University of Santo Tomas Office of Public Affairs (OPA) Director Assoc.
Prof. Giovanna V. Fontanilla, Ph.D., who is also an accredited public relations practitioner, together with OPA Office Assistant for Media, Events, and Special Visits Ms. Michaella O. Lagniton, attended the 2018 Global News Forum held from July 24 to 25 at the Grand Hotel Saigon in Ho Chi
Minh, Vietnam.
One of the four functions of the OPA is media relations. The publication of
Press Releases on UST is facilitated by OPA, and so is the presence of media in University events. Another media-related task is partnering with media for certain programs like the election debate that was held at the Quadricentennial Pavilion produced by CNN for the vice presidential
debate for the 2016 election.
This function requires OPA to network with both the local and the international media to support the University’s efforts at internationalization and at the same time it assists Public Affairs in promoting UST’s public presence. The international news dialogue had for its theme “News in the Digital Age,” hosted by VTV-Vietnam. In its sessions, topics discussed were: “The End of Monopoly on Information: Social Media – Destructive or Constructive?”, “Fake News: Threat or Opportunity?”, “Media Ethics in a Digital World”, “Building Trust and Credibility:Focusing on Young Generations”, “Harassment Against Journalists on Digital Media”, “Stories of Members Successes and Challenges”, and “Is Your Newsroom Ready for Climate Change?”
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Director of Strategic Development of the University of Oxford Dr. Alexandra Borchardt presented a paper on “Insights into News Consumption, Audience Behavior and Trust in the Media Worldwide.” A master class on “Media Ethics and Media Freedom” was conducted by the Director of the Ethical Journalism Network Mr. Chris Elliot.
Panelists for the discussions were: Thomson Foundation Chief Executive Mr. Nigel Baker; Channel News Asia (CNA) Digital News Deputy Chief Editor Mr. David Bottomley; Russia Today Social Media Projects Head Mr. Arthur
Sokolov; Reuters Singapore Asia Editor Mr. Ahmed Assar; European Broadcasting Union Head of Eurovision News Exchange and News
Strategy Ms. Justyna Kurczabinska; International Movement for a Just World President Dr. Chandra Muzaffar; idtalent Indonesia Founder
Mr. Putra Nababan; Thai Public Broadcasting Service Deputy Director General Mr. Pipope Panitchpakdi; ABS-CBN Senior Vice President
Ms. Ging Reyes; EMTV Head of News Mr. Neville Choi; Turkish Radio and Television World Director Mr. Fatih Er; Korean Broadcasting System Deputy
Director for the Digital Newsroom Yansoon Kim; NHK Deputy Director Mr. Genichi Inabe; BBC Editorial Policy and Standards Director Mr. David
Jordan; Pacific Environment Journalists Network Chairman Mr. Iliesa Tora; among others. The 2019 Global News Forum will be held in Istanbul, Turkey
