PACMRI General Assembly Masterclass
Crafting Culturally Intelligent Storytelling in Communication and Media Research in and of the Philippines
Ned Legaspi was invited by the Philippine Association for Communication and Media Research, Inc. to lead a masterclass during its General Assembly and Elections. The session connected storytelling practice with academic inquiry and examined how Filipino communication and media research can reach wider audiences without losing the truth of participants' stories and their Filipinoness.
The invitation marked a full-circle moment for Ned, who studied Communication Research at UP Diliman before building a three-decade career in global Filipino media.
Why the Change Matters
An Online Format Opened the Conversation to a Wider Research Community
The formal invitation originally identified the UP CMC Plaridel Hall Auditorium as the venue for the General Assembly. Before the event, however, the masterclass moved online and was delivered through Zoom.
The change allowed students, educators, researchers, creators, and communication practitioners beyond UP Diliman to participate. It also aligned naturally with the masterclass theme: helping locally grounded ideas travel to wider audiences.
The platform changed, but the central question remained the same: How can Filipino research travel across audiences without losing its cultural truth?
Masterclass Focus
Bringing Storytelling Practice into Communication and Media Research
The session addressed how research findings can be framed for conferences, publications, presentations, and wider public engagement while remaining accountable to the Filipino experiences they represent.
Frame Research for Wider Audiences
Translate complex findings into narratives that are clear, compelling, and accessible without reducing their intellectual substance.
Protect Authenticity and Filipinoness
Preserve cultural meanings, voices, and lived realities as findings move into global and cross-cultural spaces.
Connect Scholarship and Storytelling
Use narrative structure, audience awareness, and cultural context to strengthen the public value of communication research.
Intended Audience
A Conversation for the Communication and Media Research Community
The masterclass was designed for people interested in how stories and research travel across cultures and audiences.
Students
Emerging researchers developing culturally grounded projects and presentations.
Educators
Teachers and mentors guiding research communication and scholarly storytelling.
Researchers
Scholars presenting Filipino experiences in local and international venues.
Creators and Practitioners
Communicators bridging professional practice, evidence, and public engagement.
About PACMRI
Advancing Philippine Communication and Media Research
The Philippine Association for Communication and Media Research, Inc. is a UP-based, non-stock, non-profit organization founded in 2019 by the UP Department of Communication Research.
PACMRI promotes the systematic study of developments, changes, and challenges in Philippine communication and media. It also supports local researchers and facilitates engagement among practitioners, institutions, educators, and advocates.
Inviting Ned to address its General Assembly connected his professional experience in global Filipino media with the association's commitment to research centered on Filipinos and the Philippines.
Event Archive
A Full-Circle Conversation Between Research and Practice
This event forms part of Ned Legaspi's continuing work at the intersection of culture, communication, storytelling, and education. It was especially meaningful because the invitation came from a research community connected to the undergraduate discipline he studied at UP Diliman.
The masterclass also demonstrated how an event can move from an originally planned face-to-face format to an online platform while preserving its purpose and expanding its reach.