The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Education Division has partnered with the newly formed Australian Media Literacy Alliance (AMLA) to combat the spread of spin, misinformation and ‘fake news’ around the world.
The ABC said the new partnership would help mark its third annual Media Literacy Week, to run from 26 to 31 October.
“AMLA brings together some of the nation’s leading cultural and educational institutions to advocate for high-quality education programs and resources and to raise awareness of the need for robust media literacy education for all Australians,” the ABC said.
“The 2020 Media Literacy Week, from 26 to 31 October features special events to help teachers and students navigate the news and media landscape, including Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) online professional learning session on media literacy for librarians and teacher librarians,” it said.
It said the week also included a National Sound and Film Archive discussion on the ‘psychology of persuasion’ – media literacy and advertising in Australia.
The ABC said the Foundation for Young Australians would hold a panel discussion about their report, Missing: Young People in Australian News Media, which examined how young people were represented by the media during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ABC Education’s Media Literacy website also features new resources to teach students about using data and statistics, as well as ‘fake news’ interactives and online lessons with RMIT/ABC Fact Check about subjects such as ‘information disorder’ and spotting fake images,” the Broadcaster said.
Head of Education at the ABC, Annabel Astbury said Media Literacy Week and the ABC Education website would connect students and teachers with high quality and trustworthy content that equipped them with the skills to think critically about the media they consumed and created.
Further information on the ABC’s Media Literacy Week and how to become involved can be accessed at this PS News link.
