Ofcom is the independent regulator for the UK communications industry.
As part of Ofcom’s work to promote media literacy we plan to undertake or support a
range of research activities to monitor people’s skills, knowledge and understanding
of communications technologies and the content they watch and listen to either
through broadcasting or online.
In October 2004 we commissioned Professor David Buckingham and Professor
Sonia Livingstone to report on recent relevant academic and other publicly-available
research into children’s and adults’ media literacy respectively. The purpose of this
work was to outline the range of studies conducted, the gaps in research, provide
examples of innovative methodologies, and outline possible barriers and enablers to
media literacy identified by these studies.