How to improve media literacy and media self-regulation, why is it important, and what is the current good practice? These and other issues were discussed at the International Conference on Media Literacy and Media Self-Regulation, which gathered over 140 participants representing Ukrainian state institutions, media representatives, civil society, and international organisations in Kyiv and online. The event was opened by high-level representatives of the co-organisers of the event: the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, the OSCE Support Office for Ukraine, the Delegation of the EU to Ukraine, International Media Support, UNDP and UNESCO in Ukraine.

Matjaz Gruden, Director for Democracy, and Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, addressed the audience highlighting the importance of both media literacy and media self-regulation for safeguarding freedom of expression, and the importance of adherence to European standards. They mentioned the continued Council of Europe support to the Ukrainian authorities and media in their efforts to ensure pluralistic and diverse information landscape, and to counter information threats in Europe and beyond.

The results of the discussions will be formulated in a Conference Report providing an overview of current and new initiatives to foster media pluralism and counter disinformation in Ukraine. 

Highlights of the Conference:

Day 1, dedicated to Media Literacy, featured discussions on state-level strategies, media's role in lifelong learning, and effective practices during times of conflict and war, and the criticality of measuring the impact of the media literacy initiatives. Representatives of a diverse number of national projects and initiatives contributed to the panel discussions. 

Rostyslav Karandieiev, acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, underlined, “Russian Federation fights with Ukraine not only on the battlefield, but also in the informational landscape. That is why our Ministry is implementing the national policy on media security. And while developing the policy on media literacy, the Ministry puts this goal as a priority. The information requires to be checked, verified, and filtered.”

The speakers of the conference highlighted the importance of co-operation of all actors engaged for the better outcome for all. Among the examples of such initiatives was highlighted the educational video course “Media Literacy”, which is available at the “Diia” Platform. The course was developed with the involvement of many media experts and Ukrainian CSOs. “It equips viewers with practical media and information literacy abilities that ought to integrate into their daily routines, especially in times of full-scale war in Ukraine, where reliable information can be a matter of life and death”, emphasised Ms Dutsyk.

Also, Olga Kravchenko, Head of “Filter” National Media Literacy Project under Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, mentioned “The synergy and joint efforts can bring us to the best results in developing critical thinking. That is why our national project “FILTER” is always happy to co-operate with CSOs and be involved in their activities, create new partnerships.

Day 2, focused on Media Self-Regulation, concentrated on its importance for healthy media landscape, current practice of self- and co-regulation, adherence to ethical and professional standards, gender policies in media and their impact on the diversity, effective audience communication strategies. Speakers from the Netherlands, Armenia and Georgia shared good practice from their countries.

“An effective and robust self-regulation system is crucial for media professionals to earn trust from both the public and the state, minimising the need for state control over the media market. Conversely, when self-regulation is absent or ineffective in responding to violations of professional and ethical standards, it becomes the state's duty to intervene and protect the rights of those affected” stated Matjaz Gruden, Council of Europe’s Director for Democracy,

The Council of Europe Project “Safeguarding Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Media in Ukraine” (SFEM-UA) is implemented by the Council of Europe Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” (2023-2026).

Programme >>