"Reliable, high quality information is a key priority for the young generation in Burkina Faso. Perhaps as a consequence of political insecurities and the prevalence of violent extremism, a majority of young people between 15 and 25 years seems very aware of the negative consequences of malevolent f
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orms of communication such as cyberbullying, disinformation and hate speech. At the same time, many young people lack vital Media and Information Literacy skills in the fields of access, creation and analysis of media content. This is according to results from a 2019 representative survey conducted for the MIL INDEX study on behalf of DW Akademie. Cyrille Guel from media NGO EducommunicAfrik echoes these findings, saying in an interview for the study that a basic knowledge of “how media work and how information is disseminated” is lacking. Denis Vincenti of development agency Fondation Hirondelle argues that this lack of skills emanates from the fact that young people are not given a chance to voice their concerns in the country, despite below 25-year-olds accounting for roughly 65 % of the population. The country report presented here is based on the findings of the MIL INDEX study, for which a representative survey, eight focus groups and six expert interviews were conducted in Burkina Faso between November 2018 and April 2019. The Study focused on five Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skill sets: Access, analysis, reflection, creation and action. For each of these dimensions, survey respondents received a score ranging between 0 (= no skills whatsoever) and 20 (= highest level of skills) points, adding up to a total maximum score of 100. The average 15-25-year-old Burkinabè respondent had moderate to good skills when it came to access (10.5), analysis (10.8), as well as reflection (11.5). Deficits were found mainly in the areas of action (8.2) and creation (5.6). The total score amounted to 46.6 out of a possible 100." (Executive summary)
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"Young Namibians are embracing the digital transformation, according to indicative findings from the present MIL INDEX country study. Interestingly, the youths that took part in eight focus groups conducted at the end of 2018 in Windhoek and Rundu are immersed in digital communication but are aware
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of the ambivalent nature of the news and information sources they find on social media and related Internet services. The importance of a critical mindset when navigating the World Wide Web was stressed by the eight experts interviewed as part of the study.
This MIL INDEX study addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) according to DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus groups conducted for this study reveal that there is a rural/urban divide in terms of access and use of media. The more rural (and older) groups use radio and television on a regular basis, while the more urban (and younger) groups tend to regard traditional media as yesterday’s media. This shift is in line with the rise of social media. Information uptake is coincidental and journalistic content is intermingled with all sorts of trivia when consumed in social networks. Smartphones are regarded by many as a substitute for newspapers, radio, and television. Amongst those who continue using traditional media, radio is turned to more often for information while TV is regarded more as an entertainment medium.
Considering analytical skills, there is a certain disenchantment of the Namibian youths with journalistic media, the reporting being considered not close enough to the interests and issues of the youth. But it was interesting to find that the focus group participants’ appraisal of media in terms of trustworthiness is the exact opposite of their consumption patterns. While the discussions documented frequent use of social media these are evaluated as least trustworthy, whereas newspapers are rated highly on the trustworthiness scale but were hardly ever read. There is an awareness of the ambivalent quality of news and information on social media, but the youths cannot always name sources they consider produce high-quality information.
The results in the reflection dimension are ambivalent. The youths can recount numerous cases of cyberbullying and disinformation (“fake news”). But the accompanying survey shows that while they reject hate speech and disinformation, there is a certain willingness to accept cyberbullying as given. This is echoed in the focus groups where participants’ advice is often to ignore hateful messages, rather than do something about them. However, the groups do discuss many other strategies in coming to terms with and combatting cyberbullying and disinformation. Rarely do they reflect the motivations that lie behind such behavior. It was also interesting to note that disinformation is mainly discussed with regards to online rather than traditional media." (Executive summary)
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"Ghana’s youth is embracing digital. According to the representative survey conducted for DW Akademie’s MIL INDEX study, three quarters of 15-25-year-olds own a smartphone. Over 70 % report going online with a mobile phone as well as using Facebook and WhatsApp on a weekly basis. Use of several
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different social networks and messengers is widespread and frequent. More data intensive networks like Snapchat (34.7%), YouTube (29%) and Instagram (26%) are used by a fairly large proportion of survey respondents every week. “We virtually live our lives on the Internet,” as one girl put it during a focus group conducted in Accra. “[I]f it’s about politics, if it’s about entertainment, if it’s about education, you can find enough information on the Internet using your smartphone.
The country report presented here is based on the findings of the MIL INDEX study, for which a representative survey, eight focus groups and seven expert interviews were conducted in Ghana between November 2018 and April 2019. The study focused on five Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skill sets: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. For each of these dimensions, survey respondents received a score ranging between 0 (= no skills whatsoever) and 20 (= highest level of skills) points, adding up to a maximum of 100 points. The scoring system measures how often certain skills are actually put into practice (access, creation, action) or tests the skills directly (analysis, reflection). Since citizens cannot permanently use media and information sources, unless they are journalists or media workers, a perfect score of 100 for any country appears unrealistic—it is more about the relative performance across time and in comparison to other countries, as well as being a tool for identifying deficits to be addressed in media development.
