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Exploring the concept of individual and collective transformation as the underlying driver for media pedagogy, this book offers valuable insights and practical strategies for implementing transformative media pedagogies across learning... more
Exploring the concept of individual and collective transformation as the underlying driver for media pedagogy, this book offers valuable insights and practical strategies for implementing transformative media pedagogies across learning environments and civic ecosystems.

Each chapter takes the form of critical and reflective writing on specific processes and practices that emerged from contributors' experiences of participating in the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, an experimental and immersive transformational media pedagogy project born in 2007, and continuing to this day. Together, contributors examine media pedagogies that prioritize value constructions like human connection, care, imagination, and agency, all of which collectively support a transformative approach to learning. While this book takes into account media pedagogies that focus on competencies and skills, its priority is to reveal and offer learning pathways that develop media makers and storytellers focused on positive social impact in the world.

This book will be of interest to any media educators, researchers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs seeking to implement transformative media pedagogies that support equitable and just civic futures.
Civic life today is mediated. Communities small and large are now using connective platforms to share information, engage in local issues, facilitate vibrant debate, and advocate for social causes. In this timely book, Paul Mihailidis... more
Civic life today is mediated. Communities small and large are now using connective platforms to share information, engage in local issues, facilitate vibrant debate, and advocate for social causes. In this timely book, Paul Mihailidis explores the texture of daily engagement in civic life, and the resources―human, technological, and practical―that citizens employ when engaging in civic actions for positive social impact. In addition to examining the daily civic actions that are embedded in media and digital literacies and human connectedness, Mihailidis outlines a model for empowering young citizens to use media to meaningfully engage in daily life
Countless people around the world harness the affordances of digital media to enable democratic participation, coordinate disaster relief, campaign for policy change, and strengthen local advocacy groups. The world watched as activists... more
Countless people around the world harness the affordances of digital media to enable democratic participation, coordinate disaster relief, campaign for policy change, and strengthen local advocacy groups. The world watched as activists used social media to organize protests during the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution. Many governmental and community organizations changed their mission and function as they adopted new digital tools and practices. This book examines the use of "civic media" -- the technologies, designs, and practices that support connection through common purpose in civic, political, and social life. Scholars from a range of disciplines and practitioners from a variety of organizations offer analyses and case studies that explore the theory and practice of civic media.

The contributors set out the conceptual context for the intersection of civic and media; examine the pressure to innovate and the sustainability of innovation; explore play as a template for resistance; look at civic education; discuss media-enabled activism in communities; and consider methods and funding for civic media research. The case studies that round out each section range from a "debt resistance" movement to government service delivery ratings to the "It Gets Better" campaign aimed at combating suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth. The book offers a valuable interdisciplinary dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of the increasingly influential space of civic media.
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Media Literacy and the Emerging Citizen is about enhancing engagement in a digital media culture and the models that educators, parents and policy makers can utilize to place media-savvy youth into positions of purpose, responsibility and... more
Media Literacy and the Emerging Citizen is about enhancing engagement in a digital media culture and the models that educators, parents and policy makers can utilize to place media-savvy youth into positions of purpose, responsibility and power. Two specific challenges are at the core of this book’s argument that media literacy is the path toward more active and robust civic engagement in the 21st century:
How can media literacy enable core competencies for value-driven, diverse and robust digital media use?
How can media literacy enable a more civic-minded participatory culture?
These challenges are great, but they need to be examined in their entirety if media literacy is to begin to address the opportunities they present for democracy, participation and discourse in a digital media age. By presenting information that places media literacy at the center of what it means to be an engaged citizen, educators and policy makers will understand why media literacy must be integrated into formal and informal education systems before it’s too late
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Media Literacy Education in Action brings together the field’s leading scholars and advocates to present a snapshot of the theoretical