Annenberg-Oxford
Media Policy Summer Institute
Annenberg-Oxford
Media Policy Summer Institute
Annenberg-Oxford 2012
Participant Bios.
Montserrat Arbos Figueras
Professor, Blanguema School of Communication
Montserrat Arbos Figueras is a professor at Blanquerna School of Communication (Ramon Llull University), in Barcelona, where she teaches both International Relations and Communication. She has a BA in Communication Studies from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and she has worked in the Catalan press for almost twenty years, always on International issues and with a particular interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Middle East policy. Her thesis for her Master Degree in Political and Social Communication focuses on the impact on the international media of the narrative of the Israeli political dissent, through three NGOs working in the area of political activism.
Tanka Raj Aryal
Executive Director, Citizens' Campaign for Right ro Information
Mr. Tanka Aryal has been working for Citizens’ Campaign for Right to Information (CCRI) as an Executive Director. He has served as a Country Representative to Nepal for ARTICLE 19. He is a known media activist and academician in Nepal who has worked very closely on various research projects in collaboration with ARTICLE 19, IFJ, Sancharika Samuha, Federation of Nepali Journalist (FNJ), Press Council of Nepal, UNESCO Nepal Office, and others. Mr. Aryal works as faculty of Media Law and Ethic in different colleges and He is a practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court of Nepal. He has served as a consultant to FNJ in various legal agendas and he has provided legal service in different courts where FNJ has to defend the rights of the journalist.
Mr. Aryal holds LL.M. degree in International Human Rights from Central European University, Hungary and LL.M. in Gender and Human Rights from Kathmandu School of Law, Nepal. Currently, he is committed to work for the promotion and protection of the right to information, media freedom, and media policies issues in Nepal.
Chalini Barros
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Doctoral Student, Federal University of Bahia
Chalini is a Ph.D. Student in Communication and Contemporary Culture (PósCom) at Federal University of Bahia and a member of the Study Group on Communication, Politics, and Digital Networks Research. She is currently a professor at the University Center Jorge Amado and a fellow of Capes. Ms. Barros graduated in Social Communication from the Federal University of Sergipe (2005) and received her Masters in Communication and Contemporary Culture from the Federal University of Bahia (2009). She is the author of the book "Broadcasting and Telecommunications: the paradox of segregation regulations in Brazil," published in 2010. Ms. Barros has experience in Communications, focusing on the following topics: television, broadcasting, telecommunications, public policy, democratization and the right to communicate.
Ms. Barros’ current research is based on a comparative methodology of television policy in countries in Mercosur that have undergone some changes over the last decade. The focus of her research seeks to realize a comparative analysis between Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, based theoretically in Communication and Political Science, but mainly the Political Economy of Communication. The work focuses on the concept of democratization of communication.
Katherine Borlongan
Head of International Development, Voxe.org
Katherine Borlongan is part of the team that founded the award-winning civic start-up, Voxe.org. Based in Paris, Voxe.org is a team of young innovators who build multi-platform applications that help contextualize, compare, and debate political platforms. Prior to this, she worked as a public affairs consultant to the International Civil Aviation Organization and as the Managing Director of Reporters sans frontières' (RSF) Canadian bureau. During her tenure at RSF, she developed assistance programs for journalists in conflict zones, basic cyber-security awareness workshops, as well as the bureau's crisis management protocol for cases involving kidnapped and imprisoned journalists.
As a merit scholar of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Katherine completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Bordeaux. She also holds a master's degree in Communication Studies from McGill University.
Leshuo Dong
Doctoral Student, Tsinghua University
Dong Leshuo is a PhD candidate specializing in international communication at the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University in China. Her research interests lie in international public relations, public diplomacy and framing. Aa a visiting scholar at the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School, Leshuo has continued to research China’s international public relations efforts in US. She has published several papers in leading Chinese academic journals, including the Journal of International Communication and Chinese Journalist. As a member of IAMCR, she has also presented several papers at the annual conference. Ms. Dong is also an assistant editor of the Global Media Journal, an academic journal co-published by Purdue and Tsinghua. She holds a MA in Journalism from Tsinghua University, and a BA in media communication from China Agricultural University.
