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Executive summary

Background

• Ofcom and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) commissioned this audit to map learning-related public policy development across the United Kingdom that impacts on the promotion of media literacy.
• The research was directed towards policy owners and key delivery partners across government and the public sector.
• Media literacy is a learning outcome, conceived in public policy terms by Ofcom as a set of inter-related competencies that enable people to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts. These competencies can be learned and developed throughout a persons life, and they are relevant to young and old.
• Many of the basic competencies associated with media literacy develop in the course of everyday life without the need for directed learning. Nonetheless, media literacy can be further developed and enhanced through channels under-pinned by public policy, including compulsory and post-16 education, vocational training and skills development, and informal learning and participation.
• This locates the promotion of media literacy within a broad and dynamic policy context, which is further extended by policy drivers to tackle social exclusion and the risks posed by the internet, including identity theft, online fraud and child exploitation.
• Passage of the Communications Act (2003) marked a step change in public policy promoting media literacy, putting it firmly on the agenda.
• Under the Act, Ofcom has a statutory duty to promote media literacy.
• Ofcom is not alone in its statutory responsibilities for promoting media literacy, although by virtue of the Communications Act (2003) it has a leadership role in this regard. The BBC recently acquired a duty to promote media literacy under the terms of the its Charter and Agreement.
• No single organisation can promote media literacy across the UK without involving others. Ofcom has decided this is best achieved by working through partnerships and facilitation with other organisations.
• The importance of media literacy promotion, and of Ofcoms role in this area, has recently been recognised in Digital Britain: The Interim Report, published in January 2009.
• The interim report calls for a further step change in approach to media literacy promotion, through development of a National Media Literacy Plan that takes account of changes in the availability and use of digital technology since 2003.
• It is a propitious time for such a step change, to take advantage of opportunities like the recent establishment of UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), launch of the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in England (along with equivalent initiatives in the other home nations), the drive towards realising the vision of Creative Britain, reform of the school curriculum across the nations and the re-evaluation of skills and training needs of the 21st Century spurred by the Leitch Review.

Terminology and definitions

• There is no single agreed definition of media literacy, although Ofcoms specification is widely recognised and has been adopted for use by others.
• By basing its definition on an open-ended set of competencies, Ofcom has succeeded in opening up the specification of media literacy, thereby making it easier to see how media literacy promotion can find common ground with other policy agendas.
• There is some overlap between media literacy and two other non-traditional literacies commonly featured in public policy: digital literacy (also referred to as computer or ICT literacy) and information literacy (Table ES1).

Table ES1: Mapping competencies across definitions

Main competence groups	Ofcom media literacy	Digital literacy*	CILIP information literacy	Charter for Media Literacy
Defining the need
Access
Understanding
Creativity
Appreciation
Communicating information	**

Notes

*Definition is taken from an unpublished review of digital literacy prepared on behalf of Becta by Dr Tabetha Newman. The specification is given as an example, and should not be taken to represent Bectas view.

**Communicating information is one aspect of creativity in Ofcoms specification of media literacy.
CILIP= Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

The policy landscape

• The audit has found evidence confirming that the UK Governments intentions for the promotion of media literacy are being served by top-level policy agendas outside of the regulatory context of Ofcoms work.
• These agendas fall into three broad categories:
  • Learning and skills;
  • Digital inclusion, participation & delivery of public services;
  • Safety, protection and security.
• Sitting below the top-level policy agendas are other relevant initiatives, termed midstream activity by the audit, located somewhere between top-level policy development (upstream) and direct delivery of media literacy promotion (downstream). Examples include the A Wider Literacy campaign in Northern Ireland and Help The Ageds Learning for Living: Helping to prevent social exclusion among older people campaign.
• Those involved in midstream activity often characterise their work in terms of advocacy, and many of the top-line policy agendas described in the audit have been instigated or influenced by midstream activity.
• Developments in Europe also have a direct or indirect bearing on media literacy promotion in the UK; examples include the European Commissions Communication on a European approach to media literacy in the digital environment (2007), the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive and the Safer Internet 2009-2013 programme.

Learning and skills

• Because media literacy is a learning outcome it has obvious relevance to policy agendas dealing with the delivery of education, skills development and informal learning.
• This category covers formal and informal learning settings, including compulsory and post-16 education, informal adult learning, vocational training and skills development (including apprenticeships).

Digital inclusion, participation and delivery of public services

• Access and inclusion are central to Ofcoms regulatory duties, and a key element of media literacy promotion.
• Policies addressing community and civic participation and improved public service delivery through digital media services are also relevant drivers of media literacy promotion.

Safety, protection and security

• The safeguarding agenda covers a broad spectrum of concerns for childrens welfare, aspects of which are relevant to media literacy including the age appropriateness of media content, e-safety and protection from online sexual exploitation.
• In addition, media literacy promotion also has a bearing on consumer and citizen protection including data security and privacy.

Key players

• Of the organisations included in the audit, the following have a key role to play in media literacy promotion at the UK-wide level: Becta (Learning & skills; digital inclusion; safety), CEOP (Safety), Digital Inclusion Expert Taskforce (Learning & skills; digital inclusion), Ofcom (Learning & skills; digital inclusion; safety), Skillset (Learning & skills), UKCCIS (Learning & skills; safety).
• Though it was not consulted during the audit, the BBC can be added to this list, given its Charter/Agreement responsibilities.
• A range of other key players operate within each home nation.

The full document is available below

• Audit of learning-related media literacy policy development [pdf]
  Full Print Version

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