Ruta Beinoriute: Media Literacy in Lithuania

Ruta Beinoriute is a 2019 Alumna of the Presidential Precinct’s Global Pathfinder Summit, presented in partnership with American Evolution.

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The first week of June has been my first week back at the office after almost three months of remote working. With both excitement and uncertainty, Monday felt like the first day at a new job. We have gone through so much in those last couple of months, both good and bad.

As a former journalism student I’m known to be a news junkie. But with constant breaking news in my feed throughout this public health crisis, I‘ve had to reassess my own daily intake and practice what some call an ‘information diet‘ for my own mental health. This global crisis has not only made me rethink my own relations with media, but also realize how important skills like analyzation and participation are to staying informed.

In my current role, I have been working on a media literacy project, looking at ways to make media education more accessible to Lithuanians. Specifically, my team and I have been analyzing the role of public libraries play in media literacy and are currently drafting a media education model for them to utilize. Having researched the many services libraries offer in addition to book lending, I have been so inspired to see how important libraries are for our communities. They‘re not only facilitators of traditional literacy skills, but they have an enormous effect on improving civic engagement across thousands of communities. Media and information literacy skills are crucial to robust civic engagement, and libraries are an important factor in strengthening these abilities for us all.

Civic engagement has always played an important part of my life, but never have I thought of its value and role it plays in our everyday lives as much as my time at the Presidential Precinct for the 2019 Global Pathfinder Summit. And as a result, following the Summit, that value has only increased.

After returning from the USA, I joined Create Lithuania, a program that repatriates professionals from all over the world to shape the future of Lithuania. The goal of the program is to utilize their knowledge and experiences collected abroad and implement fresh ideas through projects in Lithuania’s public sector. Every project implemented in this program seeks to actively engage with different stakeholders, including communities, to stimulate a discussion on the issues in the country and develop solutions. As one of the methods for such engagement, public consultations are organized that are open to anyone interested in joining the discussion.

As I look back at #2019GPS, I am happy to say that the commitment I made there – to making the media landscape in Lithuania more pluralistic – is not forgotten. Even though it was written on a small piece of paper, it remains a big commitment that I continue to hold. Today, reflecting on memories like this makes me reevaluate experiences, such as the Summit.

One moment I will never forget is singing Country Roads with my fellow pathfinders, standing shoulder to shoulder in the light of bonfire and surrounded by mountains in Virginia. This memory of unity, especially at this time, gives me comfort – we will sing together again. I know we will.