Jeannie Layson Shiffer, associate director for communications at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Social Media Central Topic In Workshop In Romania on Public Participation

The social media have made a big difference in bringing about public participation, Ismail Radwan, a public sector specialist at the World Bank, told the gathering at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest, Romania, in May.

“Everybody in this room can make a change,” Radwan told the group of about 60 students, faculty members and communication professionals. In part, he said, this is because of the availability of the social media, which he called “utterly democratic.”

Radwan was one of the lead-off speakers in a two-day workshop on Public Policies and Public Participation organized by the College of Communication and Public Relations at the Romanian University.

The James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia joined the National University in organizing the event. The Cox Center is a unit of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
Mr. Ismail Radwan, public sector specialist at the World Bank.

Radwan, who was moving his family to Romania as he spoke, told the group that one of the challenges every society faces is creating “a citizen-centric government.”

Stacy Jones, associate director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, said her organization works with government leaders in Georgia and around the country to teach them to engage citizens.

Jones said she tells those leaders that engaging citizens leads to better government, helps the leaders fulfill their goal of representative government, and builds trust.

“We fundamentally believe that civic engagement is part of having excellence in government,” she said.

For additional details regarding Jones's participation in the workshop, click here.

Dr. Remus Pricopie,rector of the National University, told the audience that he is a strong “supporter of public participation.” He acknowledged, however, that not everyone is prepared for involvement,and not everyone is willing to be involved.

The challenge is increasing the level of public participation.
Ms. Stacy Jones, associate director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.

Jeannie Layson Shiffer, associate director for communications at the U.S. Census Bureau, said her organization is using social media as a way to reach people to get their participation in the Census.

“We have to do it differently this time,” she said in reference to the 2020 Census, in part because of the difficulty and expense of reaching people through the traditional means of mail and personal contact.

The workshop was the fifth held at the Bucharest university in collaboration with the Cox International Center.

Dr. Dr. Vlad, associate director of the Cox Center, and Dr. Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox Center, also contributed to the sessions on May 14 and 15.

Dr. Vlad said the decline of the traditional media has meant that “we have to redefine who the mass communicators are.”

Dr. Becker advocated viewing journalism itself as an “act of citizenship.”