The NCC’s push for media literacy focuses primarily on the broadcasting and television industry. Through enhancing the professionalism of broadcasting and television personnel, the NCC aims to support the production of high-quality programs. This is in addition to encouraging the media to use its resources in pursuit of the same goals; forming a connection between their production teams and the audience.
Media literacy is an important skill for modern citizens. From observing international methods in improving media literacy, we see a focus on education, coupled with cooperation in the public-private sectors, and interdepartmental cooperation to maximize results. The Ministry of Education has integrated media literacy into the course outlines of middle and elementary schools, designating them as a core competency and an area of life-long learning. As the agency responsible for the broadcasting and television industry, the NCC believes that the personnel of such businesses should be the focus of efforts to develop media literacy. Aside from enhancing the professionalism of these personnel to produce shows of excellent quality and promote positive values, the NCC also encourages the media to use its resources to maximize these results via the connection between their production teams and audience.
The NCC referenced international methods and reviewed the actions taken by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Culture. The NCC also attended relevant meetings to gather ideas from expert scholars and investigated strategies to promote media literacy. According to the Fundamental Communications Act and The National Communications Commission Organization Act, the NCC is responsible for the sound development of communications, upholding the professional autonomy of the media, safeguarding citizen’s rights, protecting the interests of consumers and minorities, and the facilitation of cultural diversity and balanced development. The NCC’s core focus when pushing for media literacy is therefore specifically the broadcasting and television industry and enhancing the professionalism of the people that work within it. This involves strengthening the internal control mechanisms of broadcasting and television, implementing robust and objective fact verification practices, and instituting respect for all ages, genders, and disabilities.
The NCC also promotes media literacy by connecting media production teams with their audience. This is aimed at using existing resources and infrastructure to promote cooperation between the broadcasting and television industry and social organizations or academic institutions. The NCC hopes this will help citizens acquire a better understanding of media and its production processes which in turn will aid in both developing the ability to interpret and analyze media whilst simultaneously increasing the creative capacity of the media.
The NCC stresses that the push for community media literacy requires public-private sector and interdepartmental collaboration to pool resources and maximize the promotional momentum. In the future, the NCC shall continue to organize broadcasting workshops and subsidize media literacy programs. To date, in pursuit of these goals, the Ministry of Education has already established the Media Literacy Promotion & Education Council and created communication platforms that can be used by public and private organizations to promote media literacy. The NCC’s involvement calls for cooperation with other departments within the Commission’s competency so as to protect media consumers from the harm of false information and facilitate communication through empowerment and media access; thus shaping a healthy and safe community for the public.
