5. Nurturing Freedom of Expression Through Teaching Global Media Literacy (1. Defining Media Education and Its Stakes in a Cross-Cultural Perspective) (Report‪)‬

A few years ago, the Nobel committee commissioned a report on the link between peace and news coverage. Good news coverage, as opposed to propaganda or inaccurate reports, can be essential to peace , Professor Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the committee, said. Today there are constant rumours and exaggerations and these fuel conflicts. If someone has accurate information, then it can often reduce conflicts (1). Media have never been more vital for the nurturing of civil society but freedom of expression is now in retreat. So much attention has gone into managing the new technologies, considering the viability of existing business models, coping with the dramatic demographic shifts in audiences and condemning the seemingly insatiable demand for scandal-mongering, that there has been little public space for expressing other concerns.