On the 4th of April, 2011, the second annual media related panel, titled ‘Media and Inclusion: It’s influence and responsibilities for social ethics’, was held at the same historic venue, Customs House.
Last year’s panel featured the launch of ISRA whereas this year prominent local and international speakers explored the impact of media on social harmony.
The event was sponsored by City of Sydney Living in Harmony Initiative and the US based Fountain Magazine, 'A magazine of scientific and spiritual thought'. Chaired by the State director of ABC, Peter Longman, the evening began with a warm ‘Welcome to Country’ by Norma Ingram. The panel‘s four speakers delivered insightful and highly engaging presentations.
Mr Peter Manning , Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Monash University & author of “Us & Them” and Former Producer of the ABC Four Corners Program, analysed the ways in which Australian values are determined, defined and ultimately represented through various media. Drawing on specific examples such as Rwanda and wartime reporting, Mr Manning examined the (inevitably) subjective nature of media and its role in shaping values and reinforcing attitudes.
Prof Radhi al-Mabouk, Head of Educational Psychology and Foundations Department in the University of Northern Iowa, USA, addressed the influence and responsibilities of media with particular attention to the value of ‘forgiveness’. After explaining the three dimensions to Fethullah Gulen’s perspective on forgiveness, patient endurance, tolerance or mutual respect, and capacity for compassion, Prof al-Mabouk outlined some suggestions on the potential role of the media in investigating and fostering such values before concluding with examples of how this has been achieved in The Fountain magazine.
Dr Jon Pahl, Professor of the History of Christianity in North America and the Director of MA programs at The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, addressed the fundamental question of whether media can be moral. Prof Pahl outlined the significance of the notion of sacred space to allow media to be “oriented positively to foster social compassion and charity, to critique injustice and violence, to provide voices for otherwise silenced citizens, and to hold up for societies and individuals the highest, rather than the lowest, human aspirations and ethical horizons.
Mr Hakan Yesilova, Chief Editor of Fountain Magazine, emphasised ageless and growing power of words and speech and how this might impact on our understanding of values such as democracy in a context of information overload and extremely powerful mass media. The need for such a magazine as the Fountain became especially evident in the late 1970s when ‘the world really changed’ to allow for positive interaction with the world. Mr Yesilova also emphasised the importance of such values as humility and reconciliation between spirituality and science, and East and West as founding principles for the magazine.
The stimulating discussions were followed by a question and answer session in which members of the audience raised such issues as the inherent attractiveness of ‘bad news’, unconscious replication of ideas and gender perceptions in building a new, 21st century model of media with particular focus on shared values.
In his Vote of Thanks, Mr Mehmet Saral, President of Affinity Intercultural Foundation, expressed an intention on behalf of Affinity to hold similar panels every year as a sign of its commitment to a fairer and more inclusive media in Australia.
After all, media has a paramount impact in preserving values such as multiculturalism and allowing for greater communication across different sectors of the community which is at the heart of intercultural dialogue.
by Semra Avcuogullari
 |
 |
