Inevitably, as citizens of the 21st century, we are bound to the digital media technology, whether we are on our phones, or laptops surfing the media and scrolling through social media or news portal. With much truth, the role of media is not limited and its strength to empower has heightened in comparison to before.
Speaking during the WESPEAKMEDIA 2018 organised by Diploma in Mass Communication final year students from Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology (LICT), its Project Manager, Mohammed Daniel Jamal said, “The media is mightier than a pen because of the amount of power it has. Hence, I think there is a big responsibility that should be played out by the media industry to impact the society positively.”
WESPEAKMEDIA 2018 was a forum that discussed on embracing the 21st-century media in Sarawak featuring four panellists from the media industry to share their experiences on working as members of the industry and how the new media will shape the future of Sarawak.
Recognising the soaring importance of communication in our everyday life, final year students from the Faculty of Communication, Media & Broadcasting (FCMB) undertaking Diploma in Mass Communication at Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology (LICT) organised WESPEAKMEDIA 2018 aimed at spreading awareness on 21st century media which was held on November 2 at TEGAS Digital Innovation Hub, ICOM Square, Kuching.
The panellists were social-media influencer Iqbal Harun, Cats FM Head of Programme Aelma Safina Zaidi, PixBugs Studio representative and FCMB alumnus Carlucci Noel and Sarawakian Youtuber and content creator Dalton Yeo.
Daniel also said that being a media and communication student, him and his classmates felt that it is their responsibility to help in elevating the society’s awareness about all things ‘MassComm’ especially to the people of Sarawak.
“We hope Sarawakians, particularly Kuchingites, will have a better understanding about the mechanisms of the media industry, especially parents and secondary school students who may consider pursuing communication for their tertiary-level studies and future career” he added.
Panellist Aelma Safina Zaidi said WESPEAKMEDIA 2018 was a timely event as the use of digital media and communication is more rampant today than it ever has been.
“I am happy that FCMB students organised the event which is very much needed at the moment. CATS FM has had interns from the faculty throughout the years and they have shown great commitment and an excellent display of knowledge, skills and attitude during their internship. We are looking forward to more industrial-training activities with the faculty in the future”.
FCMB Program Leader Afida Khasuma Zaidi said the event is part of the requirement for their final semester module Corporate Event Management in which the students are given the task to organise an event from scratch.
“Through this project, we are gearing the students to be industrial-ready and be the best graduate they can be” she added.
When asked how can the media in Sarawak improve its course within the next 10 years, Pixbugs Studio, Carlucci disclosed that Sarawakians as a whole should provide constructive criticism to its media players, and the media players should accept it as a way to improve themselves.
“When compared with Kuala Lumpur-based Youtubers, our local Youtubers usually gets sweet comments than constructive criticisms. I think our Sarawakians are generally nice people, but it is only through criticisms that we can actually grow,” he said.
Carlucci lamented also that our local has the mentality to choose international movie compared to a locally made movie. “We have this mentality that local products are not as good as international. And for the film media industry in Sarawak and Malaysia, this is a barrier.”
Thus, Aelma of Cats FM continued, “Supporting the locals start first, only then we can see a growth.” This is important as by learning to appreciate what we have in our backyard, only then we can start to appreciate what we have.
About Limkokwing University
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is a private international University with a presence across Africa, Europe and Asia, with its main campus in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. At the moment, the University has over 30,000 students from more than 165 countries, studying in 14 campuses located across the three continents.
