Ofcom is holding an academic seminar at its London office on the afternoon
of Tuesday 2nd November. This is to discuss and debate the interim findings
of two reviews of recent academic literature on the subject of media
literacy. There are a limited number of places still available for this
event for those working in the academic field of media literacy or related
areas.
Ofcom is the regulator for the UK communications industries, with
responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless
communications services. It assumed its powers under the Communications Act
2003 in December last year. The promotion of media literacy is a new duty
for Ofcom arising from Section 11 of the Act. During the summer Ofcom
carried out a consultation on its proposed definition, strategy and
priorities for the promotion of media. The consultation document and the
responses received are published at:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/past/strategymedialit/?a=87101
Based in part on the suggestions made in the consultation responses Ofcom
has commissioned Professor Sonia Livingstone of the LSE and Professor David
Buckingham of the Institute of Education to carry out reviews of recent
academic literature on media literacy. Their work provides a valuable
update and extension of an earlier review conducted on behalf of the
Independent Television Commission, Broadcasting Standards Commission and
NIACE published in March 2003. The findings from the reviews will be used
to inform Ofcom’s thinking about research methods and the key questions and
issues to address in our research programme.
The aim of the reviews is to provide a succinct analysis of academic work
in adult (Sonia Livingstone) and young people’s (David Buckingham) media
literacy. Attention is being focussed on such matters as identifying the
main barriers to, and enablers of, media literacy and establishing current
gaps in academic research.
The seminar will consist of a presentation of the main interim findings of
the reviews followed by an opportunity to discuss these and any related
issues. A note of the broad issues discussed will be made available
following the event. The reviews are due to be published later this year.
The details of the event are as follows:
14.00 Registration and tea/coffee
14.30 Seminar
16.30 Close
Venue: Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. A
map is available on Ofcom’s website at www.ofcom.org.uk/images/main/rh_map
RSVP: [log in to unmask] or tel Sara Winter on 020 7981 3868.
Places are limited and will be filled on a first come first served basis.
Please therefore let us know as soon as possible and in any event by no
later than Wednesday 27 October. It would be helpful if in your request you
could give details of your organisation (if any), job title and areas of
research interest.
Please note: We will send confirmation to all those who have been allocated
a place. We need to be able to confirm the names of all those attending in
advance for security purposes.
Please inform us if you have any special accessibility requirements.
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