Global Futures - Allister Fa Chang: Can Media Literacy Save Us?

Allister Fa Chang: Can Media Literacy Save Us?

02/28/20 • 23 min

This episode marks the start of season two of the Global Futures podcast. Over the course of the next few months, we will tackle the future(s) of climate-related conflict, media and information and the politics of inequality with our fellows and other leading experts from around the world. How should we navigate the media landscape in a world where information is available at the touch of a button? In this podcast, Sonya Sugrobova sits down with Allister Fa Chang to learn about media literacy, the importance of critically analyzing what you see online, and how to approach teaching this skill. Allister is a Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where he researches on media literacy and disinformation. Previously, Allister was the executive director of Libraries Without Borders, a non-profit organization that has innovated library partnerships in over 25 countries.

Previous Episode

Joel Sandhu: What's Next for Hong Kong?

As Beijing marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with an enormous military parade, protests have erupted again in Hong Kong where the national day was marked by bursts of violence as riot police deployed to major street corners, locked down the city, and clashed with protesters. Hong Kongers have been fighting to preserve the autonomy and freedoms they are granted by the “one country, two systems” policy – freedoms that do not apply to Chinese citizens on the mainland. Since Hong Kong was handed over to China by the United Kingdom in 1997, Hong Kongers have felt Beijing’s increasing encroachment on their civil liberties. Many of them, especially from the younger generation, now fear that the city will lose its unique character and feel the need to fight back to protect their identity and way of life. In this episode, Katharina Nachbar from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) talks with Joel Sandhu about his recent visit to Hong Kong and the impressions he took away from speaking to academics, business leaders and locals in a city that has seen over three consecutive months of protests and riots. He also reflects on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and what it means for Hong Kong. Joel is a project manager at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where he heads the Global Governance Futures – Robert Bosch Foundation Multilateral Dialogues (GGF) program and leads GPPi’s work on global order. Katharina manages communications at GPPi.

Next Episode

Mara Pillinger: The Coronavirus Pandemonium

International cooperation and multilateral approaches are being strained by rising populism and nationalism. The unabated march of the novel coronavirus (COVID19) across the globe threatens to further entrench unilateral approaches and nationalistic attitudes at a time when a global response is needed to combat this pandemic. Yet, we see travel bans being introduced, countries closing their boarders, schools and offices closing their doors, and shortages of medical and household supplies on the rise. COVID19 is the most recent example of how seemingly unpolitical and unideological issues can be politicized, becoming a potentially decisive matter such as this year’s US presidential elections. In this episode, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) talks with Mara Pillinger about what makes COVID19 so different from other epidemics and pandemics. Mara explains the difference between an epidemic and pandemic; whether travel bans could work to tackle COVID19; whether she thinks the US is doing enough to prepare itself for the pandemic; and now that its 2020, what impact is this pandemic going to have on the upcoming US elections. Mara is an Associate at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC where she is part of the Global Health Policy and Governance Initiative. Her research focuses on the political, organizational and power dynamics at work behind the scenes of the World Health Organization and major multisectoral global health partnerships.