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LSE Media Policy Project:
Expert meeting on media literacy
LSE, 12 April 2011
Timetable
10.00 Arrival and coffee
10.30 Introduction to the Media Policy Project: Zoe Sujon
10.40 Media literacy: key issues facing UK policy and research: Sonia Livingstone
10.55 Research trends: is the promotion of media literacy effective? Yinhan Wang
11.10 Q&A
11.30 Panel discussion: media literacy – policy, practice and prospects
Monica Bulger, Oxford Internet Institute
John Newbigin, Chairman of Creative England
Sophie Jones, Channel 4
Cary Bazalgette, Chair of the Media Education Association
11.50 Q&A
12.30 Conclusions and next steps: Zoe Sujon
NB Chatham House rules + record the discussion
The LSE Media Policy Project
The Media Policy Project aims to establish a deliberative relationship between policy makers, civil society actors, media professionals and relevant media research. We want policy makers to have timely access to the best policy-relevant research and better access to the views of civil society.
Policy
ResearchCivil society
The Mediated Public SpherePolitical communication,civic engagement and journalism ethics
Transnational Media Cultures Global, comparative anddiasporic perspectives
Innovation and Governance Policy and regulation in the information society in the global ‘north’ and ‘south’
Media and Communications
Critical andengaged social
science
Mediation and Digital LiteraciesAudiences, representations and identities in everyday life
Polis
LSE Media Policy Project
Organized thematically Media Policy Briefs
– 1: ‘Creative Destruction and Copyright Protection: Regulatory Responses to File-sharing
– 2: ‘Media Literacy and UK Policy’– 3: ‘Digital Participation and Universal Service’– 4: ‘Media Plurality’– 5: ‘UK Media Policy and the LSE Media Policy
Project’
Project overview – September 2010 – July
2011
Deliberative strategy– Social media
– Expert meetings and events
– Media policy network
– Media Policy Briefs
Concluding event (June)
Media literacy:Key issues facing UK policy
and research
Sonia Livingstone
Media literacy – a long past and a short history
The long past
Especially media education for children (cf. work of BFI and others in the UK)
Developed curriculum materials though uncertain place in the curriculum
Variable but mounting support and initiatives internationally (e.g. Unesco, OECD)
Unresolved debate over purposes (empowerment, protection)
The recent history
Burgeoning new initiatives for adults (all, disadvantaged) and children
UK Communications Act 2003 (section 11)
EC Communication (2007) & Recommendation (2009); AVMS Directive (2007), High Level
Expert Group (2008), Digital Agenda (2010, following the Lisbon Agenda, 2000)
A popular concept (health literacy, financial literacy, information literacy, ethical literacy)
Communications Act 2003
Section 11: Duty to promote media literacy -
to bring about, or to encourage others to bring about, a better public understanding of the nature and characteristics of material published by means of the electronic media;
to bring about, or to encourage others to bring about, a better public awareness and understanding of the processes by which such material is selected, or made available, for publication by such means;
to bring about, or to encourage others to bring about, the development of a better public awareness of the available systems by which access to material published by means of the electronic media is or can be regulated;
to bring about, or to encourage others to bring about, the development of a better public awareness of the available systems by which persons to whom such material is made available may control what is received and of the uses to which such systems may be put; and
to encourage the development and use of technologies and systems for regulating access to such material, and for facilitating control over what material is received, that are both effective and easy to use.
Definitions and tensions
Definitions
‘The ability to access, analyse, evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms.’ (National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy, Aufderheide, 1993)
‘The ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts.’ (Ofcom)
‘Media literacy relates to the ability to access the media, to understand and critically evaluate different aspects of the media and media content and to create communications in a variety of contexts.’ (EC)
Tensions
Minimal and maximal expectations of the population – how much is enough?
Competitive society (workplace skills, consumer choice) or social inclusion/participation
Protection against media harms and/or engagement with media opportunities
Individualisation of risk to lighten the regulatory burden?
A matter of individual skill or environmental design and provision?
Relevance to familiar and new media
Media literacy for all? For the disadvantaged? Children only?
