Following the General Election in July 2024, the UK has a new government, with the prospect of interesting developments in areas relevant to media and information literacy, as outlined here. As a charity, MILA cannot adopt a partisan approach; it is not our role to support any particular political party. However, it is right an proper – and fully within our advocacy remit – to seek to influence the agenda and policies of the government and relevant public bodies, inasmuch as these relate to media and information literacy.
To help with this task, MILA has drawn up a briefing note (posted below) intended particularly for MPs, Peers and policymakers, explaining the importance of media and information literacy, especially in relation to school education. The note, Media and information literacy for every student in every school, draws from the Labour Party’s pre-election commitment, as set out in its mission statement on Breaking down the barriers to opportunity, to a wholesale review and broadening of the school curriculum, which would place greater emphasis on skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. That review has now got off the ground and is expected to report before the end of 2025. Although neither the mission statement nor the terms of reference of the review refer explicitly to media literacy or information literacy, the intentions that they express should offer openings for MILA and other stakeholders to influence the public policy agenda.
We hope that our briefing note can be used as a starting point for policy influencing in the context of a change of educational direction and we expect to work with other like-minded organisations to help achieve this.