Media Access by Malawian Youth
As Malawi is becoming media saturated its youth are experiencing unprecedented access to media products. In a day an average urban Malawian youth is bombarded with locally and foreign generated information from at least a newspaper, a radio broadcast, a TV broadcast, a street advertisement, the internet, a CD, a DVD, or an MP3 player. Unfortunately, the type of education that most Malawian youth go through does not empower them with relevant knowledge and skills for participating meaningfully in the current information revolution as producers and consumers.

Attitude of Malawian Youth towards the Media
Not surprisingly, amidst this media boom many Malawian youth tend to take media messages for granted by disregarding motives behind media products, how the products affects their lives, and their need to acquire skills for critically analysing the media messages. Consequently, these youth ignorantly develop undesirable and risky media consumption behaviours and habits which hinder their intellectual and social growth and their ability to communicate their thoughts and views effectively using various Information and Communication Technologies, e.g. the Internet..

Why Malawian Youth Should Not Take Media Content For Granted
The fact that meaningful understanding of media messages mostly requires sophisticated listening, reading and viewing skills cannot be overemphasised. Most media products use sound, texts and images in ways that surpass young minds' ability to differentiate illusion from reality, or fact from fiction thereby robbing the youth opportunity for social and intellectual growth. Authentic research shows that media habits of the youth impact on various aspects of their lives such as academic achievement and development of world view, to name but a few. Thus, research draws a distinction between safe and risky ways, as well as responsible and irresponsible ways of using the media.

Aim and Objectives of the Youth Empowerment Media Seminar
This Youth Empowerment Media Seminar has been designed to enlighten the youth of Malawi about uses and effects of various types of media products and to familiarize them with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which they can use for communicating their views and thoughts to others. This aim will be achieved by pursuing the following objectives: 

• To impart to the youth prerequiste knowledge and skills for making informed choices and decisions about their media consumption behaviours and habits.

•  To equip the youth with knoweldge and skills that enhance and/or increase their understanding and enjoyment of media content and forms of various types.

• To equip the youth with knowledge and skills for communicating their ideas using various types of Internet-based communication technologies.

Workshop Theoretical Framework
The Youth Empowerment Media Seminar is theoretically grounded in an important educational concept named Media Literacy which is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms. A media literate person is able to:

• Communicate his/her thoughts and views creatively using all sorts of media
• Critically analyze messages that are used to inform, educate, entertain people and to sell things to them.

A media literate person demonstrates rare critical thinking skills which empower him or her to question both plain and hidden messages communicated through different types of media including the internet, music CDs, video games, movies, radio programs, advertisements, television, magazines, newspapers, etc thereby uncovering their values and motives.

Thus the Youth Empowerment Media Seminar is all about educating the youth to enjoy various types of media and to use their content to make informed real life choices and decisions in an environment where the media are aggressively competing with and/or replacing traditional sources of information and values such as family, school, community, and religious institutions.

Target Groups:

• Youth of all walks of life (secondary school students, school leavers, and college and university students) in their personal capacities or as members of youth organisations, clubs, and societies based in schools, communities, or religious institutions, and many more

• Adult leaders of youth organisations, clubs and societies

• Interested organisations, clubs, communities, societies, institutions, etc have opportunity to request us to organise workshops specifically for their groups at their chosen place and time

Topics:

1. Introduction to internet based media genres and ICTs (VOIP, E-Mail, Web 2.0, social media, blogs, twitter, video conferencing, etc
2. Principles of sound, image and text (print, video, film, internet, etc)
3. Media Effects (covers what researchers say about how media use affect youth’s real life experiences such as academic achievement)
4. Career talk (a presentation about careers in the Media, Communication, and ICT sectors)

Dates: To be Announced
Time: To be Announced
Venue: Zomba, Blantyre, Lilongwe, and Mzuzu
Fees: To be Announced

Presenters:
Main Presenter: Sydney Kankuzi – Holds a Master of Arts in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, is Managing consultant of Progress Media and Communication Consultants, and lectures at Chancellor College,
University of Malawi

Guest Presenter: Bennett Kankuzi - Holds a Master of Science in Computer Science, is Managing Consultant of B4C Software Engineering Consultants, and lectures at the Malawi Polytechnic, University of Malawi

Inquiries and Registration: Sydney Kankuzi (0888 514 659)
Email: info@pcmconsultants.com

Special Message to Parents and Guardians:
It is an undeniable fact that the youth have access to a wide range of media at and away from home and school which are far beyond the control of parents and guardians who are keen to monitor media habits and behaviours of their children and dependants. The most effective solution to this challenge is to equip the youth with knowledge and skills which can empower them to make appropriate choices and decisions about how they consume and produce media products using various Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We are there to do just that! and we are looking forward to meeting your children and dependants at this important seminar !

Inquiries and Registration: Sydney Kankuzi (0888 514 659)
Email: info@pcmconsultants.com

      
Please watch this page for seminar updates!