In recent years, the importance of media literacy has grown in significance with countries worldwide acknowledging its role in fostering informed and critically thinking citizens, to combat disinformation and misinformation in a world with a free-flow of information.
Media literacy was also one of the key agenda at the Asia-Media Summit 2023 in Bali, Indonesia, organised by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD). The summit provided workshops to participants from the Asia-Pacific region in collaboration with local broadcasters.
For Philomena Gnanapragasam, Director of AIBD, media people play important roles in shaping social narratives and it is critical that they are given the relevant skills and information they need to promote media literacy.
“Everyone loves sensationalism, they love exciting news. So, that’s why the consumers of news have to be a bit more mindful. Media literacy should begin from a young age, as children today are already using social media,” Philomena added.
Besides adding media literacy to school curricula, parents also play a vital role, as Dandy Koswaraputra, Special Project Producer/Writer at BenarNews, said that awareness of consuming good information begins within the family.
In a world where everyone can become a reporter, edit their own stories and publish their own content on their own platform, another important issue is for audiences to realise that there are several key differences between mainstream media and social media creators or citizen journalists.
The main difference for Jun Ogawa, International Affairs Officer for the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organisation, is the objectivity and bias, as journalists are expected to adhere to a code of ethics that requires impartiality and fairness. On the other hand, social media creators may openly express their opinions or personal biases and their content can be more subject to personal perspectives and interpretations.
Though bias can still exist in mainstream news, they often have mechanisms in place to address and mitigate this.
Jun said that the people who are creating social media content should share the responsibility with broadcasters, because the information they are giving will also influence the public. “And unfortunately, the public is not that well informed or sometimes lacks that literacy of being exposed in an information society,” Jun added.
On the contrary, Suhaimi Sulaiman, Director General of Broadcasting at Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), sees that audiences today are smart and intelligent enough that they can double check the facts on social media themselves. They know what’s going on, but they just want to know how we see things and the perspective that we use.
He said that the reporters must also be smart, because some of the audiences are way smarter than them. “I always tell the journalists in my organisation to make sure that whatever stories they are filing are true, to earn trust. So, once you have earned the trust, they (the audience) can listen to the fake news in the world that they can get, but they will come back to refer to your channel because your channel will have the trusted brand,” Suhaimi explained.
As we move forward, media literacy education is gaining recognition worldwide as a crucial element in building informed and critically engaged citizens. It is necessary for governments, educational institutions and organisations to continue to invest in media literacy initiatives, so individuals are equipped with the skills necessary to navigate the media landscape and challenge misinformation.
By Kitipat Chuensukjit
