Media Literacy
Media Literacy
- Press Release: Commission sets new information society challenge: Becoming literate in new media
Media literacy is the ability to access the media, to understand and to critically evaluate different aspects of the media and media contents an to create communications in a variety of contexts.
Media literacy relates to all media, including television and film, radio and recorded music, print media, the Internet and all other new digital communication technologies. It is a fundamental competence not only for the young generation but also for adults and elderly people, for parents, teachers and media professionals. The Commission considers media literacy as an important factor for active citizenship in today's information society.
Commission actions
The Commission's initiative on media literacy responds to requests by the European Parliament and industry together with a number of Member States. At the end of 2007, the Commission adopted a communication on media literacy which adds a further building block to European audiovisual policy and links to the provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services directive (AVMS). Article 26 in this directive introduced a reporting obligation for the Commission on levels of media literacy in all Member States. In 2008, the Council and the European Parliament adopted respectively conclusions and an own initiative report on media literacy.
Commission RECOMMENDATION
The Commission has come forward with a recommendation on media literacy:
The way we use media is changing and the volume of information we get today is enormous.
People need the ability to access, analyse and evaluate images, sounds and texts on a daily basis especially if they are to use traditional and new media to communicate and create media content.
The Commission recommends that all EU countries and the media industry need to increase people's awareness of the many forms of media messages they encounter be they advertisements, movies or online content.
The recommendation can be found in the following document:
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION C(2009)6464
on media literacy in the digital environment for a more competitive audiovisual
and content industry and an inclusive knowledge society
Next steps
- In 2009 the Commission will continue to promote the exchange of good practices and will build on existing activities such as MEDIA 2007, the MEDIA International preparatory action, the AVMS directive and other initiatives.
- In consideration of the reporting obligation introduced by the AVMS Directive, a study to develop criteria for assessing media literacy levels has been launched.
- In the framework of the 2009 Media International preparatory action, a call for proposals has been published for film literacy projects. In particular it is a question of encouraging actions to educate and raise the awareness of the European public, especially the young generation, about cinematographic and audiovisual works of third countries and vice versa.
- By 2011, the Commission will report on "media literacy levels" in all member states.