Media Literacy Programme Fund
The Media Literacy Programme Fund awards grant funding to organisations undertaking media literacy activity that tackles the media literacy challenges in the Online Media Literacy Strategy.
Applies to England
Summary
In July 2021, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the Online Media Literacy Strategy, setting out the government’s plans for improving the national media literacy landscape. A media literacy mapping exercise found that the UK has a rich media literacy landscape, with at least 170 initiatives being delivered across the country.
However, insights from research and stakeholder engagement has highlighted that organisations in the UK media literacy sector face numerous barriers to undertaking media literacy activity. The strategy identified 6 key media literacy challenges for media literacy organisations, ranging from limited use of robust evaluation to a lack of coordination across the sector.
The strategy aims to support organisations undertaking media literacy activity to do so in a more wide-reaching, effective, and coordinated way. We have committed to taking action to address the media literacy challenges and improve the UK media literacy landscape over the next 3 years.
DCMS is inviting UK organisations to bid into the newly established, multi-year Media Literacy Programme Fund. The grant scheme will provide funding to organisations undertaking media literacy activity that tackles the challenges set out in the Online Media Literacy Strategy.
In year 1 of the fund, we are inviting bids for projects that meet one or more of the following strategic priorities:
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vulnerable users: providing support to vulnerable users who are currently underserved by media literacy initiatives (a list of some of these users can be found in this mapping exercise of the media literacy landscape)
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evaluation: implementing new or robust approaches to evaluation that improves understanding of the effectiveness of media literacy interventions
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misinformation and disinformation: undertake activity to effectively build audience resilience to misinformation and disinformation
Applications must demonstrate how the proposals will create positive outcomes against one or more of these strategic priorities. You can find more information about each of these criteria in the additional information section. You can also find out more in the Online Media Literacy Strategy.
The fund is open to proposals for a wide range of media literacy interventions. This could include, but is not limited to:
- traditional educational interventions
- upskilling professionals or other actors to support those they work with (i.e. train-the-trainer)
- tech-based solutions
- awareness campaigns
- evaluation of existing media literacy initiatives
The fund will welcome proposals for new and innovative activity, and activity that builds on existing media literacy work that has been proven to be effective. Rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of projects will be a key requirement for funding.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this fund, your project must include work taking place in England.
Your organisation must also:
- be registered to operate in the UK, and
- have experience of delivering media literacy interventions or equivalent subject matter expertise
If you are bidding into the fund as a consortium:
- the lead organisation in the consortium must be registered to operate in the UK, and
- at least one organisation in the consortium must have experience of delivering media literacy interventions or equivalent subject matter expertise
Application criteria
All applications will be required to meet the essential criteria below. Applications should also set out how they will meet the additional criteria relating to the relevant strategic priority (or priorities) their project will address.
Proposals submitted by consortia can demonstrate the essential and desirable criteria across multiple organisations in the consortium.
All proposals submitted to the fund will be assessed against the following essential criteria:
- applicants must demonstrate media literacy expertise
- applicants must demonstrate experience of delivery media literacy activity
- proposals must demonstrate how they will meet one or more of the strategic priorities of this grant scheme (including supporting evidence, where possible)
- proposals should clearly articulate who the target audience is
- applications should clearly outline the objectives, impacts and outcomes of the project, and demonstrate how they will be achieved within the grant period
- proposals must demonstrate plans for effective monitoring and evaluation of the process and impact of the project
- proposals must include a breakdown of budget and demonstrate value for money
- proposals must include clear plans for project management, including setting out milestones and timelines
Additional criteria
Strategic priority: vulnerable users
Proposals addressing this strategic priority should also:
- set out which audience(s) the intervention will provide support for
- demonstrate why this audience(s) is considered vulnerable and an understanding of the needs of this target audience with regards to media literacy.
- demonstrate why this audience(s) is currently underserved in the media literacy landscape
- demonstrate how the initiative will be tailored to meet the needs of the target audience.
- demonstrate how the accessibility needs of the target audience will be taken into consideration through the initiative.
Strategic priority: evaluation
Proposals addressing this strategic priority should also:
- demonstrate how their project will build a stronger understanding of ‘what works’ with regards to media literacy.
- demonstrate how they will ensure the evaluation methods employed will meet best practice standards.
We encourage applicants to make use of independent evaluation wherever possible.
Strategic priority: building audience resilience to misinformation and disinformation
Proposals addressing this strategic priority should also:
- demonstrate how their approach will aim to build resilience to misinformation and disinformation, including providing available evidence to support this approach
- demonstrate how they will measure the impact the project has on resilience to misinformation and disinformation.
- if seeking to reach a target audience, demonstrate a clear rationale for targeting this audience and how the approach will be tailored to the audience’s needs
Evaluation
Applicants must set out plans for how projects will be robustly evaluated to understand the impact of activity in improving the media literacy capabilities of citizens. Evaluation should include measures beyond self-reported data from participants. Where possible, independent evaluation should be used.
The fund will accept project proposals that are solely seeking to evaluate existing media literacy interventions. These proposals should include more details about evaluation plans and will be expected to use the most robust evaluation techniques available.
Funding
We will be accepting bids for projects that either:
- conclude by 31 March 2023 (end of financial year 2022 to 2023), or
- conclude by 31 January 2024 (quarter 4 of financial year 2023 to 2024)
We expect to administer a maximum of £200k grant funding to individual projects in each financial year the project is live, however exact amounts will be considered on a case-by-case basis. There is no minimum funding requirement for this bid.
