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THE College of Mass Communication of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental hosted a forum on responsible media its alumna who holds the distinction as the first community journalist winner of the Marshall McLuhan Prize for 2009 from the Embassy of Canada.
Diosa Labiste, who is based in Iloilo and a contributing writer to VERA Files, talked about ?Media and the Elections: Our Role in Participatory Democracy.?
A journalist for almost 20 years, Labiste obtained her undergraduate degree from Silliman in 1985 and is presently finishing her doctoral studies in sociology at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. She is a multi-awarded journalist and was the recipient last year of the top prize in Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.
In the forum, Labiste discussed some communication theories popularized by Canadian media scholar Marshall McLuhan, after whom the grand prize she received was named. One was on the concept of a ?global village? which points out to how the global exchange of news and ideas would change societies. A post-modern take on it, she said, highlights technology as an extension of one?s self.
She captured the interest of the audience composed largely of Mass Communication students from Silliman when she focused on new media technologies. She tackled their role in building a culture of democracy and how they facilitate the process of making judgment.
