Media and Information Literacyand Intercultural Dialogue - Nordicom

Sara Gabaithese questions, the CI unit prepared Making Media, Building Peace: A Mediaand (Information Literacy) (MIL) and Digital Storytelling Peace Workshop. Theaim of this workshop is to think about our new media languages and the waysin which they can be used to speak about real-life issues.We focused not only on how to “speak” through media, but also on how to“read” media critically. Reading media critically is important to understandingwhat kinds of messages build the cultures we live in and shape our identities.Combining MIL concepts with digital storytelling techniques is an empoweringcommunications strategy that will allow learners to increase their awarenessand understanding of particular issues such as media and environment, health,problematic gender representations and body images, violence, media, powerand identity configurations.The training was structured so as to empower participants with the skills torespond to (online and offline) dominant, discriminatory and marginalizingmedia messages, by producing alternative or oppositional meanings throughtheir digital media peace stories. The outcome of the workshop was twofold:We were committed to fostering an understanding of the importance of 1) beingattentive and critical readers/consumers of media messages and 2) becomingresponsible cultural producers. Understanding the politics of how meaningis produced and the influential role of the media industry in constructing thecultures we live in is mutually related to a project of civic education wherelearners can think about their roles as citizens and, through digital media, builddialogue and denounce power imbalances, inequalities, and injustices.UNESCO Youth Peace Ambassadors, coming from all over Asia, were veryactive during the workshop. Despite the many participants, this was the firsttime they had engaged with MIL and Digital Storytelling concepts and exercises.All workshop members actively participated and presented their criticalfeedback on the media products to which they were exposed. Many of theYouth Ambassadors understood the potential of Media Literacy in promotingcommunity engagement, listening to and learning from members of a community,increasing awareness and understanding of particular issues, and advocatingand lobbying for or denouncing those issues through new media literacies.Partners:The Research Center of Communication and DevelopmentKnowledge Management (CCDKM)CCDKM is located at Sukhotai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) andits director, Dr. Kamolrat Intararat, is one of the main actors of the Media andInformation Literacy movement in Thailand. Dr. Kamolrat’s work is inspiringand of great relevance in that it uses Media and Information Literacy as a strategyto promote literacy in rural and marginalized communities in Thailand. As279