The recent launch by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland of its Media Literacy Policy has prompted me to go back over my research notes in this area. While questions of the effects of the media on audiences have circulated for decades, my oldest reference in this current wave dates to 2003, when UK legislation of that year announced an intention to grasp the matter through the offices of the newly-minted regulator, Ofcom.
Rewind: In the early stages of that debate, the authors of Assessing the Media Literacy of UK Adults (2003) warned that even if it was possible to accurately measure the media literacy levels of adults, it could not "always be determined which of several interpretations of content are more literate than another...that adults use their knowledge and understanding in inconsistent and uneven ways" (Livingstone & Thumin, 2003). Thereby scuppering, from the outset, any notions that the indicators that may be assembled for calculating the scale of media literacy may simply be those used to measure for literacy in its more 'traditional' forms - reading, writing, numeracy. So here, the complexities (i.e. the psychologies) inherent in the individual experience of processing media content were being flagged as more problematic, due in no small part to more specialised pressures bearing down upon the meaning of the 'message'.
Fast Forward: So how may the audience/user experience of media consumption have changed over time? Certainly, there have been phenomenal structural and media/environmental changes in the last decade, and the common conjunction of the words 'social' and 'media' may have gone some way to maintaining the notion of the 'effects' of media exposure in the personal sense. But are adults any more 'self-aware' in terms of their media consumption than they were presumed to have be thirteen years ago - especially in terms of consciously deploying their knowledge in ways that might be considered more "consistent" or "even"?
In the official canon, the source of media literacy policy in Ireland resides in the Broadcasting Act 2009. But rather than add to the panoply of definitions out there, it is notable that the BAI has preferred instead - in this opportunity - to get down to business, to reach for the less ambiguous set of core competencies that have supported the arc of media literacy itself from the start; that is, critical understanding of the media and its messages; access to - and use of - media content; and content production. But even in the seeming unambiguity of these foundations, there is potential for 'untidiness'.
For instance, leaving aside methods of measurement (which may still be problematic), critical understanding of the media may demand of the audience an almost public service-type mindset, such as in terms of the impartial interrogation of content; and one wonders if it is now, or even was thirteen years ago, realistic to expect such a mindset might proliferate without more robust promotion of their core values by public-service content providers themselves. By comparison, the other two supports seem less troublesome, although without direction set by the first, and without some meditation on the legal/ethical/moral constituents demanded of the other two, all might struggle to support the overall structure.
The 'Grandiosity' of Media Literacy: In Setting the Scene for the Media Literacy Debate (2011), Sonia Livingstone suggested that claims made for media literacy, especially in the policy area are often "grandiose". But this may be understandable when, as is often the case, they set to align with such grand concepts as democracy, citizenship, cultural expression and personal fulfilment. However, despite this characterisation, Livingstone acknowledged the importance of policy input into the ways in which deficiencies in media literacy skills might be tackled. Here, she suggested a two-pronged policy strategy: firstly, by way of the general education system - there can be no other way to introduce people to the necessary skills than by enforcement through the curriculum, alongside the more traditional forms of literacy; secondly, as suggested above, she suggested the enlistment of the media itself - but this may now be a more problematic ask of all content suppliers to mass audiences than even five years ago, especially in the contemporary Irish media market, even one dominated by a public-service entity.
Networking: Hopefully, the proposed new media literacy 'network' will aspire to cover, and then perhaps enhance the newly-proposed policy strategy, especially in its ambitions to "develop a policy that is strategically aligned to other key learning frameworks and policies" such as those already developed the Department of Education and Science, the National Skills Strategy, and the National Framework of Qualifications, to name a few.
Knowledge Convergence: So the hope now is that the "knowledge gap" previously identified as being a consequence of policy makers adopting a laissez-faire attitude towards media literacy will consign to the past. Furthermore, historical concerns that it was the "already-advantaged" who were more likely to take- up knowledge disproportionately, might equally be consigned to history. But this particular concern must be a high priority here.
With the stated intent to convergence on how policy initiatives might play out in conjunction with other partners, and while there may be political meta-narratives at play here, especially in terms of pan-European security, stability and cohesion, this is nevertheless a golden opportunity to both address and act on concerns around more mundane areas of social inclusion, such as those concerning the inclusion of older people and other marginalised groups in the digital world.
While the notion of clarity is the overarching sweep of this and similar policies of the past, paradoxically, this debate should, by necessity, become complex like no other - not least of which for the number and diversity of 'stakeholders' which must surely be drawn into the conversation. Ultimately however, whatever messages emanate from hereon should be accessible, understandable, useful and useable.
Adrian Smyth is a PhD candidate at the Dublin Institute of Technology where he is researching the digital lives of older people.
