Call for Papers: 2012 Conference of Asian Media Literacy and Education

1. Introduction of the conference
Tsinghua International Center for Communications (TICC) is a founding member of the UNESCO-UNAOC UNITIWN on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (from now “Network”), created in May 2010. The main objective of the Network is to build capacity in each country and regional areas in order to further develop media and information literacy and intercultural dialogue programs and to contribute to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
In order to further develop media and information literacy in Asian countries, under authorization of the UNESCO-UNAOC UNITIWN, the “UNESCO-UNAOC UNITIWN Media Literacy and Education Conference” will be held on December 1, 2012 in Chongqing, China with experts and academics from China, Russia, Japan, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Nepal attending the conference.
UNAOC and TICC will award “associate member” of UNESCO-UNAOC UNITIWN Chair at the conference to organizations and institutions which share the objectives of the program and are interested to cooperate in their activities. As such will:
• Cooperate and participate in the general activities of the Chair both in globall and local activities;
• Participate in the publications and activities of the Chair, including active participation in the Network web-based clearinghouse (milunesco.unaoc.org)
• Participate in the Chair’s advisory board.
The conference will be hosted by UNESCO-UNAOC UNITIWN and TICC and sponsored by Southwestern University of Political Science and Law. No fees will be charged to attend the conference and food and boarding will be taken care of by the organizer.
Now the conference is calling for papers from experts, academic professionals, practitioners and researchers who will share the initiatives of the Chair.
2. Theme of the conference
Free, authentic and transparent dissemination of information is significant to the healthy development of a society of democracy and rule of law. With the booming of social media such as microblogs, BBS and individual blogs, the “gatekeeping” role of traditional media is diminishing while the ambiguous and false information and rumors spread by the Internet is a menace to not only democracy but to the individual freedom and the healthy growth of internet media as well, which calls for effective media literacy and education. The public must be equipped with certain capacity to differentiate, understand, question, evaluate, create and criticize information disseminated by the media, especially by internet media.
In light of the fact that teenagers and college students are the main users of internet media, the theme of the conference is how to effectively raise media literacy in institutions of higher learning and teenage education.
3. Main topics for discussion
(1) Status-quo of media exposure of teenagers and college students;
(2) How to raise media literacy and conduct media education of teenagers;
(3) challenges from social media to Journalism education;
(4) Study of China’s online public opinion
4. Writing requirements
(1) The title of the paper is customized with a relatively focused topic for discussion.
(2) A combination of theory and practice, strategic awareness, pertinence and operability are preferred.
(3) Comply with academic standards with attached references under and footnotes in the main text.
(4) The paper should be between 4,000 and 10,000 words.
(5) Please provide a digital copy of the paper in Microsoft word.
(6) Please attach an abstract of the paper in 300 words.
(7) Please attach a biography and correspondence of the author under the main text.
5. Submission
Please e-mail the abstract of the paper by November 15, 2012 and the full text by November 20, 2012 to the organizing committee. E-mail address: nadnew@163.com
6. Contact information of the organizing committee
Organizing Committee: School of Global Journalism and Communication, Southwest University of Political science and Law
Contact: Lu Chun
Tel: 023-67258502 13883845310
Contact: Zhao Wendan
Tel: 023-67258787 13594676041
Contact: Zhou You
Tel: 023-67258786 18716353828
Fax: 023-67258502
7. If any organizations and institutions are interested in applying for associate member of the Network, please contact the organizing committee directly by telephone.

Tsinghua International Center for Communications
October 10, 2012