Speakers

A journalism practitioner and academician, started as a full-time journalist with the Manila Bureau of Agence France-Presse before he went to the University of Minnesota on a Fulbright-Smith Mundt scholarship. After getting his M.A. and Ph.D. there in 1967, he returned to the Philippines to take on the job as first permanent director of the School of Communication, Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines. He served as director for for 15 years. He was editor of the Silliman Journal from 1970 to 1980.

He later moved on to become professor, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños, from where he retired in 1998. While at UPLB, he co-founded and became president of LIFE foundation, an environmental NGO that worked to save Laguna Lake. After “retiring” from UPLB, he was invited to be Senior Vice President and Dean, Graduate School, Asian Institute of Journalism, in Manila. After retirement he has been visiting mass communication professor in the United States, Norway, and Singapore.

Among his many areas of expertise is science and agriculture journalism which he taught at UP Los Baños for many years. Among his 37 published books are Science and Science Writing, a Manual on Ethnic Reporting, both published by the Philippine Press Institute; Genes are Gems: Reporting Agribiotechnology (2006), Hyderabad, India: ICRISAT and ISAAA; Science Writing and Climate Change (2019).

Other books he published recently are: PACE Turning 50: A History of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators. (2023); AMIC @ 50: Turning Gold A History of Asian Media and Information and Communication Centre (AMIC, 2022); Never Again! (To Martial Law) A Sequel to Martial Law Jokes Atbp (self-published, 2019) and Jokes Only: A Book on Duterteisms (self-published, 2022). 

Mr. Guilherme Canela is the Director of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, and Secretary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP) at UNESCO headquarters, Paris, He is a former Chief of the Section for Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists for 2020-2025, where he was responsible for World Press Freedom Day, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, and the Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms.

Between 2012 and 2020, he held the position of Communication and Information Regional Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNESCO Montevideo Office.

In 2000-2008, Guilherme coordinated the media and journalism research area of the News Agency for Children’s Rights (ANDI), responsible for several studies on news media coverage on issues such as children’s education, rights, health, sexual abuse, human and social development, among others. He is co-author of 10 books on various topics, including human rights, children’s rights, and development and democracies.

He has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Brasília (UNB) and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (USP).

Krishnan Subramanian has invested nearly 40 years helping clients understand consumer behavior and  equipping them with strategies and frameworks that make their communications purposeful and attractive. 

This has helped consumers connect better with brands as diverse as American Express, Apple, Blackrock Mutual,  Coca Cola, Ikea, Standard Chartered Bank, and Unilever, among others. 

He has worked across 15 cities in Asia, has published multiple articles on diverse topics, and has lectured at various forums and institutes in India, France, UK, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Usha Raman is Professor, Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad. Her academic interests span journalism pedagogy, cultural studies of science, health communication, children's media, feminist media studies, and digital cultures. In addition to edited books, a co-authored monograph, and over 50 journal articles and book chapters, she writes regularly for the popular media on issues related to health, gender and education, and edits a monthly magazine for school teachers, called Teacher Plus. Recent books include the co-edited volume, Childscape, Mediascape: Children and Media in India (Orient Blackswan, 2023), and the co-authored Digital Expressions of the Self(ie): The Social Life of Selfies in India (2024). Her debut novel, Polite Conversations (BEE Books) was published in 2024.

Dr. Pattanayak is the Director of the Institute of Knowledge Societies, an interdisciplinary institute dedicated to research and education on the interface between modern technologies and traditional knowledge systems. It incorporates UNESCO’s recommendations that are contained in the “Toward Knowledge Societies” report (2005).

Pattanayak served as Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean, and later Vice Chancellor i/c, of the Himgiri ZEE University in Dahradun, India, and also as Director of the University of Hawaii Manoa India programs. He served as Consultant for Community Media with the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the National Skill Development Corporation, Government of India. He was also Senior Consultant, South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation; Consultant on Education and Communication, Government of Norway; and India Representative for AMIC. He also worked as an academic in the US. His early training was in Theater, Film, Ritual Studies, English Literature and Communications. He studied for a doctorate at the McGill University, Montreal.

Ms. Maaly Hazzaz began her career as a journalist, gaining extensive experience across media platforms. In 2009, she transitioned to the United Nations system.  She coordinated the UNESCO Multi Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and the Safety of Journalists, providing support to 38 countries across five regions.

She was appointed Advisor for Communication and Information for South Asia at the UNESCO Regional Office in New Delhi. Her mandate includes supporting programs related to freedom of expression, access to information, media development, and the safety of journalists.

Dr. Myssayeva holds a PhD in Journalism from al-Farabi Kazakh National University. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Ohio University, a Research Scholar at George Washington University and Oklahoma State University, and a post-doctorate program (IFEAC) scholar at Strasbourg University in France. Her research interests focus on new media and social media, as well as media education development in Central Asia. She is AMIC representative for Kazakstan.

Ma. Diosa Labiste, PhD, is the new Dean of the College of Media and Communication of the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Dr. Labiste's program of action focuses on Husay, Tapang, at Unawa (ensuring excellence, courage, and deep understanding in media and communication education). She is an Associate Professor at the Journalism Department of the UP-CMC. She earned her doctorate from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. Dean Labiste has supported AMIC by presenting a paper at its international conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in 2023.

