Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The UK's Networked Generation and Why Media Literacy Matters
The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the broadcasting and telecommunications regulator in the UK was formed in 2003. As part of its remit, it was given a statutory duty to promote media literacy. Ofcom has since become a catalyst and thought leader for the subject, which has led to media literacy being raised high on both industry and government agendas across Europe.
Robin Blake (Google) is the manager of the Media Literacy Team at Ofcom, the independent regulator for the United Kingdom's communications industries.
BBC News School Report (What is the School Report?)
Ofcom received help from the BBC on this project. It was relatively successful. I say that because the Robin said that while the students had a great time, the outcomes were not what they expected. Rather than the students coming away with a sense of media savvy when it comes to the news, the students were more apt to believe every news story they saw. The reason for this is that the student equated all the hard work that the reporter put into their story with the hard work that they themselves put into the stories the students produced. Oops!
Another example of UK Media Literacy is an PSA Media Smart put out about not believing everything one sees on the "Telly." View PSA here.
Robin showed a graph of what media activity that people in the UK would miss most. While the TV was top among the groups 25 years old and older, cell phones was highest among 16-24 year olds.
Robin says that although sites like Facebook and MySpace are most popular, and allow for global networking, for youth, their only concern is with their small group of friends. So "Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame has shifted to 15 people."
Robin began to speak about how youth view the truthfulness in media. While nothing in the chart seemed shocking, there was one piece of the chart that was interesting. A majority of youth do not find Reality TV programs truthful. Then he showed a clip of a girl who said that "because a site appears first in a Google search, it must be true."
International Media Literacy Reform Inaugural Meeting will be London England 2008. This man is very informed, and I would highly suggest that you hear this man if you get the chance.
It is a shame that he time with us was so short. I would liked to have heard more from him.
Robin Blake (Google) is the manager of the Media Literacy Team at Ofcom, the independent regulator for the United Kingdom's communications industries.
BBC News School Report (What is the School Report?)
Ofcom received help from the BBC on this project. It was relatively successful. I say that because the Robin said that while the students had a great time, the outcomes were not what they expected. Rather than the students coming away with a sense of media savvy when it comes to the news, the students were more apt to believe every news story they saw. The reason for this is that the student equated all the hard work that the reporter put into their story with the hard work that they themselves put into the stories the students produced. Oops!
Another example of UK Media Literacy is an PSA Media Smart put out about not believing everything one sees on the "Telly." View PSA here.
Robin showed a graph of what media activity that people in the UK would miss most. While the TV was top among the groups 25 years old and older, cell phones was highest among 16-24 year olds.
Robin says that although sites like Facebook and MySpace are most popular, and allow for global networking, for youth, their only concern is with their small group of friends. So "Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame has shifted to 15 people."
Robin began to speak about how youth view the truthfulness in media. While nothing in the chart seemed shocking, there was one piece of the chart that was interesting. A majority of youth do not find Reality TV programs truthful. Then he showed a clip of a girl who said that "because a site appears first in a Google search, it must be true."
International Media Literacy Reform Inaugural Meeting will be London England 2008. This man is very informed, and I would highly suggest that you hear this man if you get the chance.
It is a shame that he time with us was so short. I would liked to have heard more from him.
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