There is growing recognition of the need for the general public to be educated and guided to engage critically with news and media and to develop their media literacy skills and knowledge. The proliferation of new digital platforms, mis and disinformation, fake news, 'deepfakes', sponsored content and the rise of the ‘attention economy’, among other issues, means there is also an urgent need to understand how people access and engage with information and media content, and how they are impacted by it.

In preparing this report, researchers conducted a national study of the perceptions of libraries and information services (LIS) professionals to develop a media literacy short course tailored to their needs. They found that among LIS professionals, there was a strong perception of their role in educating the public in media literacy, especially the adult population. They also expressed a desire to learn more about media literacy and media literacy training.

Responding to this need, ALIA and the University of Canberra developed a 7-week short course for LIS professionals which ran over two sessions in 2022 with a total of 44 students. They then evaluated the effectiveness of the course in preparing libraries in their media literacy education development and delivery.