clarity on media literacy

September 2011

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1 CLARITY ON MEDIA LITERACY – THE DUTCH RESEARCH PROJECT ‘MEASURING MEDIA LITERACY’

Meaning Variance

Operational Definition

Challenge

Clarity on Media Literacy

The Dutch Research Project ‘Measuring Media Literacy’

Back in 2005 the Dutch government advisory board on cultural issues, the Raad voor Cultuur, issued

its report Media Literacy – Towards A New Citizenship. Surely, media education existed in the

Netherlands at the time, but the report called for stronger, proactive policies to make the

Netherlands more media literate. Since then, numerous media literacy initiatives of all sorts have

been deployed in the Netherlands: courses, workshops, websites, instruction materials, research

projects, strategic partnerships, and games, to name a few. In 2008 the network organisation

Mediawijzer.net was established, connecting over 500 organizations that are engaged in media

literacy initiatives. The quality of the initiatives of the network partners is not at

stake, but gradually people in the field came to notice a wide meaning variance

pertaining to media literacy. Some associated media literacy with the avoidance

of the hazards that accompany the rise of new media, such as grooming, cyber bullying, and game

addiction. Others equated media literacy with the ability to use the latest media apps and gadgets:

once you own an iPad2, twitter a lot, and check in on Foursquare, you’re media literate. Still others

conceived media literacy as the ability to find information, and judge the reliability of various

information sources. Finally, some expected a media literate citizen, above all, to be able to discern

the differences between Jersey Shore and Digging for Britain.

This meaning variance is partly due to the abstract definition the Raad voor Cultuur provided. The

board defined media literacy as “the sum of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable citizens to

traverse actively, critically, and mindfully through a complex, ever changing, and fundamentally

mediated world”. A profound and meaningful definition for sure, but rather intangible and academic

as well.

Therefore, at the end of 2009, Mediawijzer.net’s executive board invited its network partners to

provide a practical, operational definition of media literacy, that could serve as

a starting point for the measurement of media literacy. So the invite had a

double aim: to come up, on the one hand, with a clear description of what

exactly media literacy is, and to devise an instrument to measure that thus defined media literacy on

the other.

We all knew this was not going to be an easy task. Firstly, the phenomenon ‘media’ itself is

comprehensive and multifaceted. From chatbox to newspaper section, from Mario Kart to CNN,

from iPhone to retweet: they all belong to the realm of media. In today’s

world, these media have been fully integrated into our everyday lives.

Because of that, media literacy has evolved into a vast and motley

collection of competencies. Securing your credit card details,

keeping a holiday blog (while sending your elderly neighbours a

handwritten postcard), trading on eBay, setting your TomTom, televoting

for your X-Factor favourite, electronic tax filing, and surviving in Call of

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understanding

communication strategy

use

Duty: while these are all matters involving media literacy, they call for a wide range of competencies

(that certainly not everybody has available, nor should have available).

Six Dutch organisations have joined forces to meet the challenge of operationalising the concept of

media literacy as universally as possible, whilst recognising its

multifaceted character. The research group consisted of a leading

Dutch technological research institute (TNO), a high school with a

specialized media curriculum (Thorbecke Scholengemeenschap),

the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, and three organizations that

undertake media literacy projects on an operational level (Cinekid;

News in the Classroom [Nieuws in de klas]; and View on Media

[Blik op media]).

Their research report Measuring Media Literacy (in Dutch: Meten

van mediawijsheid) is an important step towards clarity on media

literacy in the Netherlands.

In this document, Clarity on Media Literacy, we will highlight the

most important outcomes of the Dutch study, hoping that it will

fuel and inspire present day European and global discussions on

media literacy – and how to define and measure it.

Four sets of competencies

The most important outcome of Measuring Media Literacy is the very practicable, but no less precise

breakdown of media literacy into four sets of competencies.

Ability to use devices, tools,

and software

Ability to critically analyse

media messages

Ability to create media content

& use media to interact with others

Ability to deliberately deploy media

to accomplish personal goals

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Certainly, every model has its limitations. One could argue, for example, that the

competency group ‘Communication’ should be split up into ‘Communication’ and

‘Creation’. The research group has followed David Buckingham’s claim on this, that a

communicative element is present in every media creation. But achieving a high score

in a single player adventure game or tweaking a smartphone do not involve much

communication, while chatting and twittering are mostly more communicative than

creative acts.