Political support
The previous government
Inserted media literacy into the Communication Act
Included a National Media Literacy Plan in the Digital Britain agenda
Appointed a Minister and a Champion for Digital Inclusion
National Plan for Digital Participation (2010) with substantial funding
The present government
Continues to support digital inclusion activities (Race Online 2012 …)
Might see media literacy as central to the Big Society
But has cancelled the budget for the National Plan…
Is preparing for a new Communications Act
Media literacy - ‘a priority’: Ofcom’s work, digital inclusion, school curriculum,
vocational education, Bailey Review, Media Smart, BBC
What can researchers contribute?
An independent perspective on policy action – can urge ambitious aims
Expertise in measurement – media literacy poses particular difficulties
Past public knowledge initiatives – show benefits often uneven, unequal or unproven
Knowledge gap findings - media literacy won’t spread all by itself – ‘the rich get richer’
New research and analysis of the research literature - for example:
- adults more easily gain operational (functional) skills than more strategic or complex skills, and
many (older, disabled, minorities) struggle even to gain basic skills (Deursen & van Dijk, 2009)
- students from more educated backgrounds are more likely to engage in content creation and
sharing, and more digital skills enable in more creativity; gender differences no longer significant
(Hargittai and Walejko, 2008)
- people tend to evaluate the trustworthiness of websites (e.g. for health information) by features
of site design (Sillence et al, 2007)
- opportunities to learn about online civic participation results in more participation (Kahne et al,
2010)
Research trends:Is the promotion of media
literacy effective?
Yinhan Wang
Introduction
Ofcom’s Media Literacy Reports for children and adults have been carried
out since 2005.
They cover the key dimensions of media literacy: access and use, critical
evaluation, digital skills and education, communication and creation, civic
participation.
Here we offer a selective reworking and analysis of a small
proportion/selection of Ofcom’s data, in order to inform the discussion. Our
interpretation of data does not represent Ofcom’s perspectives.
Thanks to Fiona Lennox! Any mistakes are our own.
The benefits of overcoming barriers to access and use of the internet for health information
More high than low SES adults have internet at home.
Among adults with internet at home, more high SES adults search for information about an illness than low SES adults.
Among adults who search for information about an illness, there is no SES difference in using NHS Direct.
SES inequalities persist even given equivalent access to the internet.
If barriers to access and use are overcome, all can benefit.
Source: UK Adults’ Media Literacy (Ofcom 2006, 2008, 2010)
NB Base:Red lines: All internet using adultsGreen lines: All internet using adults who use the
internet for health information
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2005 2007 2009
About anillness(ABC1)
About anillness(C2DE)
Use NHSDirect(ABC1)
Use NHSDirect(C2DE)
Inequalities in critical evaluation: checking the reliability of new websites
Through experience or guidance,
adults have learned to check the
reliability of websites.
Children have also learned but
have more to learn: 87% believe
all/most information on sites
they use for schoolwork is true
(2009).
Children taught in school about
the internet do more checking
(2005).
Older (55+) and lower SES adults
are less likely to check reliability.
People are gaining critical
literacy, but gaps remain.Source: UK Adults’ / Children’s Media Literacy
(Ofcom, 2006, 2008, 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2005 2007 2009
Check sites(16+)
Check sites(12-15)
NB Base:2005 All internet using adults2007/09 All internet using adults who visit new websites
Critical evaluation: the internet lags behind in public understanding of who funds the media
The public understands how
television and radio are funded.
Understanding that search
engines are funded by advertising
lags far behind.
Women, older (55+) and low SES
households give fewest correct
answers.
Without specific intervention, it
seems unlikely that critical
understanding of the internet
(which is heavily used for
information) will catch up.
Source: UK Adults’ Media Literacy (Ofcom, 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2005 2007 2009
BBC TV
CommercialTV
BBC radio
Commercialradio
Searchengines
NB Base:All adults
Digital skills among adults:the same or worse in 2009 than in 2007
E-skills are central to the EC’s Digital
Agenda.
Some skills are fairly common, but
SES differences persist.
Interest and confidence in skills have
not improved since 2005:
Viruses: 57% (2005), 59% (2009)
Filter: 52% (2007), 47% (2009)
Debates: 26% (2007), 21% (2009)
Without confident skills in using
the internet, expanding the range
of online activities will be
impeded.
