Survival skills

     We must all become informed media consumers, or risk being overwhelmed by
     the information age

     David Buckingham
     Tuesday July 27, 2004
     The Guardian

     Stories about the harmful effects of the media are rarely absent from the
     headlines. In recent weeks, reports have claimed that watching television
     retards the development of the brain, produces attention deficit disorder
     and precipitates early puberty. Meanwhile, the debate about advertising
     and obesity rumbles on; and the internet is apparently infested with
     predatory paedophiles busily grooming our children.
     For decades, the media have been blamed for causing violent crime,
     educational underachievement, sexual obsession, political apathy - and
     just about every other social ill you care to name.
     Most of these concerns are overstated, and much of the "research" on which
     they are based is barely worthy of the name. Yet as channels proliferate,
     as global corporations extend their reach, and as technology makes it
     easier to copy and communicate, there is a growing sense that people's
     access to the media can no longer be controlled.
     The government's currently favoured solution is "media literacy". Rather
     than relying on the nanny state, it seeks to create informed media
     consumers with the power to make their own decisions. The Communications
     Act passed last year gave Ofcom, the media regulator, a remit to promote
     media literacy - while simultaneously opening up the media to greater
     commercial competition.
     Tessa Jowell, the culture minister, has been a powerful advocate. "I
     believe that in the modern world media literacy will become as important a
     skill as maths or science," she has said. "Decoding our media will be as
     important to our lives as citizens as understanding great literature is to
     our cultural lives."
     
      So what is media literacy? Ofcom recognises that there are several
     definitions. At its most bland, it refers to the ability to "access,
     analyse, evaluate and use" the media. For some in the media industries, it
     is a matter of providing information - of labelling and rating. A
     media-literate person, from this perspective, knows how to use an
     electronic programme guide or a web browser or how to set the parental
     controls on their cable TV.
     Yet there are others - not least Jowell herself - for whom media literacy
     goes beyond this functional approach. It involves a form of critical
     thinking that is essential to informed citizenship. It means being aware
     of the increasingly subtle and invisible methods that are used to promote
     and sell messages and products - not just by companies but also by
     political parties and interest groups. It means being aware of the
     potential for bias and misrepresentation, and making informed choices
     about where we place our trust.
     Yet media literacy is about more than critical reading. It should also
     involve the appreciation of major cultural forms like films, TV dramas and
     games, in the same way as children learn to appreciate literature and
     theatre. It should also enable us to become active participants in public
     debates about the media. And, as Jowell herself has pointed out, it should
     focus on the whole range of media - particularly as the media themselves
     are increasingly converging.
     This is partly a task for formal education. The UK has a long history of
     media education, and is regarded as a world leader in the field. Despite
     the sniping of conservative commentators - and some ill-informed
     representatives of the media industries - it is far from a soft option. UK
     media teachers have a clear definition of media literacy, and some
     rigorous and imaginative ways of putting it into practice.
     Specialist media studies courses at GCSE and A-level are expanding at a
     phenomenal rate - although there are far from enough teachers trained to
     teach them. However, media education should be an entitlement for all
     children at all ages. It should be part of the curriculum for English, for
     citizenship and for information technology.
     Yet despite the enthusiasm of the DCMS, interest in media literacy from
     the DfES has been muted. There is a need for some joined-up government
     here: if the government believes what it says, media literacy should
     surely be a central element of its overall literacy strategy.
     However, media literacy should go beyond schools. Indeed, adults may be
     much more in need of media literacy than children. The media are now
     central to the political process; and the forthcoming referendum about the
     EU constitution will provide an interesting test of the media's ability to
     generate informed debate, and of people's ability to participate
     critically.
     For some, media literacy is part of a broader democratisation of the
     media. It means promoting public participation in the making of media
     policy, and extending the media's accountability to the audiences it
     purports to serve. It also means greater public access to production; and
     the increasing appearance in the media of what is inelegantly termed
     "user-generated content".
     As the media steadily become a more sophisticated, more all-pervasive
     aspect of our lives, media literacy has become a necessary skill, not just
     for active citizenship, but for daily survival.

     · David Buckingham is a professor at the Institute of Education. A free
     public debate, Who Needs Media Literacy?, will be held at the institute,
     Bedford Way, London WC1 tomorrow from 6-7.30pm.
     d.buckingham@ioe.ac.uk