KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) — Media organisations and practitioners need to embrace changes and evolve because rapid technological advancement has transformed the way people interact with the media.
Senior Lecturer at the School of Communication and Media College of Computing, Informatics and Media Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Dr Suffian Hadi Ayub said the audience now has the freedom to choose what they want to see with the myriad of media choices and, as such, the media industry must revamp to remain sustainable.
“Media (practitioners) cannot have the idea of doing things that they want, instead they have to (tailor it to) suit the needs of the people. The main component of communication, albeit to contrary belief, is not talking or sending a message… listening is the most important.
“The media needs to listen to the needs of the people as receivers of information so that they can follow and create content with regards to what the receivers want,” he said at the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Future of Media Seminar here today.
Suffian said adapting to the latest technology and applications would facilitate the smooth transition of mainstream media to catch up with media trends such as user-generated content.
However, raising the question of whether media shapes society or mirrors society, he said media has an important role to educate society through social invention mechanisms.
He said in order to create a holistic and digital society where people are able to consciously and ethically use the information they have, an ecosystem needs to be created to strike a balance between media, society and information.
Meanwhile, BAC Education Group chief marketing officer Lawrence Chan said the need for media literacy is crucial at the moment as the effects of new media included enabling users to choose the content they prefer and when to consume it as well as to create their own content.
“The effects of new media are empowering yet, at the same time, frightening because they pose a big threat to broadcasters and, more so, the youth of today as they are the largest consumers of this medium.
“In order to prepare youth for social media, parents and educators need to start the conversation with the kids on social media very early on. This will help them understand ethics (on new media) and differentiate what’s real or (what’s) not on social media,” he said.
The seminar also witnessed the launch of the Asia Media Summit 2022 proceedings publication by AIBD, Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) and the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).
The seminar, titled “The Future of Media” and co-organised by AIBD, KISDI and KCC, discusses the different challenges and opportunities for the regional broadcasting industry and was attended by over 90 media practitioners, industry players, scholars and stakeholders.
AIBD, as an international inter-governmental organisation with 106 members, is mandated to develop media in the region and across the globe through policy and resource development.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency