A global celebration this week – from October 24-31 – is of particular significance to members of the media industry, particularly those engaged in communication education.
The event is Global Media and Information Literacy Week, which focuses on the theme, “Media and Information Literacy in Digital Spaces: A Collective Global Agenda”.
The United Nations, in 2021, underscored “the need for the dissemination of factual, timely, targeted, clear, accessible, multilingual and science-based information” that led to its decision to mark the Global Media and Information Literacy Week.
The observance strikes a significant chord in my mind and heart as I have been engaged not only in newspaper editing work but also in communication education, including a stint in teaching a Media and Information Literacy Class in a private Senior High School after retiring from the university.
It has been a source of genuine joy to me seeing many of the Communication and Journalism students I have mentored now occupying top-level positions in the media and related industries all over the country and also abroad.
I am fortunate to have experienced in my editing and teaching careers both traditional and modern technologies, although I must admit that there is plenty to cope up with in my digital media knowhow.
Thanks to observances, like Global Media and Information Literacy Week, we can update our competencies toward greater efficiency and relevance.
UNESCO explains that Media and information literacy “is an interrelated set of competencies that help people to maximize advantages and minimize harm in the new information, digital and communication landscapes.”
Media and information literacy covers competencies that enable people to critically and effectively engage with information, other forms of content, the institutions that facilitate information and diverse types of content, and the discerning use of digital technologies, it further said.
Focusing on information and media literacy empowers the target audiences, particularly in making informed decisions and judgments as media consumers. At the same time, they are encouraged to become creative producers and senders of media messages.
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UNESCO said the Global MIL Week “focuses on digital spaces and gives the opportunity to explore paths for strengthening multilateral cooperation with digital platforms and other stakeholders.”
It also “highlights some promising actions in connection with media and information literacy in the last year and how media and information literacy helps with nurturing trust and countering mistrust.”
Indeed, the current Information Age poses more challenges and complexities for both the messenger and the recipients of messages with the wide gamut of concerns – from fact checking and authentication to cyber security and bullying, online hate and marketing and ethics as well as pornography and other critical issues.
The observance, UNESCO added, also shows “how media and information literacy helps with nurturing trust and countering mistrust,” which is vital not only in the industry but also in national and global communities due to the ever-rising fast and wide access to information.
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A related global event on October 24 is the World Development Information Day. The day draws attention to development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them.
The observance, started in 1972, coincides with the United Nations Day.
The theme of the celebration this year is “Harnessing the Power of Information and Communication Technologies to Build a Better World”.
The theme underscores the importance of science and technology for sustainable development.
Having worked with the government information agency during the prime of my youth, I have been a disciple of the triad relationship among development, information and community growth.
The proposition carries the simple logic that unless the target beneficiaries of development programs understand their rationale, mechanics and objectives, no matter how lofty the goals are, they will never be attained. In short, public support of development programs comes only when people are well informed and public opinion is mobilized as an outcome of understanding development and its related concerns and issues.
Meeting the challenges of development today, UN said, leaders need to adopt updated “information and communications technologies which have the potential to provide new solutions to development challenges, particularly in the context of globalization, and can foster economic growth, competitiveness, access to information and knowledge, poverty eradication, and social inclusion that will help to expedite the integration of all countries, especially developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, into the global economy.”
My greetings to colleagues and friends engaged in the shaping and strengthening communities through development information work.
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How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7) | NWI
