AMCAP-UO 2022 International Media Conference

Health and Well-being in (post) Pandemic World: Roles and Responsibilities of Media and Communication

February 02-03, 2022 University of Okara, Pakistan

The turn of 2020 was not usual, on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared covid-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Since then, the world has changed. Covid-19 pandemic has affected the structures and operations of societies. The political, social, cultural and economic order around the world has entered into a new phase that is characterized by prioritization of human health, enhanced digitization, remote working culture, e- education, online communities, defiant social order and economic meltdown. Other than the human loss of 4.4 million precious lives, the economic toll of Covid-19 is estimated around 76.69 billion US dollars around the world along with unemployment, inflation and food scarcity.

The communication of information on health behaviors and actions is considered the foremost step in dealing with diseases and situations created due to their occurrences. The information environment created due to covid-19 has remained uncertain. It was hard to distinguish between misinformation, disinformation, lie, rumor, truth, opinion and news. The information chaos witnessed around the world has raised important questions on the use of communication media (mainstream & social media) for strategic purposes. Theories and notions of behavior change received a setback and raised a need to re-investigate the long-standing tradition of behavioral and health communication for the emerging realities of social media, post-truth, and information flux.

The pandemic also challenged the authority of the governments when protests were staged in USA, UK, Brazil, Germany and other parts of the world to decline the orders to practice prescribed behaviors and actions. The critical questions on the availability of economic resources on the basis of needs surfaced with more intensity when nations are divided on the availability and type of vaccinations.

In post March 2020 scenario humans are living in a new world. This new world is not a chosen one rather a forced adobe that was created by a creature of a size less than 20 Nano meters. The ability of this virus to undergo transformation gives us a lesson to change, but for the uncertainty. This uncertainty demands a deliberation and analysis to reevaluate the human conditions in new (post) pandemic world. This deliberation must be multi-layered involving all stakeholders with communication and media at its pivot. AMCAP-UO 2022 International media conference titled, Health and Well-being in (post) Pandemic World: Roles and Responsibilities of Media and Communication is offering four plenary sessions to address the scenarios described above. The themes of the plenaries are as follows:

Plenary 1: Lessons Learned on the Effects of Media on Public Behavior; What was More Difficult to Deal with: (mis/dis) Information or Virus 

Plenary II: Digital Media, Public Health and Gender in Pakistan: Challenges and Prospects

Plenary III: NEWS that Serves: Doing Journalism for the People During Crisis

Plenary IV: Living in Pandemic: Human Rights and Responsibility of Media

(A Special Session by Human Rights Chair, University of the Punjab)

Besides four plenaries, one Working Group was held, consisting of teaching faculty of media departments from public and private sector universities across Pakistan to evaluate vision, mission, policy and, direction of the offered programs from character building perspective.

Organizers

Association of Media & Communication Academic Professionals (AMCAP)

University of Okara