Media and information literacy: new agreement signed between Arcom and the French Ministry of Education and Youth

Roch-Olivier Maistre, Chairman of the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom), and Pap Ndiaye, Minister of National Education and Youth, today signed an agreement designed to strengthen cooperation between the Ministry and the regulator in the field of media and information literacy (MIE).

This partnership, which follows on from the agreements signed by the Ministry of National Education and Youth with Hadopi in 2019, and with the French Superior Audiovisual Council in 2020, aims to strengthen education in the media, information and digital citizenship, develop joint educational actions and mobilize the networks of each institution [1] in order to publicize and increase the impact of actions carried out in the field of EMI.

Indeed, given the rapid development in youngsters' uses of the Internet, it is necessary to strengthen the role of media and information education in schools. This strengthening is reflected not only in school curricula, but also in partnerships with press and media professionals.

Through this agreement, the French Ministry of Education and Youth and Arcom are making strong commitments to :

1. Diffusion of educational resources. Arcom presents the audiovisuel and digital world, and the role of the regulator, through educational resources that address the challenges of media representations: questions of equality, plurality, rights and freedoms. The Authority also raises awareness of royalties and promotes legal supplies. Arcom has also recently published, with the support of CLEMI, a new teaching scenario for primary school teachers on the construction of information;
2. Awareness-raising for the general public on responsible digital use, particularly of the Internet and social networks, such as the "La Famille Tout-Écran" resources and the "jeprotègemonenfant.gouv.fr" platform;
3. The development of educational initiatives to promote media literacy, information literacy and digital citizenship. This partnership action includes educational actions initiated by CLEMI such as Press and Media Week in Schools®, the "Médiatiks" school media competition, the "#ZéroCliché" competition for equality between girls and boys, and projects such as "Une webradio, un parrain"; it also includes any educational action around the charter for education in digital culture and citizenship, of which CLEMI and Arcom are partners;
4. The organization of national or academic training courses as part of initial and in-service teacher training or the training of trainers, as well as the production of training tools and teaching resources in media, information and digital literacy. To date, Arcom has contributed to the training of over 600 teachers in the Créteil, Versailles and Tours academies. Arcom also encourages its antennae and online platforms to contribute to the educational effort, and to promote the actions they carry out, particularly in the classroom, in an annual report ;
5. Sharing expertise on media representation challenges;
6. Encouragement of school media practices by Arcom's regional delegations. In addition, as part of large-scale projects such as "Une webradio, un parrain" ("A web radio, a sponsor"), Arcom encourages schools to develop web radios and web TVs, and provides them with support.

Education in media, information and digital citizenship is a major challenge, especially for youngsters. Through this new agreement, Arcom and the French Ministry of Education and Youth are reaffirming their commitment to giving everyone the keys to understanding information.

[1] The network of EMI academic referents, CLEMI academic coordinators and Arcom's 16 regional delegations.