Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

In Bangladesh there is a great prospect of media market and the media consumers are comparatively higher than that of other developing countries. Internet users have reached 94.445 million at the end of May 2019 (BTRC, 30 May 2019). Due to easy access of information and mass media, people can instantly share any information without considering any consequences. But unfortunately there are no institutions or proper guidelines to promote media literacy education in the country. Hence, in recent years many kinds of violence erupted due to sharing and spreading of fake news and rumors through social media. So how can we tackle this situation and create awareness among media users is the question now. Considering these circumstances, the researchers conducted a study on media literacy education in a public university in Bangladesh. In this study a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and semi structured interview have been applied to collect data from the university students as well as the concerned authorities of media education of government and non-government bodies. The study reveals that a serious lack of media literacy among the said group. And there is no noticeable initiatives by the government on media literacy education process in the national education curriculum. The status of media participation of the respondents are very low. In that case, the researchers strongly recommended that the government of Bangladesh should take immediate steps to include media literacy education in the national education curriculum from primary to higher education.