PAGBABAGO

With the current challenges facing democracy and press freedom worldwide with trends towards autocratization and government manipulation of media, it is time to shift our attention to this continuing erosion of democracy. This is shown in the growing polarization of the public sphere and digitalization which has further enabled the spread of disinformation. While democracy has not yet reached the state of “free fall,” it is time that we must seriously address the major ills particularly the state of disinformation.

The spotlight on two freedom fighters and Nobel Peace laureates – our own Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov of Russia who urged media worldwide to join forces in “fighting for facts” instead of competing with each other.

We could not think of a more moving and passionate appeal than Ressa’s speech regarded by many as a great masterpiece, as she noted this timely challenge – to “transform the hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystems, prioritized by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us... We must begin by restoring facts. We need ecosystems that live and die by facts. We do this by shifting social priorities to rebuild journalism for the 21st century, while regulating and outlawing the surveillance economics that profit from hate and lies,” she noted.

At the recent post-conference event of the 28thAMIC (Asia Media Information and Communication Centre) annual conference on “The Future of Journalism in the World (with focus on Asia-Pacific) organized by AMIC, the Academy of Journalism and Education (AJC) and the World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) with support from UNESCO, the global survey was presented by Dr. Nico Drok, Vice Chairman of the WJEC with reactors Dr. B.P. Sanjay of the Manipol Institute of Communication, Prof. Yung Chan, University of Hong Kong, and Prof. Danilo Arao of the University of the Philippines at Diliman.

While the countries differ in cultures, language, historical and political backgrounds and other factors, they share similarities in major technological, social-economic and relational trends such as “end of monopolies, disruptions in the business model, and end of one-way information.” All countries likewise realize that “journalism is in a state of crisis” and that there is need to “rethink about the future of journalism.” They all realize that in debates on innovation, the focus on technological and financial means is important, but that the goals of journalism – its role, and values are even more important than the means.

Research on roles and values focused more on professional journalists and students and little research was done on journalism teachers.

Four major roles are that of the (1) disseminator- provides entertainment, getting news that sell quickly where public is treated as consumers rather than citizens; (2) investigator- provides in-depth background; information that enables people to make decisions and monitor and scrutinize government; (3) mobilizer; and (4) observer role.

The global trends clearly indicate a preference for and recognition of the importance of the investigator role and the diminishing importance of the disseminator role. There was preference for verification, analytical, social, and language skills.

To arrive at the ideal state, the presenter and reactors noted the need for journalists to keep on learning especially in our digital environment where they should be able to deliver on multi-media platforms. They must know where to look for information and expertise, especially in the current COVID-19 situation. Knowledge of public health, engineering, will be needed. Thus, collaboration between faculty members from various disciplines is recommended.

In summary. While the “disseminator” role is still popular in the Asia-Pacific trend, there was a visible movement towards these positive trends among many regions of the world. These include:

“More about getting entire story and less about being first.”

“More about social responsibility and less about making money.”

“More bout interaction, and less about one-way sending.”

“More focus on ordinary people rather than elites.”

“More consensus and less about conflict.”

“More on content and less on technology.”

“More focus on long-term issues.”

“More about solutions.”

“More about what’s next, about success, and less about failure.”

Congratulations to AMIC and its chair, Dr. Crispin Maslog and Secretary-General, Ramon R. Tuazon for organizing both the Annual Conference where the two prestigious awards were given to my friend and colleague, Dr. Wimal Dissaayake, of Sri Lanka and the US., a leading scholar of Asian cinema and communication theory who received the 2021 AMIC Asia Communication Award for Disruptive Inquiry; and to Dasho (Sir) Kinley Dorji, a journalist civic engagement advocate in Bhutan, recipient of the 2021 AMIC Asia Award for Transformative Leadership.

Two important books were launched: “AMIC: A History of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre” edited by Crispin Maslog, and “Communication Theory: The Asian Perspective (2nd ed.”, edited by Wimal Dissanayake.

My email, [email protected]