In an age of deepfakes and disinformation, the ability to critically analyse stories presented in the media and determine their accuracy or credibility – otherwise known as media literacy – is becoming ever more important.
Professor Julian McDougall, Professor of Media and Education at Bournemouth University, is working with policymakers and industry to inform media literacy approaches both in the UK and across Europe.
Research led by Professor McDougall has included a BU project funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which developed a theory of change to help the UK government evaluate the difference media literacy makes to peoples’ lives.
“This approach has since been adopted in a range of policy spaces and I have been engaging with Ofcom’s network of media literacy providers to evaluate the impact of their work and make recommendations for future practice,” said Professor McDougall, who is also chair of charity the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA).
Professor McDougall (right) was a panellist at the launch event for Council of Europe’s European Year of Digital Citizenship 2025His work with Ofcom, the regulator for the UK’s communications services, also includes a role as a Media Literacy Education Consultant, conducting research to map the Ofcom Media Literacy Outcomes to teacher training in England and making recommendations for further training to address gaps in provision.
Professor McDougall is also a member of Ofcom’s Making Sense of Media Advisory Panel, advising on Ofcom’s Three-Year Media Literacy Strategy.
In addition, he has been asked to speak at high-profile events about media literacy and tackling misinformation.
This includes acting as a panellist at the launch event in Strasbourg for the Council of Europe’s European Year of Digital Citizenship 2025.
The Year will bring together stakeholders from across Europe to create initiatives to make citizens more aware of the changes that digital technology is bringing to the world and improve their knowledge and skills in navigating online spaces.
Closer to home, Professor McDougall was invited to speak with parliamentarians as part of the House of Commons Good Information talk series, organised by the House of Commons Library to ensure policymakers avoid misinformation and disinformation and use reliable sources.
He has also recently been appointed as academic advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Political and Media Literacy, which aims to highlight the importance of political and media literacy education in promoting youth participation in democratic life and resilience to misinformation.
Professor McDougall said: “Across all of these activities, in my role as Chair of the Media and Information Literacy Alliance and academic adviser to the APPG, the objective is for the research evidence from Bournemouth to inform media literacy education for a healthier future.”
