One of the international events at this time of the year that has a special significance to me is the Global Media and Information Literacy Week – which is being observed from Oct. 24-31.
MIL is a communication discipline that “enables people to show and make informed judgements as users of information and media. It also allows them to be adept creators and producers of information and media messages through various platforms.
GMIL Week, which has been observed since 2011, focuses this year on the theme, “New Digital Frontiers of Information: Media and Information Literacy for Public Interest Information.”
The theme, said UNESCO, which spearheads the global celebration, “underscores the importance of keeping pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape and empowering users with the skills to identify, assess and engage with public-interest information online.”
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MIL is significant to me not only because I am a journalist whose job is to convey messages through various platforms, but also because I am a media educator, who has taught not only Journalism and various Communication courses but also the Media and Literacy class. I shared insights on the value of processing, evaluating and analyzing messages in my Media and Information Literacy classes for three years at St. John’s Institute after retiring from teaching in the university.
Through our various activities, I’d like to think that I have done my part in helping strengthen students in their lifelong journey toward citizenship – both national and global – through their better grasp of media and information as well as through civic engagement as an outcome of their media literacy.
In celebration of this week’s global event, UNESCO shared the following facts and figures that show how the digital media has brought changes to our traditional news media landscape with our easy access to the digital platform:
• 56% of people frequently use social media to stay informed about current events.
• 57 % of TikTok users pay most attention to online influencers and personalities when it comes to news.
• 50% of the people trust news and information provided in social media feeds.
These facts and figures show how the digital media have somehow steered the credibility and trust of news channels away from the traditional platforms toward technology-based and aided ones.
Media and Information literacy, I don’t have to over-emphasize, is vital in the growth of an information -based society.
The celebration this week reminds me of what U.S. Communication expert Michael Copps emphasized – that toward a sustained media literacy program, there must be something that will teach students “not only how to use the media but how the media uses them.”
Added Jean Kilbourbe, a U S. educator: “We’re doing our students a real disservice if we don’t teach them to become critical consumers of the media.”
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Writing about media platforms, I learned from our journalism training last week in my hometown, Cauayan, of the re-branding of the school paper of the host school – Tuyom National High School – from the generic-sounding TNHS GAZETTE to The SEA URCHIN – which is re-activating this week its online platform in Facebook.
Ma’am Wilvah Cplimbo-Necesito, TNHS paper adviser, said the new name brings greater relevance to the economic, cultural and environmental realities in their coastal Barangay. She credited Lamont Sirach Casia, a student, for executing the nameplate design.
Eventually, the SEA URCHIN’s Filipino medium counterpart will be launched. Ma’am Wilvah said it will be aptly named, “TUYOM”, the Bisaya word for the sea urchin, which is apparently the origin of the name of the barangay (in addition to the derived reference to a Hiligaynon term, which means “pleasant”.
Best wishes to The SEA URCHIN and staff in their pursuit to become a more effective and responsive school-community publication.
Have a meaningful Media and Information Literacy Week observance!
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Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105) | NWI
