Learning through ‘Prosuming’

Abstract

In today's new media landscape, consuming media content is only part of the equation. Media consumers also enjoy various avenues by which they can produce and share media content. This combination of consuming and producing has been termed ‘prosuming’. Rather than being the preserve of the intellectual elite, virtually any media consumer can be a media producer too given the relative affordability and accessibility of new ICT and media platforms. Media production is satisfying because it allows individuals to flex their creative energies and empowering because it enables people to make their views heard. Focusing on media literacy programmes targeted at developing country youth, this article analyses media literacy programmes that impart media production skills. Specifically, it looks at the Little Masters programme in China, the Cybermohalla programme in India, and the Young Journalists (YOJO) Group in Vietnam. The article finds that media literacy programmes that emphasise media production may have more significant long-term impacts as they vest young people with the abilities to voice their concerns and raise public awareness about youth-related issues. The media literacy skills imparted are, therefore, imbued with the potential for social activism and democratisation. The experiences of the Little Masters, Cybermohalla and YOJO programmes also suggest a few strategies for heightened success–sensitivity to the social and cultural contexts of the participants, building up a sufficiently wide base of community support, and leveraging media convergence to increase their impact.