What?
The project aims to establish sustainable MIL initiatives in the Caribbean. Initially benefiting schoolchildren, it aims to extend its impact across society, emphasising the importance of MIL from an early age.
The project also strives to strengthen relationships and understanding between news and education sectors, integrating MIL into the broader education system. Furthermore, it specifically targets news media and seeks to promote news literacy among Caribbean professionals, fostering meticulous reporting, fact-checking, improved information access, and transparent media ownership.
The project will be split across several key activities:
- MIL digital library – a toolkit of media literacy resources for journalists and educators
- Digital library evaluation workshop – two workshops with regional stakeholders to assess the MIL digital library
- Capacity-building workshops – two-day online workshops for journalists and educators, complemented by the digital library of resources
- In-country events for schoolchildren – benefiting ages 9-15, including school assemblies, studio tours, and MIL pop-ups
- Regional consultation – a virtual roundtable for collaboration and initiatives, engaging regional stakeholders
Why?
At the heart of this project is the recognition that building the media and information literacy skills of citizens – particularly their news literacy and digital literacy skills – requires a multisectoral approach. Such an effort must be conducted collaboratively by journalism and educational stakeholders, who are capably equipped with media literacy skills themselves. Notably, improved media literacy is especially needed among youth populations, especially in the face of rising levels of mis- and disinformation and attacks against journalists.
PMA’s recent Caribbean research emphasised the need to build the “next generation of media literate citizens”, who are equipped with the competencies, knowledge, and skills to make informed decisions about their lives and the societies in which they live. Educators and media professionals therefore have a key role to play in empowering young people.
Conversely, news producers are typically underserved in regards to MIL, with most initiatives focused on audiences and educators rather than training journalists in MIL practices. In the Caribbean region, recent research from the PMA and our regional partners show that both audiences and journalists are in dire need of media literacy training.
When?
This project will run from March to December 2024.
Applications open for media literacy bootcamp for Caribbean media workers
Media practitioners from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago can now apply for our media & information literacy bootcamp!
Developing a library of media literacy resources for Caribbean educators and journalists
Behind the scenes: In this Insight report, we explore how PMA is developing a digital library of media literacy resources for educators and journalists.
New PMA project: Building the Caribbean’s next generation of media literate citizens
PMA's new media and information literacy project in the Caribbean aims to empower schoolchildren, educators, and journalists.
Situation Report: Gender-sensitive reporting in Southeast Asia
2023
The Public Media Alliance’s latest situation report — this time for Southeast Asia — will guide tailored interventions for each target country, catalysing regional collaboration and aligning regional efforts with broader international goals.
The media situation report covers five Southeast Asian countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – and forms part of the efforts to better understand just how the media can both support and undertake initiatives that improve gender representation and alleviate violence against women and girls, and violence against women journalists.
The report provides a snapshot of the current situation facing the Southeast Asian media on gender issues and considers how the media can do better. In each country, research was undertaken over a period of six months. Separately, a survey was conducted with regional journalists to determine gaps that exist within newsrooms to more effectively handle gender-related issues.
Key findings include:
- The interconnectivity of the issues: While each country presented unique challenges – from poor adherence and existing policies to politically motivated attacks on journalists – there were significant overlaps between the issues.
- The need for collaboration: Each researcher determined that collaboration among stakeholders was paramount for success, especially regarding the intricate interplay of media and gender issues.
- The need for further research: Researchers noted that extensive and comprehensive research and data on gender representation in the media, violence against women and girls and female journalists, is lacking in the Southeast Asian context.
- The need for wider social change: The researchers noted that achieving meaningful progress requires wider social change across the five countries.
Download the situation report:
Action Plan: Improving gender-sensitivity approaches for Southeast Asian media stakeholders
2023
In October 2023, 20 media workers and representatives from gender-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from five Southeast Asian countries attended a two-day workshop in Bangkok, Thailand to develop country-specific action plans that would contribute towards more effective and gender-sensitive reporting.
The Public Media Alliance’s new action plans outline approaches that foster collaboration and address common challenges related to gender-sensitive reporting, women’s safety, and responsible media practices across the diverse media landscapes of Southeast Asia. The plans offer collective initiatives for media workers, NGOs, policymakers, religious institutions, and the broader public to undertake in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Among the common action points highlighted in the plans are:
- The need to build engagement and collaborations
- Advocacy for gender-responsive policies and guidelines
- The need to establish data collection and reporting systems
- The importance of intersectional approaches to gender issues
- The implementation of newsroom safety protocols and support for women journalists
The plans have been translated into Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Mandarin, Tamil, and Thai. An English version encompassing all countries is also available.
The action plans form part of a wider project spearheaded by the Public Media Alliance with support from the UNESCO Bangkok Office and UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), and in partnership with AWARE Singapore, Konde.co, and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. Special thanks go to our workshop participants who contributed towards the development of the action plans, and our project facilitator Dagmar Skopalik.
Download the Regional Action Plan:
Download the Country-Specific Action Plans:
Project partners
The project is being implemented by the Public Media Alliance and our regional partners, the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM). It is supported by the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean and UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).
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