Arzak Khan
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Regional Deputy Director, Ministry of Interior Government of Pakistan
Arzak Khan studies the marketing of human rights, new media, international activism and social movements. His research focuses on understanding the role played by new information communication technologies in mediatization of society, the development of ICT infrastructure, broadband development strategies, and regulation of the internet.
As a PhD candidate at University of Waikato, Arzak was awarded British Chevening Scholarship in 2007 to attend the highly esteemed Master in Communication Management program at Strathclyde Business School, Glasgow. He is also a recipient of DiploFoundation Policy Research Fellowship in internet governance and ICT policy capacity building program. Arzak also holds a Master in Computer Science from University of Balochistan, Pakistan. He has published and presented his research at national and international forums on the issues of broadband development, mediatization of society, social activism, internet freedom, media regulation and next generation infrastructure advancement in the South. He is the co-author of Freedom House report on “Freedom on the Internet in Pakistan” published in 2011.
Currently, Arzak is working as Regional Manager Network and Communications for National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan where he is responsible for the development of state of the art network providing solutions for biometric identity cards, e-governance and national security. He is also serving as a Media Advisor for the Cable TV Association of Pakistan where he advises major policy and regulatory issues impacting the Cable TV industry in Pakistan. He is also a successful entrepreneur and Co-founded the largest regional Cable TV network in Pakistan.
Helen Mayelle
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Communications & Media Officer, Refugee Law Project
Helen Fortunate Mayelle is Media and Communication officer at Refugee Law Project (RLP)’s Kitgum Peace Documentation Center (KPDC) based in the war torn northern region of Uganda bordering South Sudan. A graduate of Daystar University with a BA (Hons) in Communication, Ms. Mayelle worked as Programme Producer at Media Development in Africa (MEDEVA) and Nation Media Group (NMG)’s NTV Uganda respectively before joining RLP, where she has found passion for video advocacy used to fight injustices and human rights abuses, as well as an early warning tool against disasters. Born during the tumultuous period when the transitional government of the current NRM was fighting its way into power in the early ‘80s and raised in North Western Uganda, Helen grew up with the dream to change the situation in her society for the better and to stand and speak out for the marginalized and disadvantaged in society.
This dream never died as she naturally ventured into development communication in her tender teen years by first volunteering at a community based radio station during the height of the insurgency in Northern Uganda. From then on, Mayelle has never looked back and the limit for her is beyond the sky!
Ye Naing Moe
Internews Policy Fellow
Media Trainer, Internews
IYe Naing Moe received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from University of Rangoon (Yangon) in 1995. From 2000 to 2006 he was the Editor of a Yangon based monthly magazine before he went to University of California to study at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He previously worked for a Thailand-based media development organization, "The Indochina Media Memorial Foundation" (IMMF) where he trained journalists from Cambodia, Lao, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar for years. He has opened an informal journalism school in Yangon and has been teaching journalism to young reporters and editors in Yangon and Mandalay. He, together with his best friends, also has established a video production company named Satori Creative Works since 2007. He was an East West Center's Jefferson fellow in 2006 and was a fellow of South East Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) in 2005. He lives in Yangon with his wife and son.
