Welcome to the MLI Monthly Update!
Have something you want to share with the membership? Tell us about it by emailing us at info@medialiteracyireland.ie. We are particularly interested in including your resources in the Training and Development section of the MLI website.
This Month in Media Literacy
Summer is well and truly here and we’re on the countdown to the deadline for entries to the 2025 MLI Awards. Don’t be shy – we’d love you to enter! We’re also looking for judges to take on the exciting challenge of choosing the winners in August and September. More details can be found below. As always this month, we have another great selection of reports, resources and information on upcoming events and conferences.
Announcements
Deadline approaching for 2025 MLI Awards
Don’t forget to submit your entries to this year’s MLI Awards. Supported by Coimisiún na Meán, the aim of the awards is to recognise the great projects, activities and initiatives that are helping citizens, especially within communities, to develop the media literacy skills that will empower them to make the best use of media. The deadline for entries is 14 July.
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Call for judges: The MLI Awards
We’re currently seeking expressions of interest to participate as a judge for the 2025 MLI Awards. MLI members and non-members with relevant experience are welcome. The expected time requirement is around one day, spread across August and early September. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the fantastic media literacy initiatives happening around the country.
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2025 MLI–EDMO Ireland Disinformation Forum
Organised by MLI and EDMO Ireland, this inaugural Disinformation Forum provided a snapshot of the counter-disinformation strategies and policies with a media literacy dimension that have been adopted by key stakeholders. It also explored the role of the local and community media sector in countering disinformation through media literacy, with an emphasis on opportunities and challenges.
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Winners of MEDEA Awards 2025 Announced
Organised by the Media & Learning Association and KU Leuven, the 17th annual MEDEA Awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, 18 June in Leuven as part of the 2025 Media & Learning Conference: Educational media that works. The prestigious MEDEA Award was awarded to Supercampus, submitted by Albert Segura, 3Cat – Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation, Spain.
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Expression of interest: DCU FuJo Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025
DCU’s Institute of Media, Democracy and Society is calling for expressions of interest for fully funded 2-year European Postdoctoral Fellowships. FuJo is particularly interested in this grant to further its research in discourse studies, hate speech, disinformation, AI in political discourse, journalism, media industry developments, and digital authoritarianism, aligning with its mission to explore the intersections of technology, media and democratic values. The deadline is 10 September.
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New SMS Sender ID Registry to help combat text scams
ComReg has launched an SMS Sender ID Registry in Ireland to help prevent text scams and protect SMS as a reliable and trustworthy communications channel. This initiative is one of a number of anti-scam interventions, developed by ComReg and the telecommunications industry, that are being put in place to help protect consumers and businesses in Ireland.
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FraudSMART’s top tips to safeguard against travel scams this summer
As the summer holiday season gets into full swing, FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative developed by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), is warning consumers to be on high alert for a seasonal rise in scams linked to last-minute travel deals. It has provided some top tips for people to stay safe this summer.
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IFCO publishes revised Classification Guidelines, including in Plain English
The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) has introduced a Plain English version of the Film Classification Guidelines, developed in partnership with NALA. IFCO hopes making the Classification Guidelines accessible and easy to read for all will help increase public understanding of the IFCO’s work and improve media literacy.
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UNESCO calls for MIL Alliance members to register for new platform
UNESCO has launched a new platform which will serve as an application and registration tool for partners interested in joining or engaging in the online MIL community. New and existing members are requested to register via this new platform.
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NCCA’s revised version of the Digital Media Literacy short course for Junior Cycle
A revised version of this short course for Junior Cycle is now available for schools to introduce in September 2026. This course was first published and made available to schools in 2016. Since then, it has become one of the most popular short courses for schools to choose as part of their Junior Cycle programme.
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TeaMLit online course for teachers
This free online course helps teachers in all settings to become media literate and bring media literacy into the classroom. Five online modules will guide teachers through the landscape of media literacy and help them implement it in the classroom and school.
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Research and reports
Digital News Report Ireland 2025
The Digital News Report is commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on an annual basis to explore how news is being consumed in a range of countries. Analysis of the Irish data is provided by the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo), and the Digital News Report is published by Coimisiún na Méan.
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Connected and Protected: Insights from FOSI’s 2025 Online Safety Survey
Conducted in the US between February and March 2025, this survey explores how children and parents experience the internet: what concerns them, what works well and where challenges remain. The research shines a light on digital behaviours, device usage, parental involvement, and attitudes around risks ranging from social media to generative AI.