The 15-25-year-old Ghanaians on average displayed good skills in terms of action (13.9) and analysis (13.1), and intermediate skills when it came to creation (11.4). Deficits were mainly found in terms of reflection (10.2) and access (10.8). The total score amounted to 59.5 out of a possible 100." (Executive summary)
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"This book, part of the BEA Electronic Media Research Series, brings together top scholars researching media literacy and lays out the current state of the field in areas such as propaganda, news, participatory culture, representation, education, social/environmental justice, and civic engagement. T
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he field of media literacy continues to undergo changes and challenges as audiences are reconceptualized and reconfigured, media industries are transformed and replaced, and the production of media texts is available to anyone with a smartphone. The book provides an overview of these. It offers readers specific examples and recommendations to help others as they develop their own teaching and research agendas." (Publisher description)
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"The Council of the European Union [...] invites the Commission and member states, within their areas of competence and in due compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, to: 42. continue and undertake further efforts in terms of a systematic, comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach to developi
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ng media literacy and raising awareness of the importance of media literacy; national efforts undertaken in this perspective, including funding initiatives, should be accompanied at EU level; 43. foster better use of the possibilities offered by EU funds and EU programmes to support media education and diverse media literacy projects and initiatives (e.g. support for the media through the Creative Europe programme, in particular the new action on support for the media) and to develop additional funding sources as well as create synergies between the relevant EU programmes; 44. ensure that media literacy measures targeting minors under the Better Internet for Children Strategy keep pace with the continuously evolving digital environment; 45. finance and foster systematic and regular research into media literacy and the impact of media and digital platforms (e. g. systematic research on media literacy measures and initiatives; research into the influence of new media and communication platforms on well-being of citizens; research into the operation of algorithms and AI and their influence on public opinion, people’s lives, and media consumption, as well as on the European media and audiovisual industry); 46. support the audiovisual industry in developing quality European content and distribution platforms, taking into account the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the audiovisual sector in general; 47. encourage platforms and media outlets to cooperate on the development of tools and processes that promote the visibility and findability of quality news sources, along with the visibility and findability of quality European audiovisual content." (Page 26)
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"This report aims to assess the perception of the media and media skills among the citizens of the Republic of Moldova in 2020 and shows the dynamics compared to the first similar report conducted in 2018. This study assesses the extent to which media consumers can assess the quality media content,
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the level of knowledge among different target groups on issues such as propaganda and disinformation. In order to achieve the proposed objectives, was conducted a qualitative study and a quantitative study." (Summary)
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"O livro Mediações educomunicativas e interculturais entre Brasil e Moçambique apresenta pesquisas que dialogam com a perspectiva da educomunicação, da mediação tecnológica na educação formal e informal (comunitária), das tecnologias assistivas, da comunicação educativa e da arte comuni
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tária. O principal objetivo foi promover o estudo, a análise, o uso crítico e o desenvolvimento inovador de dispositivos midiáticos e tecnológicos abertos e pluralistas, seguindo o paradigma educomunicativo de formação de multiplicadores, que compreendam a importância dos mesmos para o processo de ensino colaborativo, intercultural e inclusivo, em ambientes formais e informais de aprendizagem. Ao explorar o estudo das potencialidades colaborativas e de convergência dos dispositivos midiáticos e tecnológicos na produção de narrativas multimídias e digitais, relacionando questões interculturais locais e globais, buscou também fomentar trocas de experiências educomunicativas no ensino, na extensão e na pesquisa em rede, de forma a garantir a transversalidade entre a cultura brasileira e a moçambicana. A organização do livro contempla quatro temáticas principais: perspectivas teóricas, éticas e interculturais; educomunicação inclusiva e tecnologias assistivas; práticas comunitárias em arte e comunicação; e mediação tecnológica na educação." (https://www.editorafi.org)
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"A media education plan supports the implementation, assessment and predictability of activities. Clearly planned work is easier to make visible also for others. A plan makes media education work easier to make visible to others. The plan can help to clarify the shared vision on the role and opportu
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nities of media education in your own organisation. Outlining operating conditions establishes peace to develop and do high-quality work. This guide helps you to prepare a media education plan. The plan and its preparation can be made in many different ways and in different scope. The themes and questions of the guide help to take into account the different aspect of media education work. You can choose the relevant questions based on your own perspective. This guide is based on the workshop conducted in the Finnish Media Education Forum 2020. We wish to share our acknowledgement to all the contributors." (Page 1)
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