Making Over Media Literacy

November 26, 2016 , 0

Children’s media use is deeply tied to the concept of media literacy. 

Sherri Culver explores this in a recent blog post: Does Media Literacy Need a Makeover? Sherri serves as Director of the Center for Media and Information Literacy at Temple University, USA where she is an Associate Professor in the School of Media and Communication. She teaches courses on media & children, media business, and media management. She collaborates internationally with researchers, educators, artists, media companies, schools and non-profit organizations on projects connected to children and media.

The Center for Media and Information Literacy (CMIL) serves as a hub for research and projects encouraging critical thinking about the influence and creativity of media.

Sherri writes: "A child’s understanding of media will affect what media she selects, how long she engages with it, what she understands about why it’s been made and for whom, her understanding of how it makes money from her use, and maybe even how much fun she has with it. But don’t confuse being media literate with using less media. Media literacy is about having one’s eyes wide open, even if those eyes are three years old and are just learning to navigate an iPad.

Kids engagement with media should go hand-in-hand with media literacy, but how can that happen if content creators fear the goal is less media engagement?"

The CMF events, publications, Research Blog and our work to inform Parliamentarians and policy-makers through the APPG create dialogues that bring together the industry, researchers and decision-makers to break down some of the barriers Sherri discusses in her article.

Sandford St Martin Awards The BBC Charter and the Contestable Fund – Parliamentary Discussions