Media literacy, everybody's darling or who does have the power to set the agenda for media education?

Bachmair, B. (2011). Media literacy, everybody's darling or who does have the power to set the agenda for media education?. Zagreb conference: "New challenges and methodological innovations in European media audience research". 7-9 April 2011.

Abstract: This paper will ask “how the ambitions held for media literacy can be, and are being, operationalised into practical measures” in respect to the “Charter for Media literacy” and the “Second European congress of media literacy” (Bellaria, Italy, October 2009). I will confront my headline statement with a view of the German situation of “Medienkompetenz-Foerderung”, which is equivalent to the Anglophone ”media literacy”. In Germany, I see wide and disparate waves of practical activities based on a rather open and less defined semantic field of critique, competence, citizenship, awareness, modernity, participation. The Enquete-Commission of the German Parliament “Internet and the digital society” and its issue “Medienkompetenz” is an interesting example for the normality of the issue of Media Literacy but also for leaving behind obligations. It is a socially intelligent discussion, which needs no more professionalism than a competent journalist does have. My conclusion is that the public agenda setting on media literacy arrived with all consequence of a non-specialist procedure on decision making. Though resources remain uncertain, it is remarkable that the German Federal ministry for Education and Research announced a budget of 50 million € for projects on mobile learning for vocational training. Finally, I will consider how German media educationalists gain access to this public and governmental agenda setting on media literacy, noting the parallel in the academic field of media education in terms of issues within cultural studies related to “Bildung” (formation) - the relation between cultural products, appropriation and child development.