Media Ethics and Fusion Conference
Adrian MackThe University of Central Oklahoma will hold its annual Media Ethics and Fusion Conference Monday and Tuesday on facebook live from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The conferences, while usually separate, are collaborating with an overall theme titled “Social Responsibility: Your role in 2020”.
Speakers and panelists will join virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and present issues of social responsibility in different communities, science vs. politics, the impact of social responsibility on social justice and many more.
The conferences will be arranged by students from the Mass Communications Department Media Conference Leadership class and Public Relations Student Society of America. The other student leaders of the conferences are Kellie Lewis, Ting-An Yen and Yu Xiang.
“Considering the state of the world right now, the team and I felt that social responsibility was the obvious and most important topic to address at the conference,” said Amanda Siew, the overall Director of both conferences.
Adapting to the new normal has been the theme of 2020 and the virtual conference is just one more step in that direction. This will give students the opportunity to attend and be able to discuss topics with panel speakers and guests.
The overall topic they hope to get across to students is change — change for the good and betterment of others on and off campus. Siew stated she is not expecting people to change overnight.
She believes starting that conversation and getting people to listen can possibly spark that change if not for the better. Students will get see and listen to a variety of panelists and speakers such as: the Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle, a national correspondent with Indian Country Today and the Vice President of Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Kassie McClung, health reporter for The Frontier is also speaking at the conference on Monday. Along with Jacklyn Chappell, KFOR anchor/reporter, Ayanna Najuma, founder of What Lies Between Us and child civil rights activist and Jennifer Pearsall, Emergency Training Specialist and Planning Section Chief for New York City’s Emergency Management Department.
“Being socially responsible isn’t just for one race or country, it spreads across humanity as a whole,” said Siew.
The beauty of using this online platform gives students a chance to share and ask friends and family to tune in and watch as well.
“It’s been very Humbling and picking up this leadership position is something she did not expect,” Siew said. Especially since Siew has been working this semester while being back home in her country of Malaysia.
For more information, go to https://mediafusioncon.wixsite.com/website. Students can fill out the form to receive STLR credit for attending the conferences.