【Report】FPCJ 45th Anniversary International Webinar—The Future of Media: Competition and Coexistence Between Social Media and News Organizations—What Issues Has the Pandemic Brought to the Forefront?
post date : 2021.11.29
To commemorate our 45th anniversary, Foreign Press Center Japan held an international webinar on the topic The Future of Media: Competition and Coexistence between Social Media and News Organizations on Thursday, October 28, 2021. (Supported by the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association and the International University of Japan)
The seminar’s panelists were Ms. Chay F. Hofileña, who founded the Philippine online news site Rappler together with this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Ms. Maria Ressa and is Rappler’s managing editor; The Wall Street Journal’s Tokyo bureau chief Mr. Peter Landers; and the Asia editor for The Financial Times, Mr. Robin Harding. Based on examples from different countries and media organizations, the panel engaged in a vigorous debate about the potential of coexistence with social media and the role which should be played by the news media. (See here for panelist profiles and the program for the symposium)
The topic for the first session was “the issues and challenges traditional news organizations are facing with the rise of social media, and the resulting self-improvement.” Non-fiction writer Mr. Susumu Shimoyama gave a keynote speech about the relationship between news organizations and social media, and how traditional news organizations could survive, setting the stage for a lively discussion between the journalists.
The topic for the second session was “Problems with social media—Anonymity allowing for the spread of irresponsible extremism, abuse, unconfirmed information, lies, and fake news, and what news organizations can do about it.” International University of Japan Center for Global Communications Associate Professor Shinichi Yamaguchi gave a keynote speech about the effects of fact-checking articles on social media misinformation, and in response the journalists discussed their thoughts on social media from their differing perspectives.
Over one hundred people watched the webinar, from the media, businesses, local governments, universities, and other organizations in Japan and around the world.
Please click here to see the detailed report.