This categorisation results from analysis of four existing classifications of media literacy

competencies:

The research group has selected the best elements of these classifications and managed to

incorporate them within a single model. The research group model:

distinguishes technical mastery from strategic media use (like the blue models) – thereby

showing that media literacy is also about the development of a digital identity and

empowering individuals for the media society.

emphasises the importance of critical understanding of media messages (like the light

purple model) – thereby stressing that media literacy is more than knowledge of the latest

gadgets, devices, and apps.

emphasizes the importance of communicative skills (like both purple models) – thereby

acknowledging the new possibilities for communication that the social media explosion

opens up.

In short: if you’re able to push the buttons of different devices, and run software applications

successfully; if you understand how media messages in today’s world are being composed; if you’re

able to create your own media content and put it to use in social media settings; and, finally, if you

do all of these matters thoughtfully in order to achieve your personal goals, then you may rightly say

that you’re able (in the words of the Raad voor Cultuur) to traverse actively, critically, and mindfully

through today’s complex, ever changing, and fundamentally mediated world – or, in short: rightly

consider yourself to be media literate.

Along these lines, the Dutch study has yielded a contemporary definition of media literacy, that can

be put to use in the field, and positions media literacy as a vehicle for autonomous citizenship and

full participation within the media society.

University of Twente (2008) University of Barcelona /

European Commission (2007)

The Netherlands Institute for

Social Research (2010) Rathenau Institute (2000)

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14 Core Competencies

The full scope of the model comes into view when we take a look at the subcategorisation of the

main competency groups into fourteen core competencies.

Description of the Fourteen Core Competencies

Use

Us1. Operating media devices and applications

Us2. Orientation within technical media environments

Us3. Control risks when using media devices and applications

Understanding Un1. Insight in the production and distribution of media content

Un2. Understanding the role of the government & legislation in media production

Un3. Understanding the role of language and meaning in media production

Un4. Understanding the role of representation in media production

Un5. Insight in the tailoring of media content to target audiences

Communication

C1. Tailoring personal media content to target audiences

C2. Tailoring form and design of media content to a specific message

C3. Use media to interact socially

C4. Control risks when communicating using media

Strategy

S1. Awareness of one's personal media repertoire

S2. Deploy media effectively to achieve personal goals

Use

Us1. Operating media devices Perform the physical actions and technical procedures required for operating media devices, software, tools, and applications.

Us2. Orientation within technical media environments Knowing how different operational elements of a device are interrelated, and how to navigate within the operational structure of a device. Us3. Control risks when using media devices Taking technical precautions to reduce practical risks of using media devices.

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Un2. Understanding the role of the government & legislation in media production Knowing relevant legislation concerning specific media use (e.g. copyright legislation). Understanding how governments can regulate free market excesses, as well as infringe on personal liberties by censorship or interest politics.

Un4. Understanding the role of representation in media production Understanding that media do not present but re-present reality.

Un3. Understanding the role of language in media production

Understanding the conventions that are being used in media expressions, and how this effects the conveyance of messages, in order to deliberately construct and adjust one’s language use.

Understanding

Un5. Insight in the tailoring of media content to target audiences

Understanding how various interest groups strategically deploy media, observing social differences between groups of media users, and understanding how (commercial and ideological) messges are tailored to these differences.

Strategy S1. Awareness of one's personal media repertoire

Knowing one's own media skills, as well as the (im)possibilities of media applications, their reach, and knowing which goals they are suited for.

S2. Deploy media effectively to achieve personal goals

Deploying media effectively on the basis of one's own media repertoire.

Communication

C1. . Tailoring personal media content to target audiences

Adjusting tone, style, and content of text and images to a specific audience.

C2. Tailoring form and design of personal media content to a specific message

Adjusting form and layout of self-produced (multi-)media content, in order to optimise the impact of a message.

C4. Control risks when communicating using media

Recognising and avoiding risks when communicating using media.

Un1. Insight in the production and distribution of media content

Understanding the role of technology, of the media industry, and of professional practices in media production and distribution, and awareness of the resulting processes of social inclusion and exclusion.

C3. Use media to interact socially

Recognising rules and social conventions within diverse media environments, and adjust behaviour in accordance with these rules and conventions.