Proposals will be assessed on whether they demonstrate value for money. Projects seeking large amounts of funding without demonstrating proportionate results are unlikely to be successful. Projects with costings that are suspected to be fraudulent or unfeasible will not be accepted into the grant scheme.
Please note that your project’s budget should not exceed 25% of your organisation’s annual turnover.
Applications must include a breakdown of budget, delivery milestones and timelines across each financial year the project will be running. Funding for project activities taking place in the next financial year (April 2023 to January 2024) will be subject to a review of project delivery this financial year (until March 2023).
How to apply
To apply for grants please complete the application form below:
Please send your completed form to medialiteracy@dcms.gov.uk.
Applications will be open until 19 September 2022, 23:59 BST. If you have any questions about this fund or the application process, please contact: medialiteracy@dcms.gov.uk.
DCMS will be running information sessions about the Media Literacy Programme Fund. If you would like to attend these sessions please contact: medialiteracy@dcms.gov.uk.
Timelines
We will aim to notify applicants about the outcome of the grant scheme, and for grant projects to commence, in autumn 2022.
Timelines may be subject to change depending on the application process.
Additional information
In addition to the essential application criteria set out above, applications must demonstrate how the proposals will create positive outcomes against one or more of the following strategic priorities:
- vulnerable users: providing support to vulnerable users who are currently underserved by media literacy initiatives (a list of some of these users can be found in this mapping exercise of the media literacy landscape)
- evaluation: implementing new or robust approaches to evaluation that improves understanding of the effectiveness of media literacy interventions
- misinformation and disinformation: undertake activity to effectively build audience resilience to misinformation and disinformation
Strategic priority: vulnerable users
Users can have a wide range of experiences online, both good and bad, which may be shaped by certain factors or characteristics, such as age or gender. These characteristics can be used to categorise users into different ‘user groups’ which can help us to better understand user experiences. We know that certain groups are more likely to be exposed to specific online harms than others; for example, women and girls are over twice as likely to receive online abuse about their gender than men (11% v 5%).
The experiences of different user groups may mean they have differing media literacy needs, but also that they may face differing barriers to accessing media literacy. As such, media literacy initiatives cannot take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, and must tailor initiatives to suit the needs of specific groups.
In 2019, DCMS undertook a mapping exercise and found that there is currently a lack of tailored media literacy provision groups who are vulnerable online. In a sample of 170 media literacy initiatives, only:
- 2% were tailored to LGBTQ people
- 4% were tailored to disabled users
- 6% were tailored to elderly people
It is important these, or any other vulnerable groups, have access to media literacy support that is tailored to their specific online experiences and needs. This should also consider the accessibility needs of vulnerable groups; for example, those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
This grant scheme will award funding to organisations undertaking media literacy activity to support one or more vulnerable groups who are currently underserved with tailored media literacy provisions.
Applications will need to clearly demonstrate:
- the rationale for why a vulnerable user group is underserved by the current media literacy landscape (e.g. a group identified in the Online Media Literacy Strategy)
- an understanding of the target audience’s specific media literacy needs
- how the project will tailor media literacy support to the target audience in an age- and ability-appropriate way
Strategic priority: evaluation
Research by both Ofcom and DCMS has found that many media literacy initiatives are not robustly evaluated, leading to an evidence gap about the effectiveness of media literacy interventions. Where initiatives are evaluated, they can often rely on self-reported evaluation (e.g. feedback surveys) or data about the reach of a resource, which do not provide accurate indications about the effectiveness and impact of interventions.
This limited approach to evaluation may stem from several factors, including:
- lack of organisational resource to undertake evaluation
- limited understanding and knowledge in organisations of how to undertake robust evaluation
- challenges in measuring the long-term impact of initiatives, particularly when users are navigating the online world themselves, away from the programme.
Through this fund, organisations will be able to apply for funding for work that focuses on evaluation. This might include:
- undertaking an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of an existing media literacy initiative
- employing a new approach to evaluation for an existing media literacy initiative (this could be new to an organisation, or a new technique in the field)
- undertaking activity to build knowledge and capacity about robust evaluation in an organisation
The findings of projects focusing on evaluation will be used to improve the collective evidence base about effective ways of delivering media literacy interventions, and inform the development of evaluation best practices.
We encourage organisations to consider Ofcom’s recent publication on evaluation practices for media literacy.
Strategic priority: audience resilience to misinformation and disinformation
Events of the last 3 years, such as COVID-19 and the invasion of Ukraine, have shone light on the challenge of misinformation and disinformation, and the threat they poses to individuals and society. The government is taking a range of action to tackle this threat, and one of the most critical tools available is building citizens’ resilience to misinformation and disinformation through news- and information-literacy.
The Online Media Literacy Strategy explores the role of news- and information-literacy, and the skills and knowledge citizens need in order to determine the veracity of information. This includes:
- building critical thinking skills
- understanding of journalistic and news-gathering processes
- understanding the nature of information (e.g. sponsored posts, opinion pieces)
- understanding how to assess the veracity of information (e.g. checking the source)
- understanding how the online environment can influence what information is presented to users (e.g. algorithms, echo chambers)
Through this fund, organisations will be able to bid for funding to deliver projects that seek to build the resilience of the target audience to misinformation and disinformation by improving their critical thinking, and news- and information-literacy skills.
The fund will accept proposals that trial new approaches to tackling misinformation and disinformation, or undertake existing activity that has demonstrated effectiveness. Applications should include evidence or rationale to support this.