Objectives

The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre is pleased to announce its 17th Annual International Conference, which will be held at the Manila Hotel, Manila, Philippines from the 14-17 July 2008. AMIC will be organizing this conference in partnership with the Philippine Association of Communication Educators Foundation (PACE). This conference is open to academics, media industry professionals, government agencies, policymakers, regulators, UN agencies, donors, research groups, civil society organizations, independent consultants and students.

The theme of the 17th annual conference is "Changing Media, Changing Societies: Media and the Millennium Development Goals". The key focus of this conference will be to see how an active and vibrant media can help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are a set of eight shared goals, responding to the world's main development challenges, which both developed nations as well as less developed nations hope to achieve by 2015. The year 2008 will be around the half-time mark to the deadline year of 2105, at which point the eight MDGs should have been reached. Today's media shapes public opinion, which in turn shapes an individual's perception of the world. Today not only are the traditional sources of media being used, but there is an increasing emphasis and shift towards new media sources like the Internet, mobile phones, podcasts and blogging. How have these media helped in the achievement of the MDGs? Has knowledge sharing helped developing countries develop effective strategies to address and reach the MDGs? These are some of the questions that the conference aims to address.

AMIC's key event is the flagship annual conference, hosted in rotation by countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Recent annual conferences have been held in Singapore (2007), Penang, Malaysia (2006), Beijing, PR China (2005), Bangkok, Thailand (2004), Singapore (2003), Perth, Australia (2002) and Manila, Philippines (2001). The AMIC annual conference is the premier event on Asian media and attracts eminent international speakers and participants from the media industry and academia. It features high-profile keynote addresses, plenary sessions and several parallel track sessions. Networking events, cultural programmes, media visits and sightseeing events are also held in conjunction with the annual conference.

Themes & Topics

For the 17th AMIC annual conference, papers are invited on the following themes and topics:

• Media and the MDGs
• Media and Youth
• Media, Conflict and Crises
• New Media and Digital Technology
• Media and Development
• Media Law and Regulation
• Media and Gender
• Media, Democracy and Human Rights
• Alternative and Community Media
• Media and Culture
• Asian Perspectives on Communication
• International Communication
• Broadcasting
• Media Industry Trends and Dynamics
• Journalism Education