Joseph Nyaga
Internews Media Policy Fellow
PhD Candidate in Law, Kathaliekie Universiteit Leuven
Joseph Kariuki Nyaga obtained his bachelor’s degree in law (Second Class honours - Upper division) in 2004 at the University of Nairobi (Kenya). In 2008, he obtained a Master of Law degree (LL.M) - magna cum laude - in International Business Law at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Joseph is currently doing research for his PhD thesis, entitled “Regulatory Convergence in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors: Challenges for East African Community and lessons from the experience of the European Union,” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Peggy Valcke and assisted by Prof. Dr. Jos Dumortier. His dissertation will aim to provide deeper insight in how regulation in the East African Community should adapt to the convergence phenomenon. Joseph is a member of the Kenya Law Society (Kenya's premier Bar association, with membership of all practicing advocates). In 2011, he worked as a trainee for the European Union’s External Action and Services (EEAS) for the EU foreign relations with East and Southern African Countries
Esref-Kenan Rasidagic
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Assistant Professor, University of Sarajevo
Dr. Ešref Kenan Rašidagić is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the International Islamic University in Malaysia, and a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies with concentration on Conflict Resolution Studies from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Mr. Rašidagić defended his PhD thesis in Political Science at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo. He teaches subjects related to International Relations, Comparative Politics, Media and Politics, Conflict Resolution and has been engaged in various NGOs as an activist and organizer of various public and humanitarian actions. Mr. Rašidagić also works as an independent consultant in fields related to social affairs, children and youth, and education. Author of several books, articles, essays, studies and contributor to a number of international conferences and seminars, Mr. Rašidagić appears frequently in the media as commentator of current political, security, and social affairs in the Balkans and the Middle East. His fields of research interest include political Islam, social policy, interaction between international and local actors in interventions, and the role of new media in socialization and mobilization of youth in transitional societies.
Sana Saleem
CEO, Bolo Bhi
Sana Saleem is an activist and freelance journalist working on minority rights and internet freedom issues in Pakistan. She is Director at Bolo Bhi (Speak Up), an organization with focus on advocacy, policy and research with focus on Internet Freedom, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Empowerment and against Gender Based Violence. With Bolo Bhi, Sana works closely on issues concerning internet and media regulations, working towards using researched back advocacy to influence policy-making and implementation. Sana was listed amongst Foriegn Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2012 for her work with Bolo Bhi against internet censorship in Pakistan.
She has worked as a Project Co-ordinator for Future Leaders of Pakistan, Sindh, where she headed a relief and rehabilitation program for flood survivors in 2010, specifically working with and counseling women to facilitate a gender-inclusive post-disaster strategy.
Sana was also the co-founder of Gawaahi.com, nominated in two different categories at the Deutsche Welle Best of Blogs awards 2011, an online story-telling portal focusing on stories of abuse,survival and resistance, using the power of story-telling to create an enabling and cathartic process for pressing issues some of which include child abuse and marital rape. She is currently working on a broader themed story telling portal connecting stories across borders for Bolo Bhi called Stories Beyond Borders.
Elena Sherstoboeva
Associate Professor, Faculty of Journalism Lomonosov State University
Elena Sherstoboeva, PhD in Philology, is an Associate Professor at the department of Russian mass media history and legal regulation, Faculty of Journalism, Moscow State University, where she teaches future journalists Media law and Jurisprudence.
Her field of research is Media law, policy and regulation in Russia and in the states of the former Soviet Union. She possesses two University degrees in Law and in Journalism. Elena has also provided legal expertise in the area of Media law to organizations such as OSCE and BBC World Trust.
Milos Stojkovic
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Legal Advisor, Ministry of Culture, Media & Information Society
Milos works for the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information Society as the Head of the Regulatory department in the Sector for Electronic Communications. Currently, he is involved in the process of drafting bylaws for implementation of Law on electronic communications and other regulatory activities such as drafting the new Law on electronic media (member of the working group). Before this position, he was involved in the drafting of the Law on electronic communications as member of working group and secretary of the Project for drafting the Law. At that time, he also was a legal advisor in the Ministry for Telecommunication and Information Society in the Sector for EU integration. Before the Ministry, Milos was the Project coordinator at Belgrade Centre for Human Rights in the field of Human Rights education. Milos graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Belgrade, and currently he is at the Tax Law course at the Belgrade Law Faculty.
