The new national policy (links below) will replace the previous document, Good media literacy: National guidelines for 2013-2016, published six years ago. The update is a result of a media policy initiative to strengthen media literacy in Finland.
According to the new vision, all individuals will have the opportunity to develop their media literacy. The new policy is marked by being more inclusive than the previous one, implying that the enhancement of media literacy is to apply to the whole population. Previously, the focus was more on children and young people.
The new guidelines are informed by three overarching goals: media education in Finland, in all its forms, shall be extensive, of high quality, and systematic.
- To be extensive, according to the document, media literacy activities should include a wide variety of topics and be directed at different groups. The activities should be networked, use the possibilities offered by digitalisation, be locally and regionally embedded, and be based on the existing organisations’ strengths. Communication related to media literacy should be enhanced and the results openly shared.
- To increase the quality of media education, activities should be research-based, topical, relevant, and goal-oriented. Furthermore, activities should be rooted in international cooperation and reflect human values. The continuing education of different professional groups working with media literacy issues shall be strengthened, as shall the evaluation of educational processes.
- To make media education more systematic, the foundations for knowledge and financing have to become more solid, the new guidelines state. In addition, leadership in the area has to be developed, and the activities should be developed into models that can be reapplied in different contexts.
About the work process: The new national media education guidelines were drafted by the national media authority KAVI, known as the National Audiovisual Archive. To stimulate a dialogue with different stakeholders, the authority launched an open online survey that inquired into the status quo and future of media and information literacy in Finland. Moreover, the authority organised local workshops around the country and mapped the role of media education in different sectors of governance. The draft version of the policy document was opened for comment online in October on the online service lausuntopalvelu.fi.
Maarit Jaakkola