31st annual Conference and 30th General Assembly of COPEAM

Next gen & Media literacy: fostering awareness and critical thinking among youth

Naples, 18-19 April 2024

In consideration of the rapid advancements in technology and the enormous proliferation of information sources, individuals – especially youth – are called today to develop adequate critical skills to navigate the global media landscape. Media literacy activities/policies can highly contribute to reduce the risks of disinformation, empowering citizens to make informed decisions, participate actively in the digital community and favour a more democratic society.

Starting from this assumption, COPEAM decided to devote its 2024 Conference to the topic “Next gen & Media literacy: fostering awareness and critical thinking among youth”.

The 31st edition of COPEAM Conference was organized in partnership with RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana and Unione Industriali Napoli, under the patronage and with the support of the Municipality of Naples and the Campania Region, it was opened by local partner institutions’ representatives, who greeted the delegates from all the Euro-Mediterranean area.

The main Conference panel, with the moderation of Giuseppe Solinas (RAI), focused on to the topic "Next gen & Media literacy: fostering awareness and critical thinking among youth”, and gathered international experts from institutional and education fields such as Ms. Sylvie Coudray (UNESCO), Prof. Jad Melki (Lebanese American University, by remote) and Dr. Alessandro Soriani (University of Bologna and Council of Europe). The debate highlighted how media and information literacy (MIL) policies are necessary to address the 21st century challenges, including the proliferation of mis- and disinformation, the decline of trust in media, as well as digital innovations, including AI. Youth in particular was described as a very important target for MIL: enabling young people to engage critically with information can highly contribute to make them become active and conscious citizens of our societies.

The second part of the Conference provided the presentation of the most recent MIL guidelines at European level, and the showcase of a selection of best practices from COPEAM network, among which initiatives promoted by the EBU-European Broadcasting Union, RAI, France Télévisions and Radio France.

MEET THE SPEAKERS: 

JAD MELKI

Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Director, Institute
of Media Research and Training,
Lebanese American University

SYLVIE COUDRAY

Director of the Division for Freedom of Expression,
Media Development and Media and Information Literacy, UNESCO

 

ALESSANDRO SORIANI

Member of the CoE Digital Citizenship Education Expert Group and Researcher at University of Bologna (Italy), Department of Education Studies

Moderator:
GIUSEPPE SOLINAS

Journalist, International Relations and European Affairs Department, RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana

 

The afternoon session was devoted to the 30th Ordinary General Assembly of the Association with, among other, the election of COPEAM new Steering Committee and the appointment of the new President, Mr. Karim Abdallah, Director of MySat Ltd. Lebanon.

Claudio Cappon – confirmed as Secretary General for a further 4-year mandate - said that "in current times, media literacy has become an indispensable tool to restore confidence and trust in our huge and chaotic information ecosystem, dominated by digital technologies”.

COPEAM welcomes the vice Presidents: Radio France, TRT/Türkiye, Radio Romania and, for the first time, PBC/Palestine.

The elected members of the Steering Committee (integrating the organizations whose mandate was not expiring) are:

  1. BNT - Bulgaria (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  2. EPTV – Algeria (2022-2024) - NEW
  3. HRT - Croatia (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  4. France Télévisions - France (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  5. Jordan Media City - Jordan (2022-2024) - Reconfirmed
  6. MySAT - Lebanon (2022-2024) - Reconfirmed
  7. NMA - Egypt (2022-2026)
  8. PBC - Palestine (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  9. Radio France - France (2022-2024) - Reconfirmed
  10. Radio Romania - Romania (2022-2026)
  11. RAI - Italy (2022-2026)
  12. RTSH - Albania (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  13. RTVE - Spain (2022-2026)
  14. Télévision Tunisienne - Tunisiae (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  15. TRT - Türkiye (2022-2024) - Reconfirmed
  16. Claudio Cappon - Secretary General (2020-2024) - Reconfirmed
  17. Paola Parri - Deputy Secretary General - Reconfirmed

COPEAM welcome as well the newly elected Presidents of COPEAM work Commissions (2024/2026):

  1. RADIO: Frank LIDON – RADIO FRANCE
  2. TELEVISION: Markus NIKEL – RAI
  3. CINEMA/ FESTIVAL/ CULTURE: Zina BERRAHAL– TV5 Monde
  4. NEWS EXCHANGE:  Azzedine Ait EL HARA – EPTV
  5. GENDER EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY: Karina LATERZA – RAI
  6. TRAINING:  Selin BURCU – TRT
  7. AUDIOVISUAL HERITAGE:  Delphine WIBAUX– INA

At the end of 2023, COPEAM established a working group focusing on Media & Youth and aiming to cluster the radio and TV channels of our network dedicated to young audiences around common initiatives. Anne-Marie Amoros, Director of France Bleu Hérault, was charged of this group during the General Assembly.

COPEAM Commissions summaries

NEWS EXCHANGE - SUMMARY
TELEVISION + AV HERITAGE - SUMMARY

GENDER EQUALITY & DIVERSITY - SUMMARY
http://www.copeam.org/commission/cinema-festival-culture/ TRAINING + CINEMA_FESTIVAL_CULTURE - SUMMARY
RADIO - SUMMARY

MEDIA & YOUTH WORKING GROUP

 MEDIA & YOUTH WG - SUMMARY