By Dinda Aisyah
GOMBAK, 21 December 2022: As media continues to evolve, two panelists were invited to discuss its challenges in a forum entitled The Future of Communication and Media Studies: The Industry’s Expectations as part of the Communication Research Seminar (CORENA) 2022 held on 20 December 2022, Tuesday.
The invited panelists, Chief Executive Officer of Astro Radio and Rocketfuel Entertainment, Mr. Kenny Ong Chun Eng, and Executive Director of the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF), Madam Mediha Mahmood, also Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Law’s (AIKOL) alumnus, shared some insights in facing the challenges brought by the media and adapting with the current situation.
“We must adapt and adjust our strategies from the media side to the communication side to fit in the new reality,” Mr. Kenny said.
Mr. Kenny raised two important issues during the discussion which were about the one-way media and the attention spent while consuming the media.
He explained that media is a two-way process because people consume media while producing content, which makes them multitaskers.
“Everybody is using digital media nowadays, some might do two to three tasks at the same time while in an online meeting and that is one of the biggest changes in the terminology of media,” Mr. Kenny added.
Mr Kenny further said that, “Make sure that our terminologies are broaden and we should focus more on skills to teach students to adapt in terms of how to use and obtain information.”
Meanwhile, Madam Mediha shared her thoughts that young generations should be careful in engaging with the digital space to make it safer and more conducive for social consumption and social interaction.
In particular, Madam Mediha advised people in the content industry to manage between getting the attention they want while still sustaining themselves when facing challenges.
She further emphasised that graduates need to know about the ethics of producing content so that the content produced has quality.
“Some of the students have no experience and knowledge about producing content, therefore training and teaching should be given to them,” Madam Mediha said.
CORENA 2022 forum which was moderated by Dr. Norbaiduri Ruslan lasted for more than one hour also witnessed that both speakers echoed on the need to prepare students for the workplace and emphasised on the importance of building social networks in the challenging digital era.
The forum wrapped up with participation from the viewers through questions posed.
CORENA 2022 was organised by the Communication and Media Center (COMET), Department of Communication, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (AHAS KIRKHS) with its university partners, Prince of Songkla University International College and Universitas Islam Riau.***