by Lisa Heinzel, More in Common, UK.
In our increasingly polarised information environment, groups who feel disconnected from mainstream society and mistrust political elites and traditional media are most vulnerable to disinformation. Yet, these people are also often the least likely to engage with traditional media literacy interventions. Over the past six months, our consortium has been tackling this challenge through the “On Their Terms” project, funded by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF). The project is implemented in France and the United Kingdom by More in Common, the AKO Storytelling Institute at the University of Arts London, Destin Commun, Fake Off and the French Union for Influence Professionals and Content Creators (UMICC).
Meeting People Where They Are
The problem is clear: traditional media literacy approaches tend to mainly reach highly engaged groups, who are already motivated to strengthen their media literacy skills. But what about those who feel disconnected from mainstream society and do not trust conventional media sources?
Our project seeks to re-imagine what media literacy interventions could look like for these people – starting from the perspectives, worldviews, everyday lives, interests and media consumption habits and working with messengers they already trust.
“The key insight from our work is that socio-psychological factors, not just demographics, determine vulnerability to disinformation,” explains Laurence de Nervaux, Destin Commun’s Executive Director. “Low trust in institutions is a stronger factor driving vulnerability to disinformation than age or education level.”
Research into these socio-psychological factors is at the heart of our project. In recent months, More in Common and Destin Commun have conducted surveys and held focus group discussions in France and the UK to understand how disengaged groups consume information, what sources they trust, and which messengers are well placed to help build media literacy skills and resilience against disinformation.
Three pilot initiatives
Working across France and the UK, we are now using these research insights to develop three pilot initiatives tailored specifically for disengaged groups:
1. Through Games: In the UK, we are working with game designers to explore how media literacy principles can be integrated into video games. Our research shows that people belonging to the ‘Disengaged Battlers’ segment play video games much more frequently than other population segments. This presents an opportunity to reach audiences through gaming who would typically avoid traditional media literacy initiatives. Rather than creating educational games, we want to use creative storytelling and entertainment to build understanding among disengaged groups of how our information environment, our social networks and our emotions shape which sources we find credible and trustworthy.
2. Through Influencers: In France, we are training social media influencers to become media literacy advocates. Many influencers have experienced the harmful effects of disinformation firsthand and often face pressure to take positions on controversial topics or share certain content. Our work helps them better understand disengaged groups among their followers and provides them with practical tools to integrate media literacy principles into their content. In doing so, we want to make media literacy more relevant and accessible to audiences who typically distrust traditional information sources but frequently engage with influencers on social media.
3. Through Community Leaders: In France, we will also work with trusted community figures in priority neighborhoods, from youth workers to sports coaches. These community leaders already have existing relationships with disengaged groups and understand their concerns, living conditions and interests. We will help community leaders build the media literacy skills of young adults through their everyday interaction, in settings where disengaged groups already feel comfortable.
Looking ahead
Moving from audience research into practical application, we are now delivering training modules for video game designers, influencers, young adults and community leaders in France and the UK. Through this work, we hope to better understand not only what resonates with disengaged groups, but also the practical challenges and industry constraints our multipliers face when integrating media literacy into their work. In the coming months, we will share our methodologies, audience insights and lessons learned with the wider media literacy and disinformation community as well as the influencer and game development sectors across Europe. Our aim is to spark new conversations on how we can collectively engage the groups who are most vulnerable to disinformation but often missed by traditional media literacy interventions.
Author
Lisa Heinzel is Europe Grants Associate at More in Common and coordinates the “On Their Terms” consortium, which includes More in Common, Destin Commun, the AKO Storytelling Institute at University of Arts London, Fake Off, and the French Union for Influence Professionals and Content Creators (UMICC).
