Brussels, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 21 October, during a visit to Amsterdam, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism, Androulla Vassiliou, stated that more needed to be done to help children improve their media literacy. She delivered this message during her visit to Cinekid, the world's largest media festival for children. The Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science, Jet Bussemaker, also attended this event. The commissioner drew attention to new opportunities in the “Creative Europe” programme that enters into force in 2014, for the cultural industries and media, particularly audiovisual books for children. The commissioner explained that, “One of our priorities will be to help finance the development and distribution of films aimed at children. We will also support excellent media and film literacy projects. Interactive audiovisual media which are part of children's daily life, such as educational video games, will be included in our support policy".
Media literacy, the ability to understand and assess different kinds of media and communication, particularly interactive media, newspapers, films and images, is a basic skill in the current knowledge-based economy. Funding from Creative Europe will be targeted at initiatives where there is a clear added European value and will not duplicate or replace national funding, explained the Commission. It will, for instance, help cultural professionals and SMEs to reach new markets, promote cultural diversity and overcome challenges stemming from globalisation and market fragmentation. (IL/transl.fl)