The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA), based at the University of Maryland, has produced several key studies and, together with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), brings together some of the best journalism professionals and students from around the globe to discuss, debate and propose solutions addressing problems associated with minimal media literacy among consumers. Studies by these organizations, as well as other major independent institutes, have found a distinct correlation between the social growth of countries and their levels of media literacy, freedoms of the press and media transparency.
The Czech Republic and Sweden have legislation in place that makes media literacy education mandatory. As a result, they also have some of the highest percentages of civically active citizens, according to Dr. Paul Mihailidis of the ICMPA. Mihailidis studied media literacy in Sweden’s secondary education systems and found a direct link between young people’s perceptions of media reliability and their own sense of civic duty. “In Sweden, the consensus was to produce informed and knowledgeable citizens… they must understand how information works and be aware of its civic implications, esepecially in a media-saturated society,” said Mihailidis in a lecture on media literacy. He suggested the American educational system would be reintroduced into the forefront of educational standards if media literacy is made into a regular practice.
The road to media awareness hasn’t been easy for the Czechs though; for 20 years, from 1969 to 1989, the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia) was suppressed by the communist U.S.S.R. The media, which had blossomed in the “Prague Spring of 1968″ was quickly crippled when the militaries of five Warsaw Pact countries invaded the country and killed dozens of resisting citizens in capital city. The Czech Republic’s mandatory media literacy education in elementary school is just one example of how the establishment of a reliable media can improve a country’s education and economic system.
The definition of media transparency is the willingness of a news group to publish and discuss information regarding its own practices and publications. A study conducted by the ICMPA ranked 25 of the most prominent news sources in the world based on particular criteria including accountability, corrections, staff policies and reporting policies. The British newspaper The Guardian was ranked first overall, followed by The New York Times and a select group of global and nonprofit news companies. CNN was ranked the fifth-lowest, directly under Fox News and one above the Al Jazeera English. This illustrates the unfortunate detachment between broadcast news and thoroughly-researched journalism in newspapers and magazines.
Capitalist conglomerations have created the biggest media “illiteracy” problem in history. A handful of super companies known as the “Big Six” own a vast majority of the media outlets in the United States. These companies have what some consider to be monopolies on multimedia platforms. University of California Santa Barbara professor and author W. James Potter says in his book Media Literacy, “Critics fear that this trend has already put too much power into the hands of a very few people.”
Interesting angle to civic responsibility. I’ve always thought of the media as a tool to inform, but I’ve never imagined that it could inspire people to take action and become actively involved in the governing of their own lives.
Maybe inspired is too strong a word, but still, imagining a newspaper article being responsible for helping motivate a young man or woman to voice their opinion, or maybe even enter into public service, is an incredible thought. It’s at least inspiring to me as a reporter.
Better media transparency in the States may help increase people’s desire to be media literate. Since every major media outlet has been labeled with a particular political bias in the past few years–fairly or not–it’s become difficult for the general public to take any media seriously. But I don’t think media transparency is the only answer, because I don’t think that’s a huge problem in America. Media bias is blown out of proportion. Let’s start educating people to inspire them to read the news at a young age.
And I do mean read, not watch anchors babble on the six o’clock news.