Sijia Yang
Doctoral Student, University of Pennsylvania Annenber School
Sijia (Steven) Yang is an incoming Ph.D student in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his MA in communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2012. He holds a BA in English literature from the Renmin University of China. Sijia (Steven) studies how personal influences, in the senses of interpersonal discussions and social network attributes, affect a group of people’s opinions, attitudes, and behaviors in the new media environment. In the past, he has written and presented papers in academic conferences on the topic of Internet censorship policy in China. Mr. Yang argued for a three-fold framework to study this issue: normative reflections bridging between western democratic theories and traditional Confucius sociopolitical philosophies, empirical designs linking normative ideals with actual online political discussions and public opinion formation processes, and new methodological innovations suitable for large-size and linkage-rich data in the online environment. Currently, he is working on a project examining whether and how perceived censorship among Chinese Internet users may amply or erode deliberative benefits of online political discussions when psychological reactance is triggered.
Mahdi Yousefi
Doctoral Student, University of Tehran
Mahdi Yousefi is a PhD candidate in Communication Studies at University of Tehran, Iran. He received a B.A. and M.A. degrees in “Policymaking in Culture and Communication” from the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Culture and Communication, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran. His research focuses on Communication theory and philosophy, Culture and communication/media policy, and Intercultural and international communication. He teaches undergraduate courses on communication theory and intercultural communication at universities in Tehran and Qom. Mahdi Yousefi is a member of ICA (International Communication Association), IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) and ISA (International Studies Association). He is fluent in Arabic and Turkish, and his native language is Persian.
Mahdi Yousefi authored and edited three books in Persian, and has translated a number of English books on Communication into Persian. He wrote some scholarly articles in communication theories and intercultural communication as well as media policy and participated in numerous research projects. In his works in media policy, he tried to link theoretical inquiries into policy making in media and cultural sector and look to policy making not only as an administrative process, but also as a social science inquiry. Mahdi Yousefi has worked as the main research assistant of Professor Hamid Mowlana, a senior scholar in the field of international communication, professor emeritus of American University, Washington D. C. for about four years.
Sholpan Zhaxybayeva
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Executive Director, National Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters of Kazakhstan
After graduation from the Kazakh State University, Ms. Zhaxybayeva worked as reporter at several regional and national newspapers, such as Ogni Alatau, Express K, and Karavan (ABC), covering social, business and cultural issues. She held a position of Editor-in-Chief of the nationwide newspaper “Stolitsa” and collaborated with Kazakh Radio, Kazakhstan, and South Capital TV Channels. She also worked as a freelancer for the Izvestia, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, ZhetySu Newspapers and Shmel magazine and as a media-consultant in several companies. Ms. Zhaxybayeva taught journalism at the Kazakh-American University, where she focused on topics such as Mass Media and Politics, Mass Media and Economics, and The language and the style of Mass Media.
Starting in 2005, Ms. Zhaxybayeva has been working as an Executive director of Kazakhstani National Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters, a non-governmental organization aimed at supporting independent private TV channels as pluralistic source of information for population of the country, based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. From the beginning of its operation, the Association has established itself as a voice for TV companies in the legislative bodies, as a consultative center and as a source of professional information and networking. As a member of National Commission on development of television under the supervision of Government of Kazakhstan, Ms. Zhaxybayeva works towards making the process of distribution of frequencies more transparent.
Chinmayi Arun
Assistant Professor, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences
Chinmayi Arun is Assistant Professor of Law at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) in India. She has an LL. M. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she studied New Media Regulation and Regulation: Legal and Political Aspects. Chinmayi has worked as a commercial lawyer at Ernst and Young and AZB and Partners, and has advised major media corporations, production houses and software companies in the past. She now teaches Introduction to Regulation and Comparative Communication Regulation to LL.B. and LL.M. students at NUJS.
Bokhodir Ayupov
Task Manager on Training & Research, UNDP/Parliament
Bokhodir Ayupov graduated from University of Surrey (UK) with an M.Sc. Management in 2004. Soon after that he was employed as a lecturer at Westminster International University in Tashkent. Currently, Bokhodir Ayupov is a senior lecturer and holds the position of Course Leader in Certificate of Foundation Studies. The areas of his research interest include project management, management of education, organizational behavior and marketing. He has also been providing professional training for various organizations. His training expertise includes subjects of Project Management, Developing People Internationally, Business Communication, Time Management, Teambuilding, and Presentation Skills.
