The use of audience generated material by broadcasters is not new. From phone‐ins and ‘letters to
the editor’, to vox pops and eye witness accounts, audience contributions have been central to
broadcast output for decades. The new phenomenon is that rapid advances in media technology
mean that audiences are able to gather more and wider ranging content to offer to broadcasters.
And not only is new media technology available, it is also more accessible and increasingly
affordable to members of the public.
This growth in ‘user‐generated content’ (UGC) provides broadcasters with numerous opportunities;
they have greater access to a higher volume and increased diversity of content for both news and
non‐news programming and the UGC they are offered also provides a vehicle for strengthening
their relationship with audiences.
Another important and increasingly recognised feature of the relationship between media and
society is media and information literacy (MIL). In December 2008, the European Parliament passed
a resolution which adopted the recommendations of a report on ‘media literacy in a digital world’1.
This resolution recognised the importance of media literacy and recommended that compulsory
media education modules be incorporated into teacher training for all school levels. The European
Parliament also recognised UNESCO’s role in promoting media education through, among other
things, its Grünwald Declaration (1982) and the Paris Agenda: 12 recommendations for media
education (2007). Developments such as these have been described as ‘indicative of a positive
trend that attention is turning toward a policy and regulatory framework to guide and support a
systematic take‐up of media education’2.
In 2008, the CBA and UNESCO published the results of a survey of 72 Commonwealth broadcasters
which looked at the nature of UGC. It considered what use they make of UGC and their involvement
in promoting MIL. The survey identified a lack of initiatives by broadcasters to encourage UGC and
promote MIL. But it also revealed that broadcasters noted an almost universal desire for assistance
in these areas.
The aim of these guidelines is to provide such assistance by outlining ways in which broadcasters
can promote MIL to their audiences and at the same time encourage the production of relevant
UGC for broadcast.
The promotion of UGC and MIL and the use of UGC are vital for helping the media to fulfil its
democratic functions in society. By providing not only a space for the public to express themselves
but also the skills and capacity to take part in public debate, broadcasters can ensure that citizens’
right to freedom of expression is realised. In particular, by promoting MIL and UGC broadcasters
can help to ensure that they achieve the following functions attributed to the media.
