As part of the Be Media Smart campaign, organisations across Ireland are encouraging people to ‘Stop, Think, Check’ the information they encounter on a daily basis.
The campaign, currently running on TV, radio and in news publications across community, commercial, public service and social media – in Irish and English, aims to raise awareness of the importance of knowing how to verify information; provide tips and guidance on how to check the accuracy and reliability of information, and signpost people to additional sources of support and training.
Launching at the end of October to mark UNESCO’s Global Media and information Literacy Week, the Be Media Smart campaign will run until the end of November.
The Be Media Smart campaign is an initiative of Media Literacy Ireland (MLI) and is supported by a wide range of members including media, civil society organisations, libraries, educational, training and research institutions. The new media regulator and media development agency, Coimisiún na Meán, facilitates the work of MLI.
A key part of this year’s campaign is the new Be Media Smart Community Training Programme. Developed in conjunction with EDMO Ireland, a Workshop in a Box, a package with teaching materials for teachers, librarians, community leaders and coaches to deliver a media literacy workshop in their communities, it will run across the months of October and November. This new programme is expected to train and upskill over 100 community-based leaders, coaches, and librarians to deliver the Be Media Smart workshops in their own communities across the country, in English and in Irish.
EDMO Ireland is also involved in a series of webinars until the end of November, exploring topics such as digital spaces, disinformation, and the work of fact-checkers. EDMO Ireland will also host an online event for secondary teachers to discuss best practices in teaching the Digital Media Literacy short course, one of the most important media literacy initiatives in the Irish education system that is available for Junior Cycle students across the country.