Jose Luis Benitez Alvarez
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Chair of Communication & Culture Department, Central American University
José Luis Benítez is currently the Director of the Master´s Degree Program in Communication and Chair of the Communications and Culture Department at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA) in El Salvador. From 1995 to 1999, he worked as a radio journalist and he is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES). His research areas of interest include: media policy, journalism and democracy, communication for development, international migration and communication processes. He has published several articles in academic journals and books. His book “La comunicación transnacional de las e-familias migrantes” (The transnational communication of migrant e-families) was published by the UNDP and UCA in 2011.
Dr. Benítez has actively participated in the development and promotion of the Access to Public Information Law approved in 2011 in El Salvador, and has been a speaker at national and international conferences on topics such as: freedom of expression in Central America, migration and journalism in the Americas, access to public information and new technologies, and media and communication polices, among others. He holds a Bachelor´s degree in Philosophy from the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador, a Master´s degree in Communication and Development Studies and a Doctoral degree in Mass Communication from Ohio University.
David Conrad
Doctoral Student, University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School
David Conrad is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication and is interested in the use of citizens’ and community-based forms of media as vehicles for participation, health education, political engagement, development, and social change. His recent work has focused on the strategic repositioning of Communication for Development (C4D) as a guiding policy and practice mentality for development organizations, and the implications that donor ownership has on the identity and sustainability of grassroots media. Prior to attending Annenberg, he worked as a foreign correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya. David has an International Affairs M.A. from Ohio University in Communication and Development Studies and a B.A. in Journalism.
Annemarie Iddins
Doctoral Student/Instructor, University of Michigan
Annemarie Iddins studies the relationship between flows of media, migration and cultural identity, primarily in the modern Maghreb and its diaspora. She is particularly interested in shifting dialectics of power between the nation-state and transnational networks, and between traditional news media and new media from the perspective of cultural and postcolonial studies. Prior to coming to Michigan, she received B.A.'s in Journalism and Francophone Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minn., an M.A. in Mass Communication Research from the University of Minnesota and spent a year in Morocco as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Annemarie's recent work has looked at linguistic politics in Morocco through the lens of Telquel, a popular Moroccan newsmagazine, and changes in context of the "Arab Spring".
Dam Hee Kim
Doctoral Student, University of Michigan
Dam Hee Kim is a doctoral student in Communication Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is interested in researching the changing media use and effects under the new multi-media environment, especially in relation to communications policy. Her current research projects explore the issue of media diversity in relation to democratic citizenship with policy implications. In summer 2011, as a COMPASS (Consortium on Media Policy Studies) fellow she researched under the guidance of the Federal Communications Commission’s Chief Diversity Officer after writing her M.A. thesis on the FCC-DI (Diversity Index) in South Korea. She received her M.A. (Journalism and Mass Communication) and B.A. (Journalism and Mass Communication; Business Administration) with Great Honor from Korea University.
Heather Leson
Director of Communications Engagement, Ushahidi
Heather Leson is Ushahidi’s Director of Community Engagement, a role in which she exercises her passion for community-building, storytelling, and idea hacking. Heather creates and manages programs for Ushahidi’s diverse community, and mentors members of its open-source developer ecosystem. Her earlier leadership in open source communities such as Random Hacks of Kindness and CrisisCommons saw her successfully organize numerous participant-driven “unconferences” and hackathons. In addition to her community development work, Heather has 15 years of experience in technical incident management, software life-cycle development, customer care, and Internet communications.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Combined Political Science and History from Carleton University in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, and a Library and Information Technician diploma from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto. Inspired to help people gain access to, understand and apply information, Heather is focused on giving “do-more” disrupters a voice.
