On 24 October 2022, the Council for Media Services organised the first roundtable on media literacy. Representatives from fifteen institutions participated.
In addition to presenting the activities of individual representatives of the organisations, the meeting aimed to identify the biggest challenges in the field of media literacy development in Slovakia. Representatives from Zmudri.sk, DigiQ, Vĺčatá, Gerulata Technologies, Zvolsi.info, the Department of Media Education of the Faculty of Mass Media Communication of the University of Trnava, the Department of Communication and Media Studies of the University of Prešov, the Department of Journalism of the Catholic University in Ružomberok, the Kooperativa Insurance Company Foundation, the National Institute of Education and Youth (NIVAM), the National Coordination Centre for Addressing Violence against Children (NKS), the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia, the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic, and the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic.
It was also the Council's intention to present the new competence that the regulator has under Act 264/2022 on Media Services, namely in Article 110(3)(g) and (j).
One way to fulfil the CMS's new competencies in the media literacy field is to provide a platform for sharing know-how among organisations/institutions engaged in research and activities for developing media literacy in Slovakia. In addition to presentations of activities, the presenters were asked to answer in their inputs the question of the biggest challenges for developing and promoting media literacy in Slovakia.
The participants of the roundtable identified the following as the biggest challenges for the development of media literacy in Slovakia:
- Absence of training of future teachers at pedagogical faculties – there is no apprenticeship, e.g. media education – aesthetics, etc.; faculties with media focus lack pedagogical dimension, it is necessary to increase the staff capacity in this sector – non-teaching experts.
- Concept of education vs. rapid development of the media environment – it is challenging to find a universal concept of education due to the rapidly evolving media environment, the need for constant updating.
- Parents as a target group – parents are not enough/not interested in following the fast-changing "media trends", they do not understand the media world.
- The impact of education on children's and young people's mental health – as a prevention against the adverse effects of social networks, in particular on children's and young people's mental health.
- Multiple organisations address the same topics – many do not know about each other and lack cooperation. There is no single initiative/platform to cover such projects.
- Improving cooperation between NGOs and public institutions – e.g. content development and distribution to schools. Schools trust public institutions (MoE, SPO) more than CSOs,
- Problem of systematic/strategic funding for CSOs and NGOs – support has improved, but it is a lump sum, organisations are forced to be in a fundraising cycle. They cannot focus strategically on something. Support is needed not only for start-up but also to maintain projects at a quality level.
- Information/Cognitive Security Fund – systematic funding allocation to organisations that have demonstrated world-class work in this area for years.
Proposed next steps by the Media Services Board