From Communication Power Shift to Media Education Paradigm Change: The Case of Hong Kong

Media education has a close relationship with communication technologies. Its emergence and development can be considered an educational response to the concern about media’s impact on individuals and society.



The recent advancement of the new media, particularly Web 2.0, has had a profound social impact. It is arguably the greatest communication revolution in human history. In the past, only media professionals had the power to produce media content. Now with the help of the new media, young people familiar with advanced technologies can also share this power. For example, many of them are active users of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. As the rules of the game for social communication have changed, the power structure is overturned.



Subsequently we have to ask the question: Are the young people well prepared to properly use their newly acquired communication power? Also, media content is not only produced by media professionals but also by the ordinary people. From YouTube to blogs, information is being circulated without filtering and verification. Are the young people well equipped to select and evaluate media messages? In Hong Kong, media literacy educators are trying to address these two issues.





USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN HONG KONG BY YOUNG PEOPLE



Hong Kong is a technologically advanced city. The household broadband penetration rate is 82.3% and the mobile subscriber penetration rate is 180.6% (OFTA, 2010). Not surprisingly, a recent survey found that the lives of Hong Kong youth revolve around their digital gadgets (Fei, 2010). According to Synovate Research Agency, Hong Kong youngsters are ranked first in owning such products when compared to their counterparts surveyed across Asia. They possess an average of 4.1 devices (2 more than the regional average). Across 12 product categories, Hong Kong youngsters top other groups in having the most mobile phones (87% of Hong Kong youth have one), desktop computers (66%), digital still cameras (50%), hand held video games (40%), and TV game consoles (25%).



As ownership of desktop computers among Hong Kong youth is the highest in Asia, it is found that on average local young people spend three hours a day on the Internet. Young people in Hong Kong are also the second group across Asia who spend the most time talking on their mobile phones, close to one hour per day. The Nielsen report shows that local young people use the new technologies mainly for communication, information searching (music, movie and news), and entertainment (Nielsen, 2010).



Hong Kong youngsters are certainly highly engaged with the new media. On the one hand, they are socially well connected. They are also enthusiastic to express their views on facebook, YouTube and discussion forums. It is noteworthy that some of them even use the new media to mobilize social movements. For example, in early 2010 some of the Generation Y young people organized a demonstration through facebook and twitter to oppose the construction of the Hong Kong-Guangzhou Express Rail Link for conservation reason. Obviously, the new media have already become tools for their social and political participation in Hong Kong. Government officials and educators are paying close attention to this new development.



On the other hand, a local survey shows that many young people do not know how to behave appropriately or protect themselves when they go online (Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, 2009). Some of them are addicted to Internet surfing and online gaming. Others are involved with illegal downloading, online bullying, posting irresponsible opinions and transmitting pornographic pictures. During the celebrity Internet photo saga in 2008, hundreds of indecent nude photos of a group of local artistes were circulated on the Internet. The incident lasted for a month and it clearly showed that Hong Kong young people are not well prepared to critically consume Web materials and use their communication power in a proper way.





PARADIGM CHANGE: MEDIA EDUCATION RESPONSE TO TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT



Hong Kong youngsters have rich access to new media and they are technologically sophisticated. Yet, they are not considered mature enough and need guidance on how to deal with new technologies. Local media literacy educators hold the belief that media education can help tackle the above mentioned socio-technological challenges. However, they are aware that the traditional way may not work well. In the Web 2.0 era, media education, in terms of its basic assumptions, tasks, goals, curricula and pedagogy, has to undergo a paradigm shift. Its task is not only to guide youngsters how to act as smart media consumers but also to cultivate them as responsible media producers. The ultimate goal of media education is to achieve “reflective autonomy” and the curriculum content will have to focus more on the new media (Lee, 2008a).





NEW DIRECTIONS OF MEDIA LITERACY TRAINING



Under the new paradigm, media literacy training in Hong Kong is expected to play a constructive role in young people’s digital lives. There are a number of new initiatives:




Integrating media literacy training with information technology education:
Two primary schools in Hong Kong are conducting a pioneering media education project which integrates well with information technology (Tsang, 2009).


Teaching media literacy at a younger age:
The Net generation encounters new technologies from a very young age. In Hong Kong more emphasis has been put on primary school media education programs recently. Non-government agencies are also interested in providing more media literacy activities for young children with the aim that they can build up a good relationship with the media in the early stage of their lives (Hong Kong Christian Service, 2009).


Cultivate young people’s reflective thinking skill:
Apart from teaching critical thinking, media education is to guide youngsters to be reflective on their motives of consuming and producing media content. They are also encouraged to think about the consequences of their media use.


Including media ethics in media literacy curriculum:
In the past, media content was produced by media organizations and hence media ethics was a “professional concept”. Nowadays, almost everyone can produce and publish media content and thus media ethics has become a “civic concept” (Lee, 2008b). As a result, young people need guidance on understanding and practicing media ethics.


Encouraging creative media expression and experiential learning:
Various media organizations in Hong Kong have launched production-oriented media literacy activities in the community to promote young people’s creative participation in the media (RTHK, 2010).






PROMOTING FAMILY MEDIA EDUCATION



With the rise of new technologies, the home has become young people’s entertainment center (e.g., going online and playing video games). Hong Kong parents are aware that they have the responsibility to provide timely media guidance at home, particularly about new media use (Wong, 2010). The Yellow Bus, a local children magazine, promotes family media education. The Education Bureau’s Committee on Home-School Co-operation also supports the launch of the family media education campaign in the city.



As new communication technologies have provided the opportunity for Hong Kong young people to share the communication power with the media professionals, Hong Kong media literacy educators are eager to provide guidance to the young people with the hope that the youngsters can make good use of their power to enjoy democratic participation in the media as well as in the political arena. When educators work with the young people, they are encouraged to follow three principles: trust them, teach them, and talk to them.




Alice Y. Lee

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