(Excerpts from https://web.facebook.com/photofbid=1051254443697117&set=a.451013260387908 and https://www.plarideljournal.org/may-akda/labiste-ma-diosa/)

PHOTO SOURCE: https://web.facebook.com/photo/fbid=122117223950794700&set=a.122098680104794700 

Prof. Mira K. Desai is currently heading University Department of Extension & Communication and has additional charge of Department of Food Science & Nutrition as well as RUSA Centre for Food Product Development at SNDTWU Juhu campus, Mumbai. With graduation in commerce and two postgraduate degrees in Development Communication (Gujarat University) and Distance Education (IGNOU), her PhD is in Home Science Extension (SNDTWU) with work in the area of cultural imperialism guided by American trained Anthropologist Dr. Binod C Agrawal. She has professional experience of over three decades across multiple academic disciplines- journalism mass communication, Home Science Extension, Gender studies and distance education. Her core areas of competences are teaching, content creation, curriculum design, training design and research. Having government of India award for her book manuscript for neo-literates, she has nine books, 23 book chapters, 22 journal papers, SLM materials, reports and 50+ popular articles to her credit. She writes in Gujarati, English and Hindi. She is associated with multiple professional associations of media and communication locally as well as globally. Currently she is on Board of directors of ORBICOM- Unesco Chair in Communications Montreal, Country Representative AMIC Manila and Coordinator AMIC India Fund at SNDTWU, Vice President of GCRA Paraguay and Founding Member of MEAM Maharashtra and SNDT Alumnae Association. Her research interest are audiences, Indian television, women’s studies/gender, development, and sociology of technology. 

Prof.(Dr.) K G Suresh is a journalist, educator, and communication strategist. He is the Founder President, Global Media Education Council,  an international academic platform, and  Vice-President, Indian Communication Congress.

He also serves as  Professor Emeritus at  the Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and  Professor (Hony) at Apeejay Stya University, Gurugram, India’s first liberal Arts University.

He has served as Senior Consulting Editor, Doordashan News; Editorial Consultant, Asianet News Network and and Chief Political Correspondent, Press Trust of India.

Dr. Peixin Cao is a Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Journalism at the Communication University of China. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. He is recognized as a Beijing Outstanding Young Teacher and leads a national first-class undergraduate course. Dr. Cao serves as China’s country representative to AMIC and as a news commentator for China National Radio. His research focuses on political economy of communication and visual communication. He teaches courses such as communication research methods, communication theory, and news commentary writing. He has published over 50 academic articles and contributes media and art commentary to outlets including Global Times, China Art Weekly, and China National Radio. 

Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne, is a journalist, podcaster, author and an international communications scholar. He is currently a consultant to the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, and also a Research Fellow at the Shinawatra International University in Thailand. He is a former Head of Research at AMIC. He has authored 4 books on international communications: Global News Media: Countering Western Hegemony in International News (Atlantic, 2025), GeoPolitics and the media in Asia and the Pacific: Pulling in Different Directions (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024), Myth of ‘Free Media’ and Fake News in the Post-Truth Era  (SAGE, 2020), and Countering MTV Influence in Indonesia and Malaysia (ISEAS, 2012). He has also edited numerous other books on communications issues such as ‘Mindful Communication for Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Asia’ (SAGE, 2018). He has been a prolific feature writer for news agencies and publications, especially in Asia, for the past 30 years. Kalinga is currently a regular contributor to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He has also taught at tertiary level  in Australia, Singapore, Thailand, India and Central Asia. He is a recipient of an UN Media Peace Award in 1987 for his work on Australian community radio. 

He is a professor in the Journalism Department, College of Media and Communication, University of the Philippines (UP CMC) in Diliman, Quezon City. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for International Studies (CIS) at UP Diliman, special lecturer of the Department of Journalism, College of Communication, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Manila, and editor of Media Asia, a journal published by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

He was associate dean of UP CMC; assistant vice-president for public affairs and director, System Information Office (SIO) of UP;  associate editor of the UP-based refereed journal Social Science Diliman;  visiting professor at Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea; editor-in-chief and head of research at IBON Foundation, a research think-tank. He taught Political Science at De La Salle University (DLSU)-Manila.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communication (major in Journalism), cum laude, from UP Diliman, Master of Arts (MA) in Philippine Studies, with High Distinction, at DLSU-Manila, and Doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) at Technische Universität (TU) Ilmenau (Germany).

Mr. Pant is an advocate for the independent media, known for his commitment and actions to media development and press freedom globally. In 2015, Pant founded Media Action Nepal. Under his leadership, the organization joined the leading global media development and press freedom alliances, including the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network (MFC-CN), the Civil Society Coalition of the Forum on Information & Democracy, ACOS Alliance, and the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). An Adjunct Professor at the Tbilisi State University, he also serves as the Country Representative for Nepal at the AMIC. He taught development journalism at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and media studies at Kathmandu University, Nepal. A former UN Programme Specialist, Pant began his career over two decades ago as a journalist. He has co-edited major international research publications, contributing works focused on the safety of journalists.