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Despite the careful justification in Measuring Media Literacy for

including precisely these eight functions, we acknowledge that

one could make a case for adding functions such as

‘Religion’,’Career’, or ‘Education’.

Media Functions

Measuring Media Literacy also explores the different functions that media can fulfill. Based on a

report issued by the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy, Measuring Media Literacy

identifies the following eight functions:

Measuring Media Literacy relates these functions to the fourteen core competencies. The

competency Tailoring form and design of personal media content to a specific message, for example,

is particularly related to the functions Opinion and Interaction.

The connections between competencies and functions have not been fully worked out in Measuring

Media Literacy, but we consider this to be a significant research track. Media literacy competencies

do not occur in a void, but always serve specific purposes for individuals. Explicitly stating the various

functions that media fulfill, can help reveal the opportunities less media literate individuals or groups

forego, which prevents their full participation in the media society.

News

Keeping up-do-date on the latest news

Opinion

Interpreting and sharing news and background insights

Entertainment

Recreation & enjoyment

Art/Culture

Artistic expressions

Specific information

Acquiring specific factual information

Commerce

Buying & selling goods; coping with commercial messages

Interaction

Exchanging messages, opinions, and feelings

Administration & online services

Administrative affairs (online banking; electronic tax filing)

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Operationalisation for Distinctive Target Groups

One of the merits of the model is its validity for all target groups. The competency Operating media

devices and applications, for example, is relevant to every target group, although the interpretation

will differ for every target group. We expect a freshly graduated marketeer to have the latest app on

his or her smartphone, while we expect at best a monochrome Nokia device in a home for the

elderly. Similarly, we want lower SES teenagers to be able to discern the differences between

Panorama and OK! TV, while expecting the same from academics, but then related to Fox and CNN

(competencies Un1, Un4, and Un5).

In two pilot studies, the research group has operationalised the core competencies using context-

specific indicators. One of these pilots, Media Literacy and Persons with Intellectual Disabilities,

operationalises the competency Control risks when communicating using media, for instance, using

the following ten indicators:

Knows the opportunities different media platform provide for faking an identity Recognises when someone fakes an identity Recognises inappropriate communication Disregards unsolicited media messages Can terminate unwanted communication Knows how different media services deal with personal details Is aware of the aims that other individuals and media services may have with personal details Understands how personal details may be abused Recognises situations where personal details may be abused Mindfully provides personal details

Hence it is the task of individual organizations to operationalise the core competencies for their

specific contexts and target groups. Our expectation is that many of Mediawijzer’s network partners

will set out to do this, so that the abstract model will be given a solid empirical embodiment.

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Clarity

Future

A Glance at the Future The report Measuring Media Literacy is another step towards professionalisation of the Dutch media

literacy network. Six years after the kick-off by the Raad voor Cultuur, the network now has a sound

model at its disposal, that clearly states what exactly media literacy is.

The categorisation into fourteen core competencies, divided into four main competency groups,

results in an inclusive concept of media literacy, that incorporates technical skills, understanding of

the media landscape, (social) media communication, and participation in the

media society.

A key outcome is that future and existing media literacy initiatives can be clearly categorised now.

Projects, workshops, websites, and educational materials can conveniently be tied to one or more of

the core competencies. This might lead to reappraisal of some, rather limited or one-sided initiatives,

which could be an incentive for innovation and growth. In addition, the model brings evidence based practice a step closer. The model can serve as a starting

point for objective measurement of the effects of media literacy initiatives. Of course the model will

have to prove itself in practice. The challenge for the 500+ partners of Mediawijzer.net is to construct

context-specific indicators of the core media literacy competencies and perform concrete

measurements.

We realise that the model itself could still be elaborated further. Additional research, that explores

the various functions that media fulfill, is called for. Furthermore, we expect some of the research

group’s choices and definitions to be subject of lively debate in the Netherlands. In any case, developments in the media society go so fast, that the model may become obsolete

sooner than we anticipate at the moment. But that’s precisely the charm of working in the media

literacy branch. Speaking with Sir Ken Robinson: we have no clue how the world will look like in five

years’ time. Media literacy then, may be something completely different from what it is today. In that

case, the model to describe it will have to be adjusted, too.

clarity on media literacy

Documents

report media literacy

measurement of media

associated media literacy

phenomenon media

media education

realm of media

board defined media

youre media literate