for common global guidelines to improve the reliability of information while protecting human rights. 

The Internet For Trust Conference served as a high point in a global dialogue launched by UNESCO to develop first global guidelines for the regulation of social media to improve the reliability of information and promote human rights online.

The Organization involved all stakeholders: governments, independent regulators, digital companies, academia and civil society. The guidelines will be launched by UNESCO in September 2023.

Maria Ressa, Nobel Laureate journalist, said: “Lies spread faster than facts. For some reason, facts are really boring. Lies – especially when laced with fear, with anger, with hate, with tribalism (us against them)—they spread like throwing a lit match into kindling.”

She cautioned that if we continue to tolerate social media algorithms which reward lies, future generations would inherit a world in which truth has been dangerously devalued. “Without facts, you can’t have truth, without truth, you can’t have trust, and we have no shared reality”.

In his message to the Conference, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recalled the violent attacks on democratic institutions in Brazil on January 8.

President da Silva said what happened that day was the culmination of a campaign, initiated much earlier, and that used lies and disinformation as ammunition. To a large extent, this campaign was nurtured, organized, and disseminated through digital platforms and messaging apps. This is the same method used to generate acts of violence elsewhere in the world. It must stop.

Regulation coordinated and anchored in human rights 

The Director-General of UNESCO pointed out the proliferation of regulatory initiatives — at least 55 countries are working on these. But she advocated a coherent, global approach, based on human rights.

 “If these regulatory initiatives are developed in isolation, with each country working in their own corner, they are doomed to fail. Information disruption is by definition a global problem, so our reflections must take place at the global scale,” she said.

The Director-General urged all countries to join UNESCO’s efforts to transform the internet into a tool which is truly at the service of the public and that helps assure the right to freedom of expression, a right which includes the right to seek and receive information. 

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, said: “Discussions, such as the ones we are having now in Paris, are immensely important.

“It’s important to figure out a common set of guidelines on how to regulate this digital space. Technology cannot be misused to suppress people, to surveil or harass, or to shut down the internet.”

AMIC SG Ramon R. Tuazon attended the conference and presented a paper in one of the side events, entitled, “The Role of the Multi Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) in Translating The Outcomes of the Global Multistakeholder Discussion, Into Practical Work and Results on The Ground.” This was held on 21 February 2023.

AMIC Explores Africa in 29th Annual Conference

THE Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) will be engaged in another pioneering event with the upcoming 29^th AMIC Annual Conference scheduled on September 28-30, 2023.

The annual event’s theme is Talk ASAP: Africa-Asia Pacific Dialogue on Communication Issues.

The pioneering initiative for dialogue between the two continents is the 1955 Asian-African Conference popularly known as the Bandung Conference which was described as “the first significant gathering of independent and soon-to-be independent nations in Asia and Africa.”

Currently, there is no exclusive venue for dialogue and exchange of lessons and experiences between Asia and Africa, particularly in the communication and media sectors.

According to AMIC Secretary-General Ramon R. Tuazon, the conference will serve as a platform for renewed South-South knowledge-sharing and peer-learning mechanism, i.e., to share experiences, perspectives, lessons, and technologies and to provide opportunities for interregional, and intercontinental cooperation.

The Conference is envisioned to be a venue for communication and media scholars  to share and exchange lessons and experiences, especially best practices, in addressing common communication media issues and concerns. It also aims to promote Afro-Asian communication scholarship through collaborative academic initiatives, provide a venue for networking among Asian and African communication professionals and institutions for collaborative programs/projects in research, publications, forums, and faculty/student exchanges, and explore the feasibility of adopting a mechanism for inter-continental consultation toward consensus-building for current and emerging  global communication issues.

The 29th annual conference will be co-hosted by Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) in Bandung, Indonesia, and Far Eastern University (FEU) in Manila.

UNPAD is part of AMIC history. AMIC emerged from a 1971 travelling seminar that brought 13 Asian communication and journalism educators to 13 cities in Asia in 25 days. The third stop in the 25-day tour was the Facultas Publizistik of Padjajaran University. The study programs of UNPAD’s Faculty of Communication Sciences has been accredited ‘A’, and in 2013-2014, its Master of Communication Science program became the only one with ‘A’ accreditation in Indonesia.

FEU is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1928. It has seven institutes that offer 24 undergraduate programs, 17 graduate programs, and a law school in three campuses. The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) classifies FEU as autonomous, the highest classification for a university. 

University of Pretoria in South Africa is the lead partner for Africa. The University recently launched its Center for Asian Studies in Africa (CASA). The Center will be introduced to AMIC participants during the Conference. (END)

Recording of AMIC Dialogue on Commonalities, Diversities, and Complexities of Asian and Western Communication Theories, 26 January 2023 via Zoom

Last 26 January, AMIC hosted the online Dialogue on Commonalities, Diversities, and Complexities of Asian and Western Communication Theories.

Over 200 communication scholars and educators joined the webinar which had Dr. Wimal Dissanayake, Dr. Yoshitaka Miike, and Dr. Mark Deuze as learning experts.

