Multimedia has an increasing influence on our daily lives. The power of multimedia in communicating environmental issues is well known for its ability to sway public opinion and influence policy on critical issues like climate change.
In telling stories about the Mekong Region, better cooperation between researchers and the media is necessary. Researchers offer a scientific understanding of environmental topics while journalists and media persons can use the science to tell engaging stories that capture public attention.
SUMERNET held a workshop that brought together researchers and journalists to understand how they can work together to tell multimedia stories about the Mekong Region and help raise awareness about the environmental and social challenges faced by the river and its ecosystems.
One of the workshop resource persons, Dr. Yanyong Inmuong, shared his experiences in using short films skills to help policymakers and local authorities understand his research findings about floods and climate risks. Dr. Yanyong has a long and varied experience working with both policymakers and the media in his role as the Director of GMS Research Center for Environment and Sustainability, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, in Mahasarakham University.
“Initially I did not think about media as important for my research. But then one research project involved collaboration with media and film makers. This helped me a lot to understand the role of media. I could inform local authorities by showing them photos and videos of the local community situation along with our research report,” he said.
I have been working as a professor in the field of research for more than 30 years. However, sometimes it is hard for me to use a long research paper with complex findings to inform local people or policy makers about our study. Short films have helped us a lot to communicated our research a lot better.
“I think we should have stronger collaboration with media institutes and journalists to help researchers narrate our research findings in simple and plain language to inform local people or authorities especially about local issues,” he added.
While better cooperation is important, researcher still need a lot of support to understand how media works and also how they can work together with media partners to translate their scientific research into media products like short news pieces or films.
Another participant at the workshop, Ms. Ladawan Sondak, a film producer based in Bangkok, has spent more than 30 years in the media sector.
She explained that some of her multimedia projects used animation to narrate environmental issues such as the impacts of dams on local communities, which was “a really effective tool for the media to raise awareness.”
The media workshop also brought out the challenge for researchers in using multimedia as researchers who are not used to producing short films and podcasts to tell stories. But the media representatives at the workshop also showed simple ways of making short films and podcasts emphasizing the importance of telling a good story.
*Photo 1: Field trip at the fish conservation area by Taad Serm community, Pak Nam Huay temple. Photo: Variya Plungwatana / SEI Asia.
*Photo 2: Dr. Yanyong Inmuong, SUMERNET Research Partner, during his session. Photo: Variya Plungwatana / SEI Asia.
*Photo 3: Ms. Ladawan Sondak, SUMERNET Communication Partner and interpreter, speaking to the group about the importance of multimedia. Photo: Variya Plungwatana / SEI Asia.
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