The very first International Conference on Media and Research at Bahauddin Zakarya University (BZU) got immense appreciation not only at national level but globally also as many themes confronting the Muslim world and Pakistani society with regard to Media came under fruitful discussion. The Conference was organized under auspices of Institute of Communication and Media Studies and academia, social scientists, researchers from known universities of Pakistan, Sharjah, England, Turkey and many others attended the conference physically and through online sessions. In the opening ceremony, Dr Zafar Iqbal, a known scholar and Dean Islamic International University Islamabad highlighted the concept of Islamophobia and how it could be addressed for long lasting and durable peace across the globe.
He stated that Islamophobia was a sense of an extreme fear and dislike of Islam as a religion, an ideology, politically, culturally and economically. Dr Zafar suggested that the Muslims residing in West should also join politics, law and other social activities as it would help reducing mistrust because of frequent interactions. Similarly, a culture of dialogue is also essential for bring the people together. The West should not feel any sort of political, security, cultural or racist threat from Muslims.
Islam is a religion of peace, he maintained. About issues pertaining to Media and Society in Pakistan, he stated that news organizations had become mouthpiece of different political parties. He held Media organizations for polarization. He suggested that masses should have shares in Media organizations so that they could influence of editorial policy. The objective reporting can help to address issue of rising polarization among people owing to political idealologies. Professor Dr Stuart Allan from Cardiff University presented his work on importance of pictorial display and reporting during war. He suggested scholars to focus research in various dimensions of social media and artificial intelligence in Media. He also stated that Science Journalism was gaining special importance. He quoted different references from COVID-19’s reporting. The journalists should follow certain guidelines during pandemic situation and consult various experts before writing their news stories. Dr Cynthia Carter, another keynote speaker from Cardiff University England, in her work ” Inclusive Journalism, Gender and Global Media Monitoring Project 2020″ suggested that problems of marginalized section should be highlighted amicably. She also advocated maximum participation of women in all sectors of development. While quoting references from Nelson Mandela and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah speeches, Dr Cynthia stated that no society could make progress until it offered opportunities to women.