In his statement read by AMIC Secretary-General Ramon R. Tuazon, Dr. Dissanayake highlighted the need for Asian communication to ‘play a very conspicuous role’ in the exchange of cultural riches between Eastern and Western countries.

Dr. Deuze challenged communication scholars to determine the stories ‘that truly connect and unite peoples without requiring them to become all the same’ and how practitioners can help in ‘developing, furthering, publicizing, and promoting’ these stories.

Dr. Miike cited four specific directions for the future of Asian communication theories and shared five competing and complementary ethical values ‘that both local community and global society are struggling to balance.’

Learn more about their views on communication theories. Tune in to the recording of the dialogue via this link https://youtu.be/OHxivCv8Wh8. 

Ronny Adhikarya is 2022 AMIC Asia Communication Laureate

THE Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) announces the selection of Dr. Ronny Adhikarya as recipient of the 2022 AMIC Asia Communication Award for Transformative Leadership.

The award is given to individuals who have made “significant contributions to Asian communication,” said Dr. Crispin C. Maslog, chairperson of the AMIC Board of Directors and of the board of judges for the selection.

Dr. Adhikarya has a Master of Professional Studies degree from Cornell University’s Department of Communication Arts, and a PhD from Stanford University’s Institute for Communication Research. He has had a 50-year career in international development assistance, specializing in communication, education and training. 

He was a Senior Trainer and Manager at the World Bank in Washington D.C., USA, and served as Country Director at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy and in Islamabad Pakistan. He also worked for other international organizations worldwide, undertaking official Missions in 52 countries, and visiting 103 countries, thus far. 

He was associated with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Stanford University, East-West Center, and other universities in many countries. 

He is often invited as keynote speaker at international conferences, and has given public lectures in at least 28 countries from 2005 to2022.  His wide- ranging topics include challenges of digital disruption, Artificial Intelligence-technology-based applications, and its impact on education, business (including start-ups), shared economy, virtual education and communication, tacit knowledge brokering, edupreneurship, generational conflicts, and societal and cultural cohesion. 

Originally from Indonesia, Dr. Adhikarya was an award-winning journalist for Daily Indonesia Raya from 1968 to 1971. He has written eight books on communication, education, and training which were published in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, England, and the USA. These books and his other publications are available in English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Chinese languages. 

Dr. Adhikarya has served various advisory boards and committees of international development organizations in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia,  England, Switzerland, and the USA.

He established the R-Adhikarya “Niche” Awards (RANA) at the East-West Center (EWC), Stanford University and Cornell University. The annual RANA Program Scholarship rewards and recognizes smart, innovative, and competitive young students who wish to pursue their dreams to learn, explore, and apply disruptive ideas, and “niche” innovative thinking, in their studies and future careers. 

Guru for decolonizing journ/com education

Philippine communication “guru” Dr. Crispin C. Maslog, the first Filipino journalist to acquire a doctorate in mass communication, has proposed a drastic revision of the way Philippine journalism has been taught and practised in the Philippines.

In a lecture to communication students and practitioners at the University of Santo Tomas, his alma mater, last December 10, Maslog said that the first Filipino journalists and journalism students were taught by the early American journalists to practice and teach journalism in the Philippines the American way.

American Journalism

“Go direct to the point—present the 5 Ws and 1 H. Who, what, where, when, why and how. Don’t beat around the bush,” the early American practitioners said.

Among them were the pioneers in Philippine journalism in English–American Carson Taylor of Manila Bulletin, the oldest English language newspaper in the Philippines, and Scotsman Robert McCullough Dick of the Philippines Free Press.

Among their first English journalism disciples were Teodoro M. Locsin Sr., Armando Malay, Ramon Roces, Max Soliven and Teodoro C. Benigno. The Manila Bulletin, Manila Times and Manila Chronicle led the way in early Philippine journalism.

The first Filipino communication scholars to the U.S. under the Fulbright-Smith Mundt, Rockefeller and Ford scholarship programs–including Maslog, Nora Quebral, Juan Jamias, Gloria Feliciano, Josefina Patron and Fr. Alberto Ampil, S.J.– were trained in English journalism and mass communication and returned to set up the first English mass com programs in the country.

The University of Santo Tomas established in 1936 a journalism major within its Faculty of Philosophy and Letters and taught English journalism with a vengeance, offering seven English journalism/writing courses in its undergraduate degree program alone. And the medium of instruction was English.

The tradition of English journalism was thus established in the post World War II years and Filipino students became disciples of European and American schools of communication.

American Indian and Filipino Communication

Maslog said it took his two-year experience teaching communication and living on an American Indian Reservation in Fort Yates, South Dakota, in 2008-2010 to discover that Philippine culture was different from white American culture, and Filipino ways of communication were different from the white man’s ways.

There are more similarities between Filipino and American Indian culture and communication.

They share values such as strong family ties, respect for the elderly, humility, generosity, sense of gratitude, honor, humor, wisdom and love for education.

He also said the Native Americans have a unique style of oratory, which is indirect, non-confrontational, consensual, respectful and humble. This style resembles the traditional Filipino way of communication before the Westerners came to the Philippines.