Towards an Operational Capacity of MIL Cities

Abstract

Growing up in the intermediated society means that every citizen now­ adays is a unique commentator, creator and communicator of informa­ tion and knowledge, hence the issue of empowerment falls upon struc­ tured mechanisms that primarily shall be regulated by the State. The most optimum tool towards enabling, resilient and mediated societies is an upscaled Media and Information Literacy (MIL) ecosystem that will promote free expression and media pluralism, acting as a poten­ tial barometer towards knowledge­based, all­inclusive MIL societies. The core challenge for a media and information policy paradigm lies in the establishment of active monitoring mechanisms in the form of MIL indicators. The increasing mobility on MIL policy initiatives globally is not (always) seconded by relevant indicators and assessment mecha­ nisms, key constituents for a pluralistic media dynamic for all. It is im­ perative, thus, to set up a digital media policy infrastructure that may be measured with certain indicators on media and information literacy. Based on the presentation in UNESCO Global MIL Feature Conference (24–25 October 2018, Kaunas, Lithuania), this paper endeavors to pro­ pose a media and information literacy infrastructure from a policy per­ spective, towards modern­day UNESCO MIL societies.