The wait is over!
On the 18 April 2023, at a closed online event for the short-listed enties, the winners of the first ever MLI Awards were announced. A recording of the event is available below.
The Awards aim to raise awareness of the importance of media literacy, recognise existing media literacy work being undertaken in Ireland, and inspire the development of new media literacy initiatives across the country. The initiative is supported by Coimisiún na Meán, the new media regulator which replaced the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (‘BAI’) on the 15th March 2023.
The programme was launched on the 15th December 2022 with a call for applications in the following categories:
Best Youth-Led Media Literacy Intervention;
Best Media Literacy Intervention;
Media Literacy Media Champion;
MLI Member Special Contribution.
In addition to these four categories, the MLI Judging Panel also awarded one entry the Judges Special Recognition Award. This award is given, at the discretion of the Judging Panel, to an entry that the panel believe deserves special recognition for their work in promoting media literacy in Ireland.
This year’s judging panel were Stephanie Comey (Co-Chair of MLI), Eileen Culloty (Vice-Chair of MLI) and Ross Keane (MLI Steering Group member). The MLI National Coordinator, Martina Chapman, was an observer.
Celebrating the success of the new programme, Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill, presented each of the winners with a specially commissioned MLI trophy to acknowledge their achievement.
And the winners of the MLI Awards 2023 are:
TY Media Week wins Best Youth-Led Media Literacy Intervention Award
Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill presents the Best Youth-Led Media Literacy Intervention Award to Teresa Hanratty (Learning Waves) and TY Media Week students.
An initiative of Learning Waves, the training body for the Independent radio sector in Ireland, this project involves training transition year students in media literacy and giving them the opportunity to research, produce and present two hours of radio on their local/ regional radio station.
The judging panel noted “the project impressed with its use of an immersive learning environment to equip young people with the skills to tell their own stories. With innovative and creative methodologies, it demonstrates a hands-on approach to developing media literacy skills while creating content.”
Alva’s World wins Best Media Literacy Intervention
Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill presents the Best Media Literacy Intervention Award to Gary Timpson and Andrew Kavanagh from Kavaleer Productions
Created by award-winning Irish animation studio Kavaleer Productions, Alva’s World is a fun, irreverent animated show for pre-school children which aims to create a new canon of fables for the digital age, placing media literacy, internet safety and empathy at the heart of its inventive and whimsical storytelling.
Under this category, the judging panel noted “the creativity demonstrated by the animated series in communicating complex media literacy messages and its ability to deliver media literacy to very young audiences (and to their parents/carers) in such an engaging and subtle way”.
The Journal FactCheck Team wins Media Literacy Media Champion Award
The Journal FactCheck team of fact-check journalist Shane Raymond, The Journal Editor Sinead O’Carroll, Journal Media Managing Editor Susan Daly, FactCheck editorial lead Stephen McDermott receiving the Media Literacy Media Champion Award from Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill
Established in 2016, the guiding principle of the FactCheck team is to not only provide good information to the public to make the best possible decisions on matters that impact their lives and society but to also provide the tools with which citizens can themselves identify suspicious or unverified content and successfully seek out quality information for themselves.
The Judging Panel acknowledged the FactCheck team’s “use of innovative content and outreach to address some of the most complex media literacy issues today and its work in improving public understanding of news media by engaging people with the process of making news and the importance of good information hygiene.”
Webwise wins MLI Member Special Contribution Award
Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill presents Catriona Mulcahy of Webwise with the MLI Member Special Contribution Award
Webwise is the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre. Part of the PDST Technology in Education, Webwise promotes the autonomous, effective, and safer use of the internet by young people through a sustained information and awareness strategy targeting parents, teachers, and children themselves with consistent and relevant messages.
The Judging Panel noted “MLI members are the heart and soul of MLI. Without individual members sharing their time, expertise and ideas, we could not achieve as much as we do. This award is an opportunity for MLI members to recognise the work that other members are doing and we congratulate Webwise on being the first, and very worthy, recipient of the MLI Member Special Contribution award.”
Joseph Hoban wins MLI Judges Special Recognition Award
Joseph Hoban accepts the MLI Judges Special Recognition Award from Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill
Joseph Hoban, is Head of Brand Projects, Partnerships, and Events for RTÉ and a former MLI Steering Group member. The Judging Panel agreed that Mr. Hoban’s contribution to the promotion of media literacy in Ireland via his central role in the development of the national Be Media Smart campaign deserved special recognition. The Panel noted that the “the Be Media Smart campaign, and its ‘Stop, Think, Check’ call to action, has become a centre-piece of the work of MLI and has facilitated positive engagement from members and broadened MLI’s reach”.
Commenting on the awards Prof. Brian O’Neill, Co-Chair of MLI said: “These awards are an opportunity for the media literacy community in Ireland to recognise the excellent work being done by a broad range of people and organisations to help empower citizens with the skills and knowledge to make the very best use of digital media toady. It’s wonderful to see the breadth and depth of the interventions. We look forward to seeing the Media Literacy Awards Programme grow year on year”.
A press release is available in English and as Gaeilge
