The Role of Media in Building Trust Among Hybrid Communication Settings

For as early as the inception of businesses, there were tech-savvy business people who have used the power of ‘media and communications’ to communicate, position, and create public interest towards those businesses.

Today, media and communication practitioners use a variety of activities to strategise, influence, engage and build relationships between organisations and the general public, and this has changed dramatically over the last 30 years.

Brands and businesses continue to find new ways to be in the limelight in the media and use that coverage to build their reputations by learning from past successes (and failures) and developing future strategies. 

Technology is the key to transformation

Deciding between traditional and digital media is not as simple as it sounds because there are two different sides of the same coin. Both media platforms have evolved and adopted rapid technological change that has impacted our daily lives.

Digital technology has introduced new ways for brands to communicate more reliably through various marketing styles, information gathering, and analysis, as well as new presentation formats that enable today's communication to be more proximate, personalised, and interactive than ever before.

Technology such as machine learning algorithms may also assist in lightening the workload by automatically collecting data on mentions, analysing responses, and recommending next best actions.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic added on challenges to both traditional and digital communications. But thanks to ‘Hybrid Communication Settings’, media and communication practitioners were able to quickly meet the needs of the modern post-Covid era by tailoring the right information to the right audience at the right time.

Trust can be built through hybrid communication 

According to global market research firm Ipsos, the most trusted media globally to provide accurate and reliable information are the traditional media — newspaper, radio, television and direct communication while magazines can appear to be out of date.

Moving on to digital media, the most popular platforms for people to get information are WhatsApp (67%), Facebook (63%), and Google (47%) while trust on other digital sources such as online news portals and news websites or apps is still questionable.   

Trust is one of the most important element, and it may be even more important in hybrid setting, where it is easier to adapt, is resistant to disruption, creative, and the younger generation is driving this innovation as a result of the digital boom.

Microsoft surpassed 270 million monthly active Teams users in second-quarter 2022, while Google Meet grew to 100 million users per day compared to Zoom's 200 million daily users.

Furthermore, applications such as Skype, Moodle, Discord, and others are being used and growing in popularity. In other words, digital platforms help to bridge this trust gap, and we will soon transition to Metaverse or Virtual Reality (VR).

Leading transformation for Media and Communication Studies programme   

Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) delivers high-quality industry-relevant programmes such as the Bachelors Degree in Media and Communication Studies, International Relations, Psychology, Industrial Design, Visual Effects, Animation, Digital Advertising, Marketing Management, Digital Marketing, Business Management, E-Business, Digital Leadership and Digital Transformation.

APU has officially attained a QS 5 Stars Plus university rating in the latest QS Stars University Ratings on 1st Nov 2021 — becoming the first higher education institution (HEI) in Malaysia to obtain such recognition.

Moreover, APU has been awarded 5-Star Rating for Online Learning in the latest QS Stars Rating System, 5-Star (Excellent Rating) under SETARA Ratings by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and was among the first universities in Malaysia to be awarded with Premier Digital Tech University status by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) for its commitment to offer top-notch digital technology courses.

“As the future media and communication experts, APU students are exposed to traditional and digital media to look at how both can be implemented in different communication settings. Our modules also examine current and future media trends where students learn practical and theoretical aspects,” said Prof. Dr. Ho Chin Kuan, APU Vice-Chancellor. 

According to APU Head of School of Marketing and Management (SoMM) Dr Devinder Kaur, agility, adaptability and an automation solution are must-haves for any modern media and communications team because customer expectations change and evolve from time to time.

“Future practitioners need to know both aspects of traditional and digital media to understand how both can be implemented in different communication settings and our modules also embed the current and future trends in their topics.”  

Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Media and Communication Studies, Puan Nur Leila Khalid highlighted that modules such as Public Relations or Principles of Advertising will help  students to understand current practices of the industries by looking at case studies, real life scenarios, developing creativity by crafting their own campaigns as well as through engagement sessions with the industry.

Broadcast Journalism will help students with the technicality of Broadcasting; Digital Graphics and Digital Illustrations modules will expand their knowledge of design softwares for design skills and Social Media module will increase their understanding on the usability and impact of social media in the business and communication fields.

The Media and Communication Studies qualifications are dual awards by APU and De Montfort University (DMU), United Kingdom. Under this scheme, students will receive two-degree certificates and transcripts upon graduation – one from APU (Malaysia) and one from DMU (UK).

For more information on the programme, please visit www.apu.edu.my.