The Global Media and Information Literacy Week is an annual commemoration held October 24-31. Its aim is to raise awareness of and to celebrate the progress achieved toward MIL for all.
UNESCO is spearheading the celebrations to enable people to engage critically with information, navigate the online environment safely and responsibly, and ensure that there can be trust in information ecosystems and in digital technologies.
It added that MIL provides a set of essential skills to address the challenges of the 21st century, including the proliferation of mis- and disinformation, hate speech, the decline of trust in media, and digital innovations notably Artificial Intelligence.
Here in the Philippines, MIL also refers to a subject taught in Senior High School that “introduces the learners to basic understanding of media and information as channels of communication and tools for the development of individuals and societies. It also aims to develop students to be creative and critical thinkers as well as responsible users and competent producers of media and information.”
Unfortunately, the manner of delivery of this course varies greatly, and there are no guarantees that any Grade 11 or Grade 12 student will graduate from high school completely literate in media and information. And then, there are the students’ immediate surroundings – families, teachers, and communities – who themselves may not enjoy the desired level of literacy when it comes to processing what they see online.
No one, not even professionals or the highly schooled, is completely safe from being misled or downright duped. MIL has come to be a fixture and a necessity in people’s lives whether they are aware of it or not.
The ease with which information flows and is shared has threatened people’s ability to discern what is true from false. Many continue to be duped by what they see online, accepting it as gospel truth without even bothering to ensure its veracity, and then acting on and making decisions based on the disinformation. Sometimes, too, because of our illiteracy, we fall victim to financial predators or compromise our own security and privacy.
This became a problem in recent years, including the pandemic and the controversial campaign for the 2022 elections. As we plod through our problems as a nation, approach another electoral exercise, and grapple with recent technologies and what they could potentially do to our society, it is good to ponder exactly how literate we are. And then aim higher.
We understand that local governments and schools have their own MIL Week celebrations, but as in all other events, there is an entire year to actualize its objectives. MIL is best lived and practiced every day, with every encounter with pieces of information, using a mindset that immediately questions and verifies, and refuses to take anything at face value.
