EAVI Conversations 2020
The event consisted of a series of one-to-one interviews conducted by EAVI founder, Paolo Celot. The purpose of the conversations was to hear from experts about their experiences and views on media, media literacy, disinformation and digital citizenship. With this in mind, our speakers shared original ideas about media life and the future of media literacy.
Additionally, one final webinars with groups of speakers was organized. During the webinars and some of the interviews, we covered more specific topics such as policy, research or projects – the idea was to make the conversations accessible to everyone. They were intended to inspire, enhanced by the personality of each speaker, and potentially produced insights that were quite different from one another.
The gatherings provided the opportunity to discuss and reflect about how to develop awareness of the digital environment in which we spend so much of our time. Our speakers were representatives of EU institutions, the media literacy community, civil society and researchers, as well as young people interested in the topics.
To orient the topics of discussion, we followed the EAVI revised vision of media literacy. This vision placed the needs and aspirations of human beings who inhabit the new environment at the centre of its model.
EAVI Revised Vision of Media Literacy - The Art of Living in the Digital Environment
Speakers
eavi (European Association for viewers interests)
Paolo Celot
Paolo Celot is the Founder and Secretary-General of EAVI. Over the last twenty-five years, he has accumulated experience in media working in London, Milan and Brussels. He is an expert on media literacy for the European Commission, a member of the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society at the Council of Europe, a member of the Active Citizenship Group for the European Commission, and a member of the Advisory Board of the European Audiovisual Observatory. Paolo has authored books and Europe-wide studies covering 27 countries and 20 different languages.
London school of Economics and political science
Prof. Sonia Livingstone
Sonia Livingstone, DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the director of the Digital Futures Commission and the Global Kids Online project. Sonia has advised many major European and International bodies like the European Commission, the OECD and UNICEF on children’s internet safety and rights in the digital environment. She has received five honorary doctorates, several international prizes and has published 20 books on media literacy.
Alan Turing INstitute, University of oxford
Dr. Christopher Burr
Dr. Christopher Burr is a senior research associate of the Public Policy Programme of the Alan Turing Institute and a research associate of the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford. His work is focused on how digital technologies have reshaped our understanding of well-being, and on the new opportunities and risks that these technologies pose for human flourishing. Dr. Burr has held previous posts at the University of Bristol, where he explored the ethical and epistemological impact of big data and artificial intelligence and completed his PhD in 2001.
Dutch Academy for Media & Society
Liesbeth Hop
Liesbeth Hop is seen as one of the Dutch authorities on media literacy. Her mission is to improve the media literacy of youth, parents, teachers, corporate companies and governments. She founded Media Rakkers and the Dutch Academy for Media & Society, a highly respected educational institute for media literacy trainings and workshops. In 2007, she developed the highly successful post graduate National MediaCoach Training.
Autonomous University of Barcelona
Prof. José Manuel Pérez Tornero
José Manuel Pérez Tornero is a journalist and professor of journalism and communication science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, as well as the director of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy and Quality Journalism Chair. He acts as expert consultant on media literacy for UNESCO, the EU and various international organizations. He directs the Communication and Education Cabinet (UAB) and EduMediaLab, a laboratory dedicated to research on innovation in communication and education.
Université sorbonne nouvelle
Prof. Divina Frau-Meigs
Divina Frau-Meigs is a professor and media sociologist at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in France, where she created the master programme AIGEME and coordinates the research on media and globalization in the international CREW research group. She is a founding member of the European Consortium for Communications Research and a member of the scientific council of the CIEM as well as of the ECREA. She acts as an expert for UNESCO, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and other government bodies.
University of Tampere
Prof. Tapio Varis
Prof. Tapio Varis (Professor emeritus) has worked in many functions throughout his career, among others as Chair of Professional Education at the University of Tampere, as UNESCO Chair in Global E-Learning, as a member of the European Commission Media Literacy Expert Group and as Rector of the University for Peace (created by the UN) in Costa Rica. He has authored approximately 200 scientific articles on topics like global peace, new media and cultural identity and continues to contribute to print and broadcast media.
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Renate Schroeder
Renate Schroeder is the Director of the European Federation of Journalists and an advocate at European level and in the Council of Europe. She presents the EFJ internationally and advises EFJ expert groups on broadcasting, media literacy and digital journalism. She studied International Relations and Political Science and worked for the United Nations, FAST in Berlin and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Brussels.
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Ricardo Gutiérrez
Ricardo Gutiérrez is General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists and a senior lecturer at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Former journalist for the Belgian daily newspaper “Le Soir”, he is a member of the Belgian Press Council (CDJ) and of the EU High Level Expert Group on Disinformation and has conducted training for journalists on hate speech, ethical journalism and reporting on ethnicity and religion.
Aura Salla
As Head of EU Affairs, Aura Salla oversees Facebook’s engagement on EU policies with the European Institutions and Member States. Before joining Facebook, Aura worked in the EC as a Foreign Policy and Communications Adviser in the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), in-house think tank to President Jean-Claude Juncker. Previously she served as a Member of Cabinet of Jyrki Katainen, EC Vice President responsible for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness.
