Ever since January 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has become a threat to global public health. Anti-epidemic prevention measures have become the new normal in which people adapt to daily routines, be it at home, work or study. While information dissemination and gatekeeping are prominent to the news production, the media should have played a more crucial role at this critical moment. However, the traditional media in Malaysia have been greatly impacted when the pandemic struck. It has also undergone rapid changes due to digital convergence. These include restructuring exercise, employment downsizing, pay cut, closure, etc.

At the same time, the influence of mass media is declining. Traditional media are switching to internet platforms, or accumulating social media click-through rate for popularity, others are joining in the digital market competition with mushrooming growth of self-media.

In an era of “Everyone is a communicator”, how do traditional media, internet media and self-media strike a balance between commercial market and high-quality content? How do you build a healthy media environment? How to reciprocate with the political transformation and expectation of civil society? Those are essential questions to be answered before a traditional media goes with the flow.

In conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of the Department of Media Studies, New Era University College, the department is inviting communication scholars and media representatives of various fields, from local to Taiwan, for dialogues and exchange of views. It is hoped that such interaction could help in the promotion of diversity of practice in the local media development, democratic reform and social progress.