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Parenting in a digital era: A narrative review
This new ESRI research, commissioned by BlockW, highlights the complexities and risks associated with children’s digital technology use. It summarises international research on the effect of digital technologies on school-aged children and adolescents and presents finding as follows: 1) the impact of digital technology on wellbeing; 2) the challenges of parenting in a digital era; and 3) public health and policy interventions to protect children and adolescents online.
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The Manosphere Unmasked
With growing concern over the potential for online communities to promote misogyny, new research, commissioned by Ofcom, explores how men come to engage with the manosphere, the role it plays in their lives, and how it shapes their views and behaviour.
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EDMO updates
What is EDMO?
The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) is an EU-wide network of factcheckers, media literacy practitioners, and researchers seeking to build resilience to disinformation. EDMO Ireland is one of 14 hubs that is part-funded by the EU. EDMO Ireland developed the Be Media Smart ‘Workshop-in-a-Box’, works on media literacy research and standards, and hosts the annual Disinformation Forum with MLI.
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EDMO Ireland leads Disinformation Workshop at PPN Summer School
EDMO Ireland was invited to deliver a two-hour workshop on disinformation as part of the Dublin Region Public Participation Networks (PPN) Summer School. The session, led by Eileen Culloty, was attended by a wide range of community representatives.
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Events
The Children’s Media Conference 2025 – 8–10 July
Taking place in Sheffield, the Children’s Media Conference is likely to be of interest for people involved in developing, producing and distributing content for children. The theme this year is ‘Shake It Up’, reflecting the seismic times we live in – worldwide and industry-wide.
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NAMLE Conference 2025 – 11–12 July
This virtual conference prepares educators to implement media literacy in a variety of settings. Educators of all ages and content areas will find sessions tailored to best teaching practices, engaging student learning activities, and digital media tools. Participants can also connect with other educators across shared content areas or educational contexts.
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EMIF Summer Conference – 15–16 July
Experts and professionals from Europe’s counter-disinformation community will convene in Lisbon, Portugal, to discuss the challenges of countering disinformation in changing times. The event will also spotlight EMIF projects and the fund’s impact on sustaining and strengthening the resilience of the European information landscape.
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Media Literacy and Democracy Education for Societal Resilience Conference –18–19 September
Taking place in the Helsinki Central Library (Oodi), this conference is aimed at experts and policymakers working in media literacy, education, teacher training, lifelong learning, youth sector and public libraries. Themes include the promotion of media literacy and civic skills as part of lifelong learning, and making inclusion – a cornerstone of diverse public discourse and democratic progress – a reality.
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Growing up in the Digital Age – 19 November
Google’s flagship event series Growing Up in the Digital Age is convening in Brussels. This event will outline initiatives, tools and educational resources that Google and YouTube create to empower, protect and respect children and families online. Results from a new major study on teens across Europe will also be shared.
Read the report from the event in Dublin in March here
In Case You Missed It
Webinar: Fake News and Misinformation – Helping Young People Check the Facts
Hosted by the Children’s Media Foundation, this webinar explored the issues around young people accessing and verifying news and information in an increasingly complex and manipulated media environment. Topics included media literacy, fact-checking, the role of social media in social and democratic life, and how best to protect young people from mis- and disinformation, while retaining freedom of choice.
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Webinar: Climate Disinfo Reload
From AI-generated greenwashing to transatlantic denial campaigns, climate disinformation is mutating fast. In this webinar hosted by EU DisinfoLab, top expects from Global Witness and Ripple Research discussed the biggest threats of 2025, and what we can still do about them.
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Blog: Why all of us need to talk about mis- and dis information
This blog by Ofcom provides some of the key findings from their new qualitative research about mis- and disinformation, exploring ways to navigate and mitigate its impact. This research builds on the findings from their quantitative survey published in November 2024 which explored UK adults’ behaviour and attitudes in this area.
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Resource of the Month
Handbook on Recognising Disinformation
This handbook from the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services offers practical examples and exercises for identifying and combatting disinformation. It uses real-world examples and provides tools for verifying photos, as well as helpful infographics on disinformation. A useful resource related to this is the FLICC poster on disinformation.
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Thanks for reading!
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Kind regards,
The MLI Team
