Media literacy programmes help students learn to read news critically, but often leave them ignorant and cynical about the essential role of a free press in society, a study has found.

The study of 239 University of Maryland undergraduates to evaluate the effectiveness of media literacy education, the largest study of its kind, found that such courses increase their ability to understand, evaluate and analyse media messages. But the courses often turn out cynics who lack an understanding of the media¹s essential role in democracy.

“They displayed little active understanding or awareness of media's roles and responsibilities in a democratic society, nor of media¹s essential role for informed citizenship,” said Dr Paul Mihailidis, who conducted the study and presented its findings at a recent World Association of Newspapers Young Reader seminar.

Dr. Mihailidis, director of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change in Austria and an assistant professor of journalism, media studies and public relations at Hofstra University in New York, is helping to develop curricula that combine media literacy skills with promotion of active citizenship.

Media literacy courses should not just help students look more critically at news, he said. “It means understanding that every individual in Western society is dependent on media for local and global information. It means adopting and adapting such information to become an aware media citizen. Only then will the true benefits of media literacy become apparent.”

The recent Young Reader workshop, held in Paris, is part of the World Association of Newspaper's efforts to encourage a greater understanding of the independent media's essential role in democratic society and the potential for using newspapers in education to build citizenship.

"Research in several countries has shown repeatedly – and very recently – that Newspapers in Education (NIE) programmes effectively help teach children both to think critically and to embrace civic values, including the crucial role of the newspaper and other news media in a democratic community,” said Dr. Aralynn McMane, director of WAN Young Reader Programmes. “We want to help those who work in media literacy teach the crucial importance of press freedom – its benefits, its heroes, its price and its fragility."