Interest is also vital for the
cultivation of skills and use.
Source: UK Adults’ Media Literacy (Ofcom, 2006, 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
AB C1 C2 DE
Block viruses
Install filter
Join indebates
NB Base:All internet using adults (2009)
Formal education about media: is there potential for more provision?
Children are being taught about the
internet and about TV.
As children use the internet ever
younger, more are taught about it.
2005-2009 have seen no rise in
adults’ formal learning about digital
technology, and no rise in their
interest in learning about it.
Given the time they spend on TV, it
could be argued that children
need more teaching about TV.
25% of adults say they are
interested in learning more about
digital technology – worth
providing more?
Source: UK Adults’ / Children’s Media Literacy
(Ofcom, 2006, 2008 & 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2005 2007 2009
Lessons aboutTV (8-11)
Lessons aboutTV (12-15)
Lessons aboutinternet (8-11)
Lessons aboutinternet (12-15)
NB BaseChildren aged 8-15
Understanding: the public is concerned about media content/platforms
The public is most concerned about the internet.
Those who use the internet are more concerned than those who do not.
Ethnic minority groups are more concerned about computer viruses/security, mobile
and gaming, whereas older people and disabled people are more concerned about
the television.
Levels of concern may indicate desire for regulation and/or for media literacy.Source: UK Adults’ Media Literacy (Ofcom, 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Internet Television Mobile Gaming Radio
Concerned
NB Base:Adult users of each platform
Communicating and creating on the internet:adults who use the internet
Differences by age are striking.
If communication/creativity is a
goal, older people are not
benefiting.
The low take up of maintaining a
website/blogging by younger
adults belies the ‘digital native’
rhetoric.
Without improved design
and/or guidance,
communicative and creative
uses of the internet may not
become widespread.
Source: UK Adults’s Media Literacy (Ofcom, 2010)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
16-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55+
Socialnetworking
Blogging
NB Base:All internet using adults (2009)
Communicating and creating on the internet:children 12-15 who use the internet at home
Making a website slowly caught
hold but was replaced by social
networking.
Social networking sites (and
online albums) make (limited,
formatted) content creation easy.
Making and uploading a video
remains unpopular/difficult
(despite the advent of YouTube).
Without improved design
and/or guidance, creative uses
of the internet may not become
widespread.
Source: UK Children’s Media Literacy (Ofcom,
2006, 2008 & 2010)
NB Base:All children aged 12-15 who use the internet at home
Civic participation:adults who use the internet
Differences by SES are striking: if
civic participation online is a goal,
lower SES adults miss out.
The low take up of civic participation
of all, however, is also striking.
Other research shows repeatedly
than low political efficacy and trust
account for low participation (people
must believe their contribution will be
responded to).
Without improved support or,
possibly, response, civic uses of
the internet may not become
widespread.
Source: UK Adults’ Media Literacy (Ofcom, 2008, 2010)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
AB C1 C2 DE
2007
2009
Measures:2008 Finding info about public services provided by local or
national government;Looking at political/ campaign/ issues websites
2010 Finding info about public services provided by local or national government;Looking at political/ campaign/ issues websites Completing government processes online
Discussion
Has the past decade of activities improved media literacy among the public?
Have we missed out important issues or activities in this field?
Comments/suggestions on the evidence we have presented?
Will media literacy progress ‘naturally’ and do knowledge gaps matter?
What are the priorities for media literacy, what initiatives are needed?
What role (any? same?) should media literacy have in the new Comms Act?
What evidence could support a renewed media literacy agenda?
How are the demands on media (digital) literacy changing as ever more of our lives are mediated?
Panel discussion
Monica Bulger, Oxford Internet InstituteJohn Newbigin, Creative EnglandSophie Jones, Channel 4Cary Bazalgette, Media Education Association
Conclusions and next steps
LSE Media Policy Project– Policy network– Blog– Media Policy Brief
LSE Media Policy Project
Thank-you!
– Blog: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/
– Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/LSEmediapolicy– Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LSE-Media-Policy-Project/154733394550955