Presentation of The Young Internet campaign to the Queen of Sweden
August 28, 2007
On August 28, the Media Council had the privilege to present the Council’s work, as well as the campaign The Young Internet to Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden. The meeting took place at the Queen’s office at the Royal Castle in central Stockholm and ran a full hour.
The Media Council presented facts on children’s online activities, the national awareness campaign and European cooperation in the Insafe network. The Queen is well-known for her engagement in children’s life conditions and showed a sincere interest in learning more about children’s everyday life on the internet. She was also presented with a tool-kit consisting of awareness raising material produced by the Media Council. At the meeting the Media Council was represented by its director Ann Katrin Agebäck.

This opportunity was a result of Commissioner Reding's meeting with Queen Silvia on the topic of children’s safety in the information society in Stockholm in December 2005.

Participation in panel discussion at Gothenburg Book Fair
September 27-30, 2007
"Safe online?", a book written by Ewa Thorslund, in close collaboration with the Media Council, was presented at the Gothenburg Book Fair in September. Ann Katrin Agebäck, the Director of the Media Council and Ms. Thorslund participated in a panel discussion covering issues like cyber-bullying, publishing of pictures on the internet and other questions related to young people’s use of the internet and online technologies.

Media Council at the annual meeting of the Local Consumer Advisors
November 20, 2007
As many local consumer advisors continuously request information from the Media Council pertaining to children’s and young people’s media use, a Media Council staff member attended the Local Consumer Advisors’ Annual Meeting to provide information, answer questions and distribute awareness raising material.

The Competent Gamer conference
November 23, 2007
The Competent Gamer was the name of an event that the Swedish Media Council organised in collaboration with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic Game Program and Nordicom in November.The conference, that took place at Rosenbad, the Swedish Government Offices, targeted policymakers as well as the gaming industry and was opened by the Swedish Minister for Culture, Ms. Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.  Some of the questions that were raised during the day were: What is the attraction in games? What pedagogical possibilities do games offer? What effect does gaming have on children’s and young people’s media skills?

Jonas Linderoth, who is one of the authors of the Media Council report Living in World of Warcraft,  was a speaker, as well as Ann Katrin Agebäck, The Media Council’s Director. There was also a youth panel present discussing their view on computer games and gaming. As the day progressed a new picture of the gamer emerged – one of a competent individual who easily can learn and adapt to a new environment.

     
Meeting with ministers and their senior staff
December 12, 2007
Two Swedish ministers and their senior staff visited the Media Council in December. The Minister for Culture Ms. ena Adelsohn Liljeroth, the Minister for Integration and Gender Equality, Ms. Nyamko Sabuni and a  Political Adviser  to the Minister for Justice, Ms. Beatrice Ask, were present along with the ministers’ senior staff. The 90 minute long meeting consisted of the Media Council presenting the organization’s work, followed by a Q&A session. There was a sincere interest in the activities of the Media Council and it became obvious how multifaceted the Council’s work is and how it is relevant to all the ministries in attendance.