Educated perception

Given the preponderance of disinformation and denialism, research plays a vital role in truth-telling and shaping public opinion. While opinions have objective and subjective elements, what proves to be crucial in avoiding baseless claims is educated perception. The rightness or wrongness of perceptions may be determined by cognitive (knowledge), conative (actions) and affective (feeling) aspects (Walgito, 2010).

In media practice, editorial decisions should be based on the right information coming from reliable sources. This is much easier said than done as “fake news” has become an industry (Ong & Cabañes, 2018). Vosoughi et al. (2018) also stressed that lies, misinformation, and disinformation tend to spread faster than the truth. That there are certain groups and individuals who deny basic truths on issues like human rights violations and climate change make the task of truth-telling even more challenging and even frustrating.

May we all be armed with the right education and perception in fighting disinformation and denialism.

Line-up

The March 2023 issue titled “Education and Perception” covers the media and Asian angles of these two topics. The six refereed articles analyze journalism education, media interactivity, framing, audience perception, and media influence.

Sadia Jamil and Kriti Bhuju (Environmental journalism education beyond the conventional pedagogical approaches: Exploring the scope of experiential learning to train Pakistan’s journalism students) analyze how an experience-based model can help improve the news media’s coverage of environmental issues in Pakistan. Geeta Kashyap, Harsh Mishra, and Harikrishnan Bhaskaran (Data journalists’ perception and practice of transparency and interactivity in Indian newsrooms) stress that Indian data journalists acknowledge the importance of transparency and interactivity but exhibit a cautious approach in using them.

Weilun Ju, Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi, and Emma Mohamad (“Public goods” or “diplomatic tools”: a framing research on Chinese and American media reports regarding Chinese COVID-19 vaccine) conclude that a positive image is helpful for China to reposition itself in global public opinion and enhance its soft power while a negative discourse deconstructs the positive China image and counterbalances China’s vaccine diplomacy. Yi Lin, Dechawat Nettayakul, and Worapinya Kingminghae (Chineseness, situatedness, and what the Thai-Chinese see in Chinese dramas) stress that compared with other Thais, the Thai-Chinese attach more importance to the plots and meanings of Chinese dramas while attaching less importance to the fame, looks, and acting of the artists.

Rachel E. Riggs, Samer Melhem, Carolina Pérez, Camden Smith, and Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter (Understanding American college students’ perceptions of Asians on television) observe that college students’ perceptions of Asian representation in television media affect the way they perceive Asian Americans, further reinforcing stereotypical message perception and evaluations of Asians. Fathima Thasneem A (Influence of Korean and Chinese dramas on Indian university students in the context of COVID-19 lockdown) establishes that the lockdown period has provided great opportunities for the young generation of students to explore a wide variety of Korean and Chinese content.

There are also two non-refereed commentaries in this issue. Eunice Barbara C. Novio analyzes the challenges to journalists and journalism educators in the Philippines as the incumbent President happens to be the dictator’s son. Indumathi Somashekar and Melwyn S. Pinto discuss the various facets of Indian cinema.

Four non-refereed reviews are also included. Ilfiandra, Goutam Karmakar, Melwyn S. Pinto, Mohamad Saripudin, Abhishika Sharma, Amitabh Srivastava, Yaya Sunarya, and Amit Verma analyze a book and three films focusing on media’s role in society.

With these articles, we hope to help raise the level of discourse on media-related aspects of education and perception and how they apply to certain parts of Asia.

Turning gold

This year is special because 2023 is Media Asia’s “golden milestone”. We celebrate our 50th year by announcing changes in our quarterly journal, mainly for the benefit of subscribers and authors.

Unlike in the past where the issues are limited by the number of pages, it is now possible to include more refereed articles and non-refereed commentaries and reviews. The March 2023 issue, for example, has 12 articles. Based on our issue planning, the June, September, and December 2023 issues are expected to have 10 to 12 articles each. In other words, Media Asia would have more than 40 articles in its four issues this year.

Please expect the issues to be thicker. Much as authors need to adhere to the word count as prescribed in the Instructions for Authors section of our website, their articles should be included in an issue much faster than before.

Media Asia is also able to publish issues on time or even ahead of schedule. As early as the last quarter of 2022, we already have an initial line-up of articles for all issues this year. As regards the March 2023 issue, the 12 articles included here were published first online from May to September 2022. This editorial was prepared as early as December 2022.

Given that most of the articles included in the June, September and December 2023 issues have been published online already, please also expect these issues to be on time or ahead of schedule.

The editorial and production teams of our journal look forward to more milestones in 2023 and beyond.

Danilo Araña Arao
Department of Journalism, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0259-9865

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danilo Araña Arao

Danilo Araña Arao is an associate professor at the Department of Journalism, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. He is the editor of Media Asia.