Following an EU-wide survey in 2006, the European Commission has announced plans to encourage the development of media literacy and the exchange of good practice across Europe.
Media literacy relates to all types of media, including television, cinema, video, websites, radio, video games and virtual communities. It can be summed up as the ability to access, understand, evaluate and create media content. Ordinary people are increasingly accessing and posting online content, which is visible across the world. Yet today, according to the Commission, not everybody always fully understands the context within which such material is written, seen or read, or the possible consequences of publishing something themselves.
Everybody therefore needs to develop new skills, as active communicators and creators of content. In a global and multi-cultural environment, new media-related challenges arise and create concerns regarding safety, inclusion and access for all
The media are changing, and so is citizens' use of such media. The ability of people to critically analyse what they find in the media and to make more informed choices - called "media literacy" - therefore becomes even more essential for active citizenship and democracy, the Commission said.
"In a digital era, media literacy is crucial for achieving full and active citizenship," said information society and media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "The ability to read and write - or traditional literacy - is no longer sufficient in this day and age. People need a greater awareness of how to express themselves effectively, and how to interpret what others are saying, especially on blogs, via search engines or in advertising. Everyone (old and young) needs to get to grips with the new digital world in which we live. For this, continuous information and education is more important than regulation."
The Commission communication is the first policy document on media literacy at the EU level. It focuses on the following three areas: Media literacy for commercial communication, covering issues related to advertising, media literacy for audiovisual works, which is in part about raising awareness of European film and enhancing creativity skills, and media literacy for online which, for example, will give citizens a better knowledge of how Google and other internet search engines work.
The Communication adds a further building block to European audiovisual policy. It complements the new Audiovisual Media Services Without Frontiers Directive, and the MEDIA 2007 support-programme for the development and distribution of European film.
The Commission said it wants to actively promote the development and exchange of good practice on media literacy in the digital environment through existing programmes and initiatives, and will adopt if necessary a set of recommendations in the future.
Finally, the Commission called on member states to encourage their regulatory authorities to become more involved and to cooperate further in improving people's level of media literacy
The communication can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/media_literacy/index_en.htm.
Media literacy relates to all types of media, including television, cinema, video, websites, radio, video games and virtual communities. It can be summed up as the ability to access, understand, evaluate and create media content. Ordinary people are increasingly accessing and posting online content, which is visible across the world. Yet today, according to the Commission, not everybody always fully understands the context within which such material is written, seen or read, or the possible consequences of publishing something themselves.
Everybody therefore needs to develop new skills, as active communicators and creators of content. In a global and multi-cultural environment, new media-related challenges arise and create concerns regarding safety, inclusion and access for all
The media are changing, and so is citizens' use of such media. The ability of people to critically analyse what they find in the media and to make more informed choices - called "media literacy" - therefore becomes even more essential for active citizenship and democracy, the Commission said.
"In a digital era, media literacy is crucial for achieving full and active citizenship," said information society and media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "The ability to read and write - or traditional literacy - is no longer sufficient in this day and age. People need a greater awareness of how to express themselves effectively, and how to interpret what others are saying, especially on blogs, via search engines or in advertising. Everyone (old and young) needs to get to grips with the new digital world in which we live. For this, continuous information and education is more important than regulation."
The Commission communication is the first policy document on media literacy at the EU level. It focuses on the following three areas: Media literacy for commercial communication, covering issues related to advertising, media literacy for audiovisual works, which is in part about raising awareness of European film and enhancing creativity skills, and media literacy for online which, for example, will give citizens a better knowledge of how Google and other internet search engines work.
The Communication adds a further building block to European audiovisual policy. It complements the new Audiovisual Media Services Without Frontiers Directive, and the MEDIA 2007 support-programme for the development and distribution of European film.
The Commission said it wants to actively promote the development and exchange of good practice on media literacy in the digital environment through existing programmes and initiatives, and will adopt if necessary a set of recommendations in the future.
Finally, the Commission called on member states to encourage their regulatory authorities to become more involved and to cooperate further in improving people's level of media literacy
The communication can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/media_literacy/index_en.htm.