EC to promote media literacy

20th December 2007

The European commission has announced plans to encourage media literacy across the continent.

"People need a greater awareness of how to express themselves effectively and how to interpret what others are saying, especially on blogs, via search engines or in advertising," commented information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding.

The commission claimed that not only is the media changing, so is people's use of it. Ms Reding added that if people were more media literate, the need for advertising bans and other forms of regulation would not be as great.

A policy document by the commission focuses on commercial communication such as advertising, raises awareness of audiovisual works to enhance film and creativity skills and finally it addresses online media literacy, teaching citizens about search engines.

Europeans currently account for 27 per cent of the world internet users, with 338 million users, beaten only by Asia.