These Awards aim to raise awareness of the importance of media literacy, recognise existing media literacy work being undertaken in Ireland, and inspire the development of new media literacy initiatives across the country. The initiative is supported by Coimisiún na Meán, the new media regulator which replaced the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (‘BAI’) on the 15th March 2023.
On the 18 April 2023, at a closed online event for the short-listed enties, the winners of the first ever MLI Awards were announced in the following categories:
- Best Youth-Led Media Literacy Intervention
- Best Media Literacy Intervention
- Media Literacy Media Champion
- MLI Member Special Contribution
In addition to these four categories, the MLI Judging Panel also awarded one entry the Judges Special Recognition Award. This award is given, at the discretion of the Judging Panel, to an entry that the panel believe deserves special recognition for their work in promoting media literacy in Ireland.
TY Media Week wins Best Youth-Led Media Literacy Intervention Award: An initiative of Learning Waves, the training body for the Independent radio sector in Ireland, this project involves training transition year students in media literacy and giving them the opportunity to research, produce and present two hours of radio on their local/ regional radio station.
Alva’s World wins Best Media Literacy Intervention: Created by award-winning Irish animation studio Kavaleer Productions, Alva’s World is a fun, irreverent animated show for pre-school children which aims to create a new canon of fables for the digital age, placing media literacy, internet safety and empathy at the heart of its inventive and whimsical storytelling.
The Journal FactCheck Team wins Media Literacy Media Champion Award: Established in 2016, the guiding principle of the FactCheck team is to not only provide good information to the public to make the best possible decisions on matters that impact their lives and society but to also provide the tools with which citizens can themselves identify suspicious or unverified content and successfully seek out quality information for themselves.
Webwise wins MLI Member Special Contribution Award: Webwise is the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre. Part of the PDST Technology in Education, Webwise promotes the autonomous, effective, and safer use of the internet by young people through a sustained information and awareness strategy targeting parents, teachers, and children themselves with consistent and relevant messages.
Joseph Hoban wins MLI Judges Special Recognition Award: Joseph Hoban, is Head of Brand Projects, Partnerships, and Events for RTÉ and a former MLI Steering Group member. The Judging Panel agreed that Mr. Hoban’s contribution to the promotion of media literacy in Ireland via his central role in the development of the national Be Media Smart campaign deserved special recognition.
For more information and to see the recording of the short-listed announcement here.