European University Cyprus
Dr. Charis Xinari
Dr. Charis Xinari is an Associate Professor in Critical and Cultural Theory at the European University Cyprus. Her research angle is gender and identity. Over the last few years, her research interests have focused on identity formation and uses of new media, with a special interest in critical media literacy. She has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the ESF Forward Look on Media Studies and co-author of the Final report “New Media, New Literacies” and is currently the coordinator of the European MediaCoach Initiative (EMCI), an Erasmus+ KA3 funded project.
Lie Detectors
Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck
Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck is the founder and director of Lie Detectors, an award-winning media-literacy organisation in Europe that helps young people and teachers sort facts from fakes and understand professional journalism. Juliane represented Lie Detectors within the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on Digital Disinformation and Fake News and has advised politicians and lawmakers on anti-radicalisation and lateral literacy in an age of media pluralism. She is an award-winning journalist who previously wrote for The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Newsweek and others.
European Commission
Audrius Perkauskas
Audrius Perkauskas is deputy head of unit “Audiovisual and Media Services Policy” at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT). During his 15 years at the Commission and DG Connect, he has acquired the experience of policy-making and regulation in several areas of digital economy and society: telecoms, data economy and media – copyright, audiovisual regulation, media freedom and pluralism, media literacy. Before joining the European Commission, Audrius Perkauskas worked as a lawyer, lecturer at Vilnius University and advisor to the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
Ania Helseth
Ania Helseth is IP lawyer graduated from the University of Oxford and specialized in the EU law at the University of Amsterdam. She has a long public policy experience in Brussels. Ania worked for the European Parliamen at the beginning of her career and was a telecom attache at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU. She held various positions at the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU and headed public policy for the Association of Sattelite Operators. She joined Facebook in May 2016 and focused on issues around content regulation, copyright, AVMS and intermediary liability.
Event Programme
-
Prof. Sonia Livingstone
Watch the recording here
When: 27 October 2020 Tuesday 4 - 5pm CET
Topic: Parenting in the Digital Age
Speaker: Prof. Sonia Livingstone (Professor at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE))
-
Prof. Divina Frau-Meigs
Watch the recording here
When: 28 October 2020 Wednesday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: Media Literacy and Disinformation Speaker: Prof. Divina Frau-Meigs (Professor at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle & President of Savoir*Devenir and GAPMIL Europe) -
Liesbeth Hop
Watch the recording here
When: 3 November 2020 Tuesday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: Media Coach and Media Literacy Training Speaker: Liesbeth Hop (Media Expert at Dutch Academy for Media & Society) -
Dr. Christopher Burr
Watch the recording here
When: 4 November 2020 Wednesday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: Digital Well-being Speaker: Dr. Christopher Burr (Senior Research Associate at Alan Turing Institute and Research Associate at University of Oxford) -
Aura Salla
Watch the recording here
When: 5 November 2020 Thursday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: Full Citizenship and Social Media Speaker: Aura Salla (Head of EU Affairs at Facebook) -
Renate Schroeder
Watch the recording here
When: 10 November 2020 Tuesday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: The Role of Journalism and the State of Democracy Speaker: Renate Schroeder (Director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)) -
Dr. Charis Xinari
Watch the recording here
When: 11 November 2020 Wednesday 4-5pm CET Topic: Adopting successful Good Practices in Media Literacy Speaker: Dr. Charis Xinari (European University Cyprus) -
Prof. Tapio Varis & Prof. José Manuel Pérez Tornero
Watch the recording here
When: 12 November 2020 Tuesday 4 - 5pm CET Topic: A New Global Humanism Speakers: Prof. Tapio Varis (Professor emeritus, University of Tampere) & Prof. José Manuel Tornero (Professor at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)) -
Webinar
WATCH THE RECORDING HERE
When: 18 November 2020 Wednesday 4 - 5:30 pm CET Topic: Media Literacy, Values and Europe Moderator: Ricardo Gutiérrez (Secretary General of EFJ) Speakers: Julianne von Reppert-Bismarck (Founder and director of Lie Detectors), Audrius Perkauskas (European Commission), Ania Helseth (Content Policy Manager at Facebook) -
Special Guest
WATCH HERE
Speaker: One final, secret guest who hopefully will answer all the questions that are still unanswered
Following the components of the EAVI revised vision, we tried to explore central questions of media literacy.
Central Questions
What can we expect in the future?
What are the new opportunities for participation, learning and sharing in our online lives?
What can be improved about the way we use media?
Are citizens well-equipped to participate in democracy on- and offline?
How can we ensure access to technological resources for everyone?
How can we be in better control of our technology and stay up to date with new developments?
How can citizens contribute to the common good using new media?
Fully Online
All sessions were conducted on Zoom and streamed live on our Facebook Page.