Aalok Mehta
Doctoral Student, University of Southern California
Aalok Mehta is a doctoral student in communication at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on telecommunications policy, including the economic impacts of broadband investment, funding models for municipal broadband, and the structural dynamics of wireless markets. He received a bachelor's degree in biology, biochemistry, and philosophy at Rice University. Prior to coming to USC, he worked as a science journalist in Washington, D.C., for the American Chemical Society, the Washington Post, the National Geographic Society, the Dana Foundation, and other publications.
Vincent Kiplangat Mutai
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Assistant Lecturer, Moi University School of Law
Vincent Kiplangat Mutai is a lecturer at the School of Law, Moi University in Eldoret Kenya. Mr. Mutai started teaching in 2007, with Comparative Law and Labor Law as the primary areas of focus. In the past few years, he has taught Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and developed an interest in Freedom of Expression. A graduate of the Moi University (LLB) and University of Pittsburgh, USA (LLM), Mr. Mutai is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an Attorney registered in New York. His current research area of interest is Regulation of Hate Speech in Post-Conflict Societies.
Raluca Petre
Lecturer, Faculty of Letters, Ovidius University, Constanta
Raluca Petre received her PhD in 2009 from the Graduate School for Social Research, Warsaw, with a dissertation entitled Sociology of Media Transformation in Romania; institutional aspects. She holds an MA in Economy and Society from Lancaster University, UK & CEU and a BA in Journalism and Communication Sciences from the University of Bucharest. She has been a Lecturer at The Faculty of Letters, Ovidius University, Constanţa since 2008. She has published articles in international journals and volumes in Germany and Poland and numerous articles on Romanian mass-media in national publications. She has co-authored two books,
the most recent of which is Flow, Cultural Market and Spectacular Convergence
Effects (co-author, Ana-Maria Munteanu, 2011).
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Emma Prest
MA in Public Policy, Central European University
Emma Prest has just received an MA in Public Policy (Media, Information & Communications stream) at Central European University in Hungary. Her first degree, in Politics and Geography, was from the University of Edinburgh. Prior to her MA, Emma worked as a Research Assistant at the Campaign for Freedom of Information, London, where she conducted research into compliance and use of FOI law by journalists and civil society. She has worked for a variety of NGOs, including Amnesty International UK, where she was Freshers Project Manager, and Chain of Hope, where she was responsible for bringing children from developing countries to Europe for heart surgery. Emma has also written for The Independent and worked as a Spanish-English translator.
Felipe Roa
Democratic Governance Project Leader, Programa Suyusama
Felipe Roa is a practitioner in the Colombian nonprofit sector. He has worked since 2005 at a regional development agency in southern Colombia working with local and regional governments in organizational strategic planning, policy formation and implementation, civil engagement and participation in decision making processes. Felipe's most recent project is setting up an independent consulting firm, SMARD SYNERGIES, whose main goal is to provide consultancy services in topics such as regional development, citizen security and participation, democratic governance, peace, and conflict prevention and resolution.
Felipe holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences from Javeriana University, Colombia, and a master's degree in Public Administration from Seattle University, US. Since 2010 he has been writing two blogs in English and Spanish respectively in order to share insightful highlights of his work experience: Leading Change (felipearoa.wordpress.com) and Liderazgo para la Transformación Social (feliperoac.wordpress.com).
Aradhana Sharma
Project Fellow, Media Policy & Law Project, Center for Culture Media & Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia
Aradhana Sharma is currently working as a Project Fellow on a Media Policy and Law Project at the Center for Culture Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. The Project is a curriculum development initiative which aims to fill the void in the field of Media Policy in Media Studies and the wider arena of Policy Studies in India. She works on developing pedagogical exercises in the area and teaches Masters' students in Media Governance, and curates media related policies and laws in the country.
Apart from working on the MPL Project, Aradhana is also a PhD student in Media Studies (Media and Mediation of Conflict: A case study of selected issues through the lens of Peace Journalism). She was an Erasmus Mundus Scholar of the European Union from 2008-2010. Her Master’s Thesis, as part of this program, focused on Media Censorship during the Sri Lankan Conflict (2008-09). Her areas of interest are the Media Industry with particular emphasis on issues of ownership and diversity, Media and Conflict coverage and the Practice of Journalism.
