Reflecting on Media Education in South Asia for Subaltern Voices:Conference Chaired by Dr. Padmasiri Wanigasundera, SDJF

The International Web Convention to commemorate 100 Years of Media Education in South Asia was held on 19 & 20 December, 2020, focusing on ‘100 Years of Media Education: Decoding South Asian Mystique’. The event comprised of in-depth critical discourses encompassing a myriad of topics including contra-historicity of media in South Asia, Media and Technology, Media literacy, etc. These sessions were spearheaded by academics and experts in the field of Media and Journalism from the region and across the world. The Plenary Session IV on Media Education for Subaltern Voices was chaired by Dr. Padmasiri Wanigasundera, of Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF)

The session shed light on diversified aspects and issues related to the Subaltern or the socially and economically deprived groups in the society, whose access to Media education and media presence have been denied owing mainly to socio-political reasons. Prof. B. K. Ravi, Professor & Chairperson, Department of Communication, of Bangalore University said, “Media education has become a mirage for these people, therefore more opportunities should be made available for these marginalized fractions.” He also stressed, what has been prioritized in media today is its commercialization. So, media education should be regulated in such a way that the subalterns too could gain equal benefit.

Prof. Anjan Bera, Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Calcutta University, sharing his expertise highlighted, “The Convention provides us an opportunity not only to celebrate the past glory, but also to look at the problems in front of us.” The necessity of the participation and contribution of mainstream media professionals and community activists, the role of ethics in media, and the importance of community-based media for participatory communication and collaborative work were some of the key highlights of his speech.

Dr. Fatma Elzahraa Elsayed, from Cairo University, challenged, if the term used is justified for the people in the South and viewed the Convention as an opportunity to network to accelerate exchanging ideas and media education models, especially in revolutionizing development concepts and reviving prophecy of education in Media. The need for media programs to focus on research and alternative media practice was also central to this discussion.

While summarizing the remarks made by the key speakers, the Chair, Dr. Padmasiri Wanigasundera shared his experience and the role played by SDJF in addressing issues of the subaltern in Sri Lankan rural societies. “We have a vision to see a country with no voice poverty. SDJF has been conducting educational programs at the national level to address and to give a voice to the voice-poor.” stated Dr. Wanigasundera. He highlighted that the Vibrant Voices program initiated by SDJF has been able to give voice to women and other marginalized groups in the country. The organization has also introduced a Media Gender Charter for the Sri Lankan media to adopt, which he believes is a landmark introduction in the country. The youth are the driving force of a country, so, the contribution made by SDJF in developing MediaCorps Fellowship for rural young journalists, providing them technologies such as mobile journalism, has been able to network them to bring the issues of such deprived communities to the fore.

Concluding the session, the Chair thanked and acknowledged everyone’s invaluable contribution and reiterated, “We can’t have this divide where we continue to keep on blaming the political and the commercial interest of mainstream media, and hence, must join hands to help the disadvantaged people in the rural areas to educate and use the media more effectively.”

Written by- Marlene Perera