There is a painfully ironic dichotomy between the wealth of media available and the informed use that it is made by the citizens. While Europe’s populace may be informed that they live among a Media Society (rather than an Information Society!), it also appears that the principles of democracy are under threat – not from violent attack, but from apathy and passive disengagement. Because the media is so omnipresent in modern society, it is no longer simply an advantage to be media literate, but a debilitating disadvantage not to be.

The more media literate a society becomes, the less likely it is that individuals and groups will be seduced by treachery and mediocrity. In the global skills race it remains, as ever was, that knowledge – not simply information – is the source of power and full citizenship.  Therefore, citizens must be equipped with the skills to utilize and benefit from media, and to do this Europeans need to acquire new competences beyond that of traditional literacy. The ultimate focus of media literacy therefore is the development of critical thinking and citizen participation to public life through the media.  In recognition of this need many EAVI activities aim at promoting media literacy across Europe.

Media literacy represents an essential contribution to the cultural development and progress of a democratic society, and the educational and communicative policies of many countries are starting to become aware of this new phenomenon. The promotion of media literacy activity in the socio-economic, cultural and technological sphere results in a decisive choice, the strategic value of which the European Union is aware of.

The Europe of this century needs European citizens to acquire new skills. It is no longer enough that they know how to read, write and count. In the context in which we live today, it has become absolutely indispensible to learn how to read and write with the media.

Due to the fact that the information society is pluralist, inclusive and interactive, it is now more than ever necessary to know how to decipher the information, how to distance yourself enough in order to be able to carry out a critical analysis, how to use the media, and how to be producers of contents.

EAVI's point of view on Media Literacy

From EAVI point of view we reveal that in a global and distanced context, particular interests show that in order to promote media literacy it is necessary to animate debates, to encourage dialogue, to mobilise the various actors which make up social and economic groups, and driving forces such as schools, the family, public institutions, civil society and media professionals. Debating on these themes is already an activity designed for education through media under no pretence that the arguments come from elsewhere. In this context, media literacy can play an essential role, translating into an advancing of the collective intelligence and into a cultural participation that allows economic progress and competitiveness of the internal and international markets.

EAVI thinks furthermore that the promotion of media literacy presents an opportunity for the public  service media to win over their public, and Europe. The media world is destined to establish itself, to enrich progress and advance in society. Citizens are in the end all able, through the media, to use opportunities to grow and complete their awareness of our society, to dream of alternative futures and to learn to create new worlds.

EU Policies on Media Literacy

There is amongst international institutions a variety of concepts that shed light on the understanding of media literacy. The basic elements of media literacy are well outlined in the definition adopted by the EC:

Media literacy may be defined as the ability to access, analyse and evaluate the power of images, sounds and messages which we are now being confronted with on a daily basis and are an important part of our contemporary culture, as well as to communicate competently in media available on a personal basis. Media literacy relates to all media, including television and film, radio and recorded music, print media, the Internet and other new digital communication technologies. http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/media_literacy/index_en.htm

Along similar lines, the Commission adopted a Communication in December 2007 on ‘A European approach to media literacy in the digital environment’, stating that:

[…] the aim of media literacy is to increase awareness of the many forms of media messages encountered in everyday life. It should help citizens to recognise how the media filter their perceptions and beliefs, shape popular culture and influence personal choices. It should empower them with the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills to make the judicious consumers and producers of content. […] On the basis of media’s crucial role in today’s society, the Communication insists on the importance of a high or higher degree of media literacy;

Ref. http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/literacy/docs/com/en.pdf

The regulatory framework for media literacy has accelerated in recent years, with numerous policies falling within the scope of a wide spectrum of activity, including:

- Recommendations of the European Commission on Media Literacy in the Digital Environment for a more Competitive Audiovisual and Content Industry and an Inclusive Knowledge Society (2009):

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/literacy/docs/recom/c_2009_6464_en.pdf

- Media Literacy in a digital world European Parliament Resolution. The ‘Prets’ Report (2009):

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=EN&reference=A6-0461/2008

- Communication on Media Literacy from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee (2008);

- The Audiovisual Media Services Directive, art. 26 (2007);

- Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of minors in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and on-line information services industry (2006);

- Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006).

UNESCO on Media Literacy

The concept of media literacy can also be contextualized within two UNESCO advocacies: the human rights-based approach to programming, and the creation of knowledge societies. In this sense, the concept of media literacy can be attached to the idea of Education for Sustainable Development included in the United Nations’ Principles, of which UNESCO is the lead agency. The aim is to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning – including, necessarily, media literacy. These are among the guiding definitions chosen in the EAVI Study on Assessment Criteria for Media Literacy Levels in Europe 2009 carried out by the EAVI Consortium.

Media literacy is the capacity of individuals to interpret, analyse, contextualise and produce media messages in general (again, without specific regard for source or form). It is self-evident that any convergence of multiple platforms and technologies in which a variety of languages and media streams co-exist and merge, the concept of media literacy affords a more inclusive and practicable point of reference than do the one-dimensional paradigms identified above.

In this regard, media literacy implies a broadening, but also reinforcement, of the elemental function by which all literacy is defined. It does not attach itself to a simple technical skill, (e.g., the use of media platforms) but rather to a critical and analytical reading of numerous simultaneous sources of information, reasoning, social injunction, symbolic and cultural codes and conventions.

The relevance of media literacy is clearly due to the fact that the transfer of knowledge is increasingly  depending on digital technologies. The media literate can access these technologies without difficulty, and this ability (and the freedom born of it) enables an engagement with, and a participation in every level of public life, from social networking to e-Government. Individuals not equipped to utilize digital technologies are necessarily isolated from this aspect of the media flow. For as long as they are removed from digital media they will remain (knowingly or in ignorance) on the “wrong” side of the digital and knowledge divide.

It is no longer an advantage to be media literate; rather, it is a debilitating disadvantage not to be.

Strategic role of media literacy

In order to participate to civil life, and to understand their place in the European context, citizens must become competent media users and must learn to use it for their own aims. Media literacy is the access, use, analysis, evaluation and creation of media messages; it is the relationship between citizens and the media, and therefore the key to the relationship between citizens and governments. Active citizenship, participation and democracy in Europe are increasingly reliant on the media literacy of citizens. This means that EAVI's activities to promote media literacy at the same time promote active citizenship, participation and democracy in Europe.

Given their strategic role in citizens’ education and in the diffusion of correct democratic practices, within this set of objectives, EAVI pays particular attention to the interdisciplinary analysis of issues concerning media literacy and their impact on young generations.

Specifically, EAVI considers the vast impact that audiovisual media play in people’s education, shaping their way of thinking and their lifestyle.

Therefore, EAVI supports the adoption of the instruments available to promote media literacy at European and national levels.