Prior to moving into the academic field, Aradhana worked as a journalist for 13 years in the mainstream print and electronic media in India.
Taras Shevchenko
Director, NGO Media Law Institute
Taras Shevchenko, Director and founder of the Kyiv Media Law Institute since 2005, holds a master’s degree in law from the Kyiv National University, Ukraine. He has been working as a media lawyer at Internews since 2001, and he currently teaches Media Law in Institute of Journalism at the Kyiv National University, Ukraine.
Mr. Shevchenko is the Head of Advisory committee to the Parliamentary Freedom of Speech Committee. He has participated in drafting media legislation in Ukraine, such as Law on Access to Public Information, Law on National Council on TV and Radio, Defamation Law amendments, Law on Parliamentary Elections (as to Media & Elections), and draft Law on Public Service Broadcasting (adopted in first reading). Taras Shevchenko is a member of the Kyiv Bar Association and International Media Lawyers Association.
Emir Vajzovic
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Programme Director, Institute for Social Sciences Research, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo
Emir Vajzović, M.A., is Senior Researcher / Lecturer / Programme Director at the Institute for Social Sciences Research of the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo. He has an extensive knowledge and experience in project management and project coordination. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism / Communications, a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democracy and is currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Political Sciences Sarajevo (his PhD thesis is entitled “Media Democracy”). Mr. Vajzović is a consultant in areas of Human Rights and Democracy, Media Legislation and Media Policy, and European Integrations. He studied in France and USA and previously worked as a senior research analyst at Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH and General Secretary of Forum on Digital Terrestrial Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the body in charge of drafting Digital Switchover Strategy of BiH.
He Yong
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Associate Professor, Media Law & Policy Research Centre, Communication University of China
He Yong, PhD & Associate Prof. in Communication is a Research Fellow of the Center of Media Law and Policy, Communication University of China (CUC). He is a former editor, as well as a correspondent of News Commentary Department, China Central Television (CCTV). He was an instructor at the school of Political and Law at CUC, teaching media regulation and policy since 2006. His research areas include media institution, comparative media system, media ownership, media theory and international communication. He has written widely on these areas and received the Chinese Broadcasting Academic Award in 2009. In 2010, he hosted a project of channel analysis for China Central Television to compare CCTV news with six decisive international English news channels (BBC, CNN, NHK, RT etc.). In 2011, he published two articles about Chinese media policy in international press: Propaganda vs. Promotion: the Political Economy of CCTV (Routledge-The Institutional Dynamics of China’s Great Transformation, edited by Huang Xiaoming) and Talking Up the Market: Economic Propaganda in Contemporary China (Routledge- China Thought Management, edited by Anne-Marie Brady).
Matilda Yuma
Internews Media Policy Fellow
Broadcasting Services Manager, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority
Matilda Bande-Yuma is a 33 year old Malawian national born in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial city. She has worked in print and electronic media as a reporter, producer, presenter and editor for 11 years before joining the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority as its Broadcasting Services Manager in 2007. She holds a BA in Journalism from University of Malawi and currently she is reading for an MA in Political Science at the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College. She has also been trained in Telecommunication sector regulation and management. Matilda has worked with women and youth through Development through radio projects running in three districts of Malawi. She has also been involved in capacity building for community radio staff in Malawi.
Long Yun
Professor, Communication University of China
Long Yun is a professor and the Deputy Director of National Center for Radio and Television Studies (NCRTS), Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing.
Her research interests include media ratings, audience psychology, communication effects, media ethics and media policy studies. Based on a long term survey of Chinese audience, her work Television & Violence: Study on the Cultivation Function of Chinese Mass Media (2005) elaborates the effects of television violence in mainland China. She is currently conducting research on the media ethics in the transitional China.
Ms. Yun received a PhD degree in communication studies from Fudan University. She visited Korea University in Seoul in 2003-2004 as an International Scholar Exchange Fellowship Laureate. She worked as a visiting scholar at the Centre for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania in 2009-2010.