Speakers
- Home
- Speakers
Meet Our Speakers – MEDCOM 2027
MEDCOM 2027 brings together leading voices in media, journalism, and communication who are shaping how information is produced, circulated, and trusted in an increasingly AI‑driven media environment. As the 12th World Conference on Media and Mass Communication, the conference creates space for timely conversations around artificial intelligence and media governance, press freedom, digital trust, crisis communication, strategic communication, civic information systems, and cultural representation across global media contexts.
As a recognized international journalism conference and communication conference, MEDCOM provides a dynamic platform where research‑driven ideas and professional expertise come together, supporting dialogue that strengthens media practice, informs public debate, and contributes to more accountable communication systems.
By engaging directly with these speakers, participants are invited into conversations that challenge assumptions, encourage critical reflection, and support the development of ethical, inclusive, and resilient media futures. MEDCOM 2027 offers a distinctive opportunity to connect with those shaping the next direction of media and mass communication worldwide.
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Spencer Striker
Keynote Speaker – Physical
Professor of Digital Media Design
Northwestern University
Qatar
Speech Title: "Source Code of the Modern World: Using Generative AI to Tell the Story of Al-Khwarizmi, the House of Wisdom, and the Invention of the Algorithm"
Prof. Dr. Payal Arora
Keynote Speaker – Virtual
University of Utrecht,
Netherlands
Speech Title: "Building the Library of the Incalculable in the Age of AI"
Payal Arora is Professor at Utrecht University and Founder of the Inclusive AI Lab, where she challenges dominant doomsday narratives in media and AI studies and advocates for a more grounded techno-optimism informed by long-term fieldwork in marginalized communities across the Global South. She argues that hope is a moral imperative in shaping AI futures and that pessimism is often a position of privilege. She is the author of 100+ articles and award-winning books including The Next Billion Users (Harvard) and From Pessimism to Promise (MIT), which reframe dominant narratives about technology and inclusion. Named among the “100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics” (2025), her work has informed organizations such as UNHCR, Google, and the Red Cross, and has been widely featured across international media including The Economist, Al Jazeera, and TechCrunch. She has delivered over 350 global talks, including TEDx, and is a former fellow at Harvard University, Columbia University, and the Rockefeller Bellagio Center. She currently lives in Amsterdam.
Plenary Speakers
Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya
Plenary Speaker – Physical
Regional Advisor Asia, International Media Support, Denmark / Team Member,
Oxford Media and AI Policy Summer Institute, University of Oxford
Speech Title: "Digital Youth, Algorithm and Democracy – The Role of Fifth Estate in Asia"
A journalist / media academic from Sri Lanka with wide experience on media development in Asia and Africa. A team member of the Oxford University Media Policy Summer Institute. Nominated among the world best five for UK-Canada World Press Freedom Award 2020. Special interest and expertise on media in conflicts and political violence in Asia. Working experience in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Expert on media policy, safety and social media dynamics. Sri Lanka’s first Ph.D in News Journalism with research on reporting ethnicity in vernacular press (2013) – a study on the impact of Sri Lanka’s civil war in news reporting. Reuter Fellow, Green College, Oxford University, United Kingdom (2000) with a research paper on Combating Terrorism and Discussing Peace [Case studies, Northern Ireland and Sri Lankan peace processes]. Master’s degree in information management, with International Political Economy as Co-course, Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (2004). Masters Research Study was conducted at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2003) on online marketing strategies of terrorist organizations. Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), The Open University of Sri Lanka (2001). Diploma in News Agency Journalism, Indian Institute of Mass Communications, New Delhi (1995). Reuters Training on International News Writing, Reuters Headquarters, London (1998) and UN training on Reporting UN and International Affairs, UN Headquarters, New York (1999). Author of the publication ‘LTTE and IRA – Combating Terrorism and Discussing Peace.’ Former spokesman to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka. Former Counsellor (Information), Sri Lanka High Commission, Kuala Lumpur. Visiting Lecturer, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, Sri Jayawardhanapura University and Visiting Lecturer, Journalism Department, Colombo University. Former Director General of Sri Lanka Press Institute / Sri Lanka College of Journalism / Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka. Former Director General of Department of Information (Official Spokesperson) of the government of Sri Lanka.
Special interest in Media Content, Media Regulation and Media Dynamics, Terrorism and Political Violence, media in conflict and emerging / failed democracies. Presented papers at international conferences in Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Myanmar, The Philippines, Kenya, South Africa, Afghanistan, Japan, South Korea and Nepal on media, terrorism and political violence issues.
Member of the Oxford Media and AI Policy Summer Institute, University of Oxford.
Presently, Regional Advisor for Asia and Africa of the International Media Support in Denmark.
Prof. Merlyna Lim
Merlyna Lim is Canada Research Professor in Digital Media and Global Network Society and Director of the ALiGN Media Lab at Carleton University. Her research examines the co-constitutive relationship between technology and society, especially digital media and information technology, in relation to issues of justice, democracy and civic/participatory engagement. Among her notable publications are Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Roots, Routes, and Routers (Sage, 2018) and Online Collective Action: Dynamics of the Crowds in Social Media (Springer, 2014).