Initiating pilot trials and campaigns
Media literacy levels vary for a wide range of reasons. The needs of people from minority communities, disadvantaged backgrounds and those with protected characteristics are not being effectively met by current media literacy provision, compared with the wider community.
To help address this under-provision, we will commission media literacy initiatives targeted to these groups and communities.
Our aim is to improve media literacy among online users who are currently not served or under-served by existing initiatives. These will range from broad media literacy awareness-raising programmes to targeted local initiatives.
- Collaborate to deliver successful local campaigns and initiatives that are tailored and sensitive to the particular needs of different groups and communities.
- Explore different ways of reaching these groups and communities to find out what works best.
- Provide the sector with an understanding of what is possible through funded collaboration and local initiatives.
- Evaluate and share findings from pilot initiatives.
| Organisations | Type of intervention |
|---|---|
| Ability Net | People living with disabilities |
| Advice NI | Older adults |
| Age UK East London | Older adults |
| Mencap Liverpool and Sefton | People living with disabilities |
| Mencap NI | Children and young people aged 10-14 |
| Norfolk Libraries | Older adults |
| Praesidio Safeguarding Ltd | Community-based media literacy |
| Promo Cymru | Community-based media literacy |
| Red Chair Highland Ltd | Older adults |
| Salford Foundation | Children and young people aged 10-14 |
| The Brain Charity | People living with disabilities |
| The Guardian Foundation | Children and young people aged 10-14 |
| West Nottinghamshire College | Community-based media literacy |
We spoke to ten organisations across the UK to find out what makes a successful community initiative or intervention. The key learning from this rapid research project is that local communities require local solutions. In essence, the community needs to teach itself, and the provider’s role is to create the right conditions for that. These learnings will inform our future approach when commissioning community interventions to improve media literacy among underrepresented groups.
Ofcom has commissioned a report to identify the innovative practices, projects and initiatives being delivered by a range of organisations across the UK, bringing together online media literacy and mental health support.
This report aims to evolve the conversation about the way online life affects our mental health, and we invite those in relevant sectors to help us identify what more can be done. It reflects what we heard from service managers, practitioners and service users – communicated in their words to reflect their lived experiences and contributions.
We hope the resulting four principles and their connected ideas for action will be useful for anyone working on these topics.
Research report: Listening to experts – Mental health and media literacy (PDF, 6.6 MB)
Disclaimer: Projects featured are illustrative examples of practice, not reflecting any affiliation to or endorsement by Ofcom.