Media and Information Literacy

What is Media and Information Literacy?

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in developing countries is a challenging field of media development today. It deals with the deep human need to communicate in a complex world that does not offer equal opportunities for everyone. MIL is about students in a school in Ramallah who, after discussing different news sources with their teacher, can more clearly differentiate between gossip and political news. It is about girls and boys in Kampala using their mobile phones as microphones, recording information on the growing pile of waste dumped in their neighborhood and airing it on a local radio station. And MIL is about young adults in Phnom Penh who spend their pocket money in cyber cafés. They have discovered the Internet as a place for the free exchange of opinions in a country where classic media are censored by the Information Ministry. On a more fundamental level MIL – understood as an ability of individuals – is directly linked to the human rights to freedom of information, expression, and education, which are violated in many countries. Citizens cannot easily access relevant information and voice their concerns, and education levels are generally low. Media outlets often have to fear banning, repression, more subtle forms of persecution, or fall prey to bribery or co-option as multitude of new digital channels and platforms come into play, new opportunities emerge, but so too do new inequalities and injustices.

 Not all people have access to these new media. Instead of solving this problem, many governments seek to engage in surveillance of their citizens through the Internet, as large enterprises also try to control the flow of information to further their commercial interests. Many people today struggle to cope with the multitude of options and pitfalls of the digital age. Instead of making active choices, they simply passively consume the entertainment products offered to them. Citizens need to find new ways to consciously participate in and shape the flow of information. In this context, new forms of Digital Media and Information Literacy (DMIL) are of particular importance. Media development supports MIL projects because they help people make their own choices and realize their human rights. To achieve this, MIL projects may include training and skill-oriented workshops. But they need to work on other levels, too, and support structural reforms on behalf of informed and active citizens.

MIL is the optimal outcome of media, information and communication technology (ICT) education. This begs the question, however, of what outcomes might specifically be regarded as MIL. Three options can be discerned in the literature: technical skills, critical attitudes, and facts about media and ICT. Technical skills involve being able to access and use computers, mobile and other technical devices that offer media and information content. MIL curriculum defines this aspect of MIL as “accessing information effectively and efficiently.” It is important to stress that technical skills are an absolute prerequisite for being able to put MIL into practice. In many countries, MIL projects have to start with basic courses in

Digital Media and Information Literacy. Only then are participants able to access and utilize these resources and only then does it make sense to convey knowledge about these resources and foster critical attitudes towards them. Content decoding skills are important as the next step. They involve being able to deconstruct and analyze media messages but also knowing one’s own information needs and being skilled at gratifying them . Dieter Baacke has also included what he calls media compositional skills in his model of media competence. This involves creating new kinds of media content, encouraging self-determination, and increasing individuals’ chances for participation . So MIL decidedly involves a performative aspect, since literacy always entails the competence to be able to do rather than just to know certain things. Knowing facts about media and ICT is the outcome perhaps most associated with traditional school and tertiary education, however. Writing for CIMA, Susan D. Moeller has summarized this facet of MIL from the user perspective, arguing media consumers ought to be able to identify news, know how media decide what matters, and understand media’s role in shaping global issues.