By Innocent Fowung (UK Correspondent)
The 4th World Conference on Media and Communication was recently hosted by University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK), bringing together more than 100 media professionals, academia, and civil society leaders from around the world for three days intense learning, discussions and networking. The University of Cambridge, known worldwide for its outstanding academic achievement, used its ideal venue (WORLD DCMC 2024), for peers to network, uncover new trends and research, and also gain fresh perspectives on various topics in media and communication.
The conference was organised by ACAVENT, a worldwide organiser of scientific conferences, workshops and exhibitions. The WORLDDCMC permited all accepted research papers to be published in the conference proceedings and indexed journals. The conference was held from 7th to 9th of June at the Møller Institute at Churchill College. Participants listened to some of their peers who presented an insightful knowledge on different aspects of media and communication to help them succeed in their professional or academic career.
The first presenter, Dr. Damir Solak, from Czech Republic, shared his thoughts on “Funding the activities of public service media in new media”. Some researchers were able to present research topics on some issues affecting their societies. The case of a Chinese researcher “we are one”, transmitting the idea that everything and even humans can be one.
The second presenter was Dr. Amdalhadi Mohammed from Saudi Arabia who edified the listeners on the optimisation of social media affordances in public relations practice in Saudi Arabia: A public and practitioner perspective. Another mind blowing discussion was that of Dr. Yusuf Mu’azu and Professor Nuhu Diraso from Nigeria, who presented the role of social media platforms in public relations strategies in Nigeria. And then a presentation that got participants on a heated exchange was that of Dr. Tom Henkel from the United States, who presented a real life workplace challenge on “the necessity for Advancing supportive professional communication in the workplace.” Dr. Henkel stated that most of the time when employees have a problem and go to their bosses for solution, the employer turns to put the blames on the employee to be the problem.
On the third day, participants listened to virtual presentations on topics such as Politicians on TikTok: The characteristics of politicians’ most popular Tiktok videos amongst others. At the end of the 3 days, participants received certificate of participation, and amongst them was Shivon Boghuma, who works for Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) Bafoussam, West Region of Cameroon. Speaking to Shivon Boghuma after the conference, she stated that it was a great experience to network with other media personalities from Africa and around the world. Shivon stated that listening to speakers from China, United States (US), Czech Republic, and the UK; gave her an idea on how the mainstream media is being financed. Shivon also added that she learnt that the official media pages of the government owned media organisation can generate revenue to fund the mainstream media. Drawing from the presentation of Dr Henkel, Shivon concluded by adding that “if I become a manager and have people working under me, I should endeavour to be approachable and listen to my subordinates in order to find solution to the problem they are raising”.
At the end of the three days conference, participants had a guided tour of the Cambridge city and the historic Cambridge University, and had a stop at the kings College chapel.