The call for papers is out for this year’s National Communication Research Conference which will be held Nov. 22 to 23 at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
The event is organized by UPD’s Department of Communication Research, College of Mass Communication, and was first held in 2012. In 2016, the department and the Philippines Communication Society staged the first Communication Research International Conference. Last year, the NCRC was held in Baguio City, the first time it left the UPD campus.
The NCRC provides students and their faculty mentors with the opportunity to present and discuss their research papers beyond the classroom.
This year’s NCRC theme is “Examining Philippine Media: Texts and Contexts.” “Given the divergent and often conflicting assessment of media today by various institutions,” say the organizers, “there is a need to revitalize our critical engagement with and consumption of the media within and across platforms. As an emblem of a robust democracy, the media merits the public’s active reception of their content. The principles, procedures, and practices behind media content creation and production also require scholarly investigation using different methods and theories.”
Abstracts of between 350 and 500 words are being accepted on the following topics involving Filipinos and the Philippines: media platforms (folk/traditional, legacy/mass, interactive/digital media), media content (creation, construction, transmission, and exchange), media audiences (reception and effects), media and indigenous peoples, media and identity (i.e., religion, gender, class), media, politics, and governance, media and development, media and the family, organizations and media, media and strategic communication (i.e., PR, advertising, IEC campaigns), and media and persuasive communication.
The deadline for abstract submission is Aug. 31, 2018.
Other dates to remember: Sept. 15, notification of acceptance and opening of registration portal; Oct. 15, deadline for submission of full papers; Oct. 25, deadline for early bird registration; and Nov. 8, deadline for registration.
The conference is open to everyone, including those who will not present a paper. The registration fee is P500 and covers the book of abstracts, conference badge, and certificate of participation.
Abstracts must include five keywords and may be written in Filipino, English, or indigenous languages (the latter with accompanying translation in Filipino or English). For more details on the format of submission of abstracts and full papers, visit the event’s Facebook page at NCRC Philippines or email [email protected].
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Now why is this event important?
There would be no human endeavor without communication. With today’s technological advances and the massive and rapid cultural shifts that occurred and are occurring with digital and new media, we need to study the impact and effects of these technologies and cultures in our lives, as well as that of the media content that they generate.
Social media now allows every individual with access to the Internet to air their views and opinions, and share those of others immediately to large masses of people. This makes it easy to share not only truths but also lies—“fake news.” Many people cannot discern between the two.
The immediacy of social media and other attendant factors has also led to the rise of propagandists and the polarization that we now observe in our society particularly on the political front—i.e., the “DDS” (die-hard Duterte supporters) and the “Dilawan” (those opposed to Duterte, specifically those allied with the previous administration).
However, social media also provides us with the opportunity and platform to take up social causes. One such movement that started on Twitter and Facebook was #BabaeAko (also #BabaeTayo) where Filipinas expressed their outrage at the current Philippine president’s misogynistic remarks and expressed policies, such as not wanting to hire women for some higher offices because they cannot handle “threats and intimidation.”
These and other such interesting communication phenomena deserve to be studied in a scholarly fashion, and I look forward to the papers that will be read at this year’s NCRC. We look to our communication scholars to help us understand what is happening in the media and why, with a view to providing solutions that will unite rather than divide us as a people.
Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communication consultant. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO