Identifying Best Practices for Media Literacy, with Examples

Media in the 21st century plays an important role in shaping public opinion, framing public debate, and engaging citizens. However, media is also a complex endeavour, especially in the context of user-generated content, and as such, Media Literacy (ML) has become one of the most important skills for living in the digital age.

Understanding media and media content and being empowered to evaluate it has become a social necessity. This need has been put in sharp relief by the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact it has had on our social lives, our use of technology, and the amount of information being made available through various sources. In this context, the ability of citizens to navigate, verify, and trust information is vital.

According to European Regulators Group for Audio-visual Media Services (ERGA), the following are the six key principles which help identify Media Literacy best practice.

1. Transparency

(meaning availability of data and information about a Media Literacy initiative)

Transparency is critical because it enables trust. The aims, scope and resources of a Media Literacy initiative should be clearly and transparently available to users, recipients (or parents and guardians where applicable), and also experts, academics and National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs).

Example:

The Media Literacy Week in Finland raises the awareness of the importance of Media Literacy while informing its target groups what kind of resources they can access to that end. All the work done by partner organisations is shared through several media channels and for all the registered educators. Most of the materials are available with open CC-licence. The free availability of all teaching materials for all the public educators is therefore a key element of the project’s success.

https://www.mediataitoviikko.fi/in-english/

2. Multi-Stakeholder Aspect

(meaning working in partnership with other organisations to deliver Media Literacy)

Delivering collective projects with a number of stakeholders is likely to have numerous benefits for all parties. Firstly, it strengthens partnerships. Secondly, the quality of the initiative is likely to improve, since the Multi-Stakeholder aspect enables the addition of external expertise. Thirdly, the potential for spreading information and interest for the initiative is increased through the Multi-Stakeholder aspect.

Example:

Media Literacy Days from Croatia work in cooperation with a wide array of stakeholders. The collaboration is set in a pyramidal structure. At the top, the agreement formalizes the cooperation between the Agency for Electronic Media and UNICEF. At the next level, each of the two partners formalized their cooperation with more than a dozen higher education institutions, film centres and NGOs. The third level constitutes that of voluntary project, for which the Agency for Electronic Media provides organizational support.

https://cdn.epra.org/attachments/files/3530/original/MediaLiteracyDays_Croatia.pdf

3. Focus on the user/citizen

(meaning taking the user’s perspective into account in all Media Literacy activities)

When designing Media Literacy measures, it is crucial that the individual needs of the target audience are taken into account: Diversity, Content, Formats, Language, and Communication.

Example:

Časoris from Slovenia is a newspaper for children and it is especially designed and written for their needs, so that they understand the news and current affairs and critically think about what they are reading. It incorporates in its design the approach of the target group, as the articles are by professional writers, teachers and children.

https://casoris.si/

4. Reach

Media Literacy initiatives can target audiences in different ways: they can vary between initiatives with great breadth, or with more depth, or sometimes, a combination of the two.

Example:

Project Sophism from Greece, aimed at journalists, students of journalism and “citizen journalists” represents in-depth targeting of homogenous groups of professionals, who can use the training in their own daily work.

https://sophism.media.uoa.gr/en/

5. Localisation

In order to ensure fairness and effectiveness, it is imperative that Media Literacy initiatives be using local languages, and relevant and accessible formats to ensure that the other principles above (notably reach, focus on the user and transparency) are met.

Example:

Questions Vives in Belgium is a project allowing secondary school teachers to receive in their mailbox (within in 36 hours) educational material that help them address with their students issues at the forefront of the public debate. Its format and language are suited to the particularities and usages of its target group (teachers).

https://www.vives.be/en/study/tools

6. Evaluation

Evaluation remains a key principle for best practice when dealing with Media Literacy. Evaluating Media Literacy can ensure consistency and it is therefore important that all Media Literacy initiatives have an evaluation component.

Example:

EDUMEDIATEST is coordinated by the Catalan Audiovisual Council and co-funded by the European Commission. The project has included pre-pilot and pilot phase tests and the results are analysed by academic experts, which is another way to expand evaluation capacities of ML projects. Once these phases are over, the online tool is going to be available for all through the www.edumediatest.eu portal