Media and Information Literacy, Informed Citizenship and Democratic Development in Africa: A Handbook for Media/Information Producers and Users

Many African media sources lack the requisite capacity to ensure the required quality control, are often partisan and skewed in their perspectives, and are motivated by pecuniary gain to an extent that undermines due diligence and professionalism. Consequently, the media themselves are constrained in their ability to generate the information resources that will enhance informed citizenship. ACBF, in recognizing this critical capacity gap has, strategically focused on joint interventions aimed at enhancing the capacity of the media across the continent. ACBF’s collaborations with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and West Africa Journalists Association (WAJA) highlight an aspect of how ACBF is engendering capacity for media/information literacy and informed citizenship, aimed at achieving good governance and sustainable development. The Workshop on Media Literacy and Informed Citizenship, which resulted in this handbook, is one more attempt by ACBF to develop capacity in this pertinent sector. As a Foundation, we deem media/information literacy a critical necessity for Africa as it goes through significant political and socio-economic transformations. And we concur with UNESCO and others that the empowerment of society through information/media literacy is an important prerequisite for fostering equitable access to information and ideas, and for building inclusive knowledge societies.

Publisher: Africa capacity Building Foundation
Year of Publication: 2013
Download : 18804_media_handbook.pdf