{"id":4754,"date":"2014-07-07T15:23:35","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T13:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oeb.global\/OEB_Newsportal\/?p=4754"},"modified":"2016-07-25T17:38:04","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T15:38:04","slug":"media-education-global-media-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oeb.global\/oeb-insights\/media-education-global-media-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the media got to do with education?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GMF_small\"<\/a>When I decided to register for the <\/strong>Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2014<\/strong><\/a>, I did so with slight apprehension. The theme, \u201cFrom Information to Participation: Challenges for the Media\u201d, sounded interesting \u2013 especially the first part \u2013 and the programme featured presentations on ICT4D, mobile empowerment and democratic participation in Africa. But the event is designed for journalists and media practitioners. What does that have to do with learning and education? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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By Alicia Mitchell<\/em><\/p>\n

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During a panel discussion on political opinion making in the digital age, a comment from Matthew Armstrong, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors<\/a>, got me thinking. Internet freedom, he said, is not only the freedom to speak, but the freedom to listen.<\/p>\n

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This statement was echoed by Dr Auma Obama, speaking on the following day about the work of the Sauti Kuu Foundation<\/a>. Working in rural and slum areas in Kenya, the foundation teaches children about their \u201clight, voice and fire\u201d or, in other words, their right to be seen, to speak, to participate and to challenge. Sauti Kuu encourages young people to lay claim to these rights and to recognise their own worth within their communities, regardless of their age or income level.<\/p>\n

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Reading and working around ICT4D and ICT4E, I often hear about \u2018the right to a good education\u2019 and the importance of \u2018access to knowledge\u2019. These are facts that many of us take as given truths, but that confidence itself usually comes about as a privilege of already having received a \u2018good education\u2019.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s all very well and good to build the infrastructure of learning and promote the lifelong benefits of education, but what if the people with the most to gain from such practices have not been allowed (through societal, cultural, economic or personal factors) to acknowledge their right to do so, as with the beneficiaries of Sauti Kuu\u2019s work?<\/p>\n

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Speaking in the same panel as Armstrong, Amy Goodman, a journalist and Co-Founder of Democracy Now!<\/a>, described journalistic freedom as an integral component of any functioning democracy. In addition to this, I would say it also plays an essential role in any functioning education system and, at a larger scale, a society\u2019s engagement in learning and knowledge sharing. Professor Guy Berger, Director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO, later called journalists \u201csymbols of the freedom of expression of everyone\u201d.\u00a0 Beyond this, an open press is also a symbol of the right to listen and to learn.<\/p>\n

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The freedom of the press to report on issues of public interest turns the sharing and consumption of verified information into common and accessible practice. Although traditional media outlets are widely described as \u2018threatened\u2019 by new media and the Internet, newspapers, radio and television still form the backbone of information dissemination in many regions, especially where literacy levels are low and Internet access is even lower. Good journalism propagates the idea that all people are allowed to know about the world around them and that access to information is the norm.<\/p>\n

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Twitter: @alicia_ecm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I decided to register for the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2014, I did so with slight apprehension. The theme, \u201cFrom Information to Participation: Challenges for the Media\u201d, sounded interesting \u2013 especially the first part \u2013 and the programme featured presentations on ICT4D, mobile empowerment and democratic participation in Africa. But the event is […]<\/p>\n

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