The role of media in modern societies

By Nickie Wang /Manila Standard Today
30 July 2008

The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) 17th annual conference, the largest and most prestigious gathering in Asia and the Pacific region to tackle the United Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), was held at the historic Manila Hotel from July 14 to 17.

On the first day of the four-day event, Vice President Noli “Kabayan” de Castro delivered the keynote address while Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim welcomed the more than 600 delegates who were media industry professionals, heads and members of government agencies, communication leaders, scholars, experts and students all over the region.

AMIC, under the chairmanship of A/P Ang Peng Hwa, is a non-profit NGO and a registered charity in Singapore with the mission of spearheading the development of media and communication expertise in Asia within the broad framework of economic, social and cultural development.

With this year’s theme “Changing Media, Changing Societies: Media and the Millennium Development Goals,” AMIC is not just privileged to serve the media but also more importantly the public. As it continues to provide relevant and credible information analysis of media issues and their impact on the development in the Asian region, the key focus of this year’s conference is to see how an active and vibrant media can help in achieving the MDGs.

“Holding this conference here in the Philippines is just right. We could actively participate in the discussion because the MDGs need focus and consideration, these are very crucial things,” stated by Miriam College Department of Communication Arts professor and chairman of organizing committee of AMIC Manila 2008 Gerardo Josue. “This conference sets the focus of our action so that we will be able to know where to begin and how to work. 2008 is the half-time mark to the deadline year of 2015, at which point the eight MDGs should have been reached,” he added.

Prof. Josue explained that the conference is the dynamic way to maximize the power of the media to influence the dissemination of the messages of the 8 MDGs that all UN member states have pledged to solve by the year 2015. These goals are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.

Co-organized by the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE), this year’s conference also highlighted the honoring of two great Filipinas who made exemplary contributions in the field of communication. Dr. Nora Quebral, a pioneering figure in the discipline of development communication in Asia and often referred to as the “Mother of Development Communication,” and Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid, constitutionalist and communication scholar, both received the Asian Communication Award.

Aside from the awards given during the conference, AMIC also gave way to the launching of six new book titles: The Fourteenth Paw: Growing up on Iowa farm in the 1930s , a memoir by Everett Rogers; Asian Communication Handbook 2008, edited by Indrajit Banerjee and Stephen Logan; Media & Conflict Reporting Asia, edited by Shyam Tekwani; Free Markets, Free Media Reflections on political economy of the press in Asia, edited by Cherian George; South Pacific Islands Communication: Regional Perspectives, Local Issues, edited by Evangelia Papoutsaki and Usha Sundar Harris; and Media & Development in Asia: Regional Perspectives, edited by Indrajit Banerjee and Madanmohan Rao.

“During the 1970s, thousands of books in communication were published; all of them came from the West. These were the books that educated the Asian people particularly the students, so AMIC provided books in Asian perspective. The launching of six new books here at the conference reminded me on how AMIC worked to provide relevant information. We are so fortunate that AMIC is around,” Prof. Josue added.

To further Prof. Josue’s statement, AMIC secretary-general Dr. Indrajit Banerjee stressed during the conference that these books are aimed at enriching scholarly publishing and in promoting Asian perspectives on issues regarding media and society.