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THE
LAUNCH STATEMENT OF THE PROMOTION OF MEDIA LITERACY AND CULTURE
OF READING - Media
Literacy Summit
INTRODUCTION
The Media Development and Diversity
Agency (MDDA) has a mandate to create
an enabling environment for media
development and diversity that is
conducive to public discourse and
that which reflects the needs and
aspirations of all South Africans.
The deficiency of a culture of reading
is a major concern in South African
society and indeed in the Southern
African region.
Media education is part of the basic
entitlement of every citizen, in every
country in the world, to freedom of
expression and the right to information
and is instrumental in building and
sustaining democracy.
MDDA and its partners have identified
a gap in the market and have decided
to launch the first pilot programme
to promote Media Literacy and the
Culture of Reading through a summit
held at the Alfred Nzo District in
the Eastern Cape. Alfred Nzo District
Municipality is made up of Matatiele
and Umzimvubu local municipalities.
In terms of geographical area, Alfred
Nzo is the smallest district and the
poorest in the Eastern Cape. The Alfred
Nzo district is predominately rural
with very low levels of literacy among
learners.
The theme for the summit is “Basic
media literacy education - ‘Constructing
Views of Reality’”. This
is part of a programme to be rollout
throughout the country.
LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT
Section 3 (v) of the MDDA Act requires
the Agency to support initiatives
which promote literacy and a culture
of reading. Accordingly, the MDDA
is holding this first pilot summit
as an attempt to support initiatives
that promote literacy and a culture
of reading amongst diminished language
groups and inadequately served communities.
OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE
Media training and literacy is one
of several strategies that the MDDA
is using to promote diversity in the
media and this pilot programme will
include interactive discussions and
media skills training that will target
learners and promote media literacy
at their level, including print, radio
and television media.
The long term goal for MDDA and its
partners is to see the Media Literacy
and Culture of Reading programme included
in the school curriculum and schools
producing their own media products.
The intention is to assist young people
to be more critical consumers and
producers of media as well as to stimulate
an interest in media as a field of
study. It is envisioned that through
this initiative a platform will be
set to develop media literacy skills
which can be used across the curriculum,
thereby contributing to the upliftment
of educational standards and promotion
of a culture of reading. The promotion
of a reading culture amongst South
Africans will extend the pool of creativity
and communication skills in the country.
There is an immense hunger amongst
South African youth for information
which they can use to improve their
lives and empower them to have an
effective say in governing.
As part of the launch, there is a
roundtable discussion that includes
members of Government, local municipality
members, editors and veterans of the
community and public media sector.
Learners will have the opportunity
to actively engage with media practitioners,
local and provincial government members
and relevant stakeholders. The intention
is to provide an overview of the media
landscape and to lay the contextual
ground for the practical media skills
training session. The discussions
convened will ensure that learners
will be able to continue applying
the critical media literacy skills
they acquire during the project to
critique the way they are represented
in the media, and also define what
they feel is relevant information
that contributes to their growth.
The Media Literacy and Culture of
Reading Summit will provide youth
with the skills of experiencing, interpreting/analyzing
and producing media products. The
project is intended to expose youth
to media production and distribution
and provide them with analytic skills
for interpreting and valuing media
content. The training will be facilitated
by skilled media trainers.
The initiative will prepare the younger
generation for living in the modern
information world, for the perception
of different information, to understand
it and realize the effects of its
influence. Upon completion learners
are envisaged to have an understanding
of the media sector and become active
media consumers.
IMPLEMENTATION
In this regard, the MDDA has formed
a partnership with the Department
of Education (DoE), Department of
Provincial and Local Government (DPLG),
Alfred Nzo District Municipality,
the Institute for Advancement in Journalism
(IAJ), Newspapers in Education (NIE)
and the Alfred Nzo Community Radio
to introduce a culture of reading
and basic media literacy amongst learners
in schools, to promote debate and
dialogue on media for learners and
to encourage learners to be involved
in producing their own media.
This pilot project is launched in
Alfred Nzo District. 10 schools have
been selected to participate in this
summit, which are from the Umzimvubu
and Matatiele Municipalities. The
schools are St Margaret SSS, Moiketsi
Graves SSS, Mt Hargreaves SSS, Maluti
JSS, Pontseng JSS, Arthur Ngunga SSS,
E.N.Makaula JSS, Zibokwane JSS, Mt
Ayliff JSS and Mahamane JSS. Fifty
(50) learners from these schools are
attending with their teachers.
It is expected that at the end of
the summit, the learners would produce
a pro-forma cover page of a newspaper.
Alfred Nzo Community Radio will explain
what a community radio is and demystify
radio for the learners.
In the year 2009/10, it is expected
that the programme will be executed
in the North West Province.
CONCLUSION
Lessons learnt from this launch will
inform the execution of the programme
in other District Municipalities and
Provinces. Further new partnerships
will be brought in, like Department
of Arts and Culture (DAC), SABC, etc.
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