Media Literacy in the European Union: Tendencies Observed in the Regulations and the Studies

This study is about the European Union's Media Literacy Policy and its main concern is to observe the leading tendencies in the media literacy studies and regulations. Therefore the recent literature is examined in order to find out the development and the goals of the European Union's media literacy policy. Some the findings are: Media literacy is becoming a priority for policy-makers recently.The move from a communication to a recommendation is a sign that progress is being made. However looking at the regulations and studies it is seen that the goals of the media literacy is not clear. The European Commission considers media literacy an essential factor of democratic participation, active citizenship and social cohesion. So the goals are rather grandiose and the Euopean Union has to limit the requirements of media literacy. Otherwise media literacy will never achieve its ends.

This study is about the European Union's Media Literacy Policy and its main concern is to observe the leading tendencies in the media literacy studies and regulations. Therefore the recent literature is examined in order to find out the development and the goals of the European Union's media literacy policy. Some the findings are: Media literacy is becoming a priority for policy-makers recently.The move from a communication to a recommendation is a sign that progress is being made. However looking at the regulations and studies it is seen that the goals of the media literacy is not clear. The European Commission considers media literacy an essential factor of democratic participation, active citizenship and social cohesion. So the goals are rather grandiose and the Euopean Union has to limit the requirements of media literacy. Otherwise media literacy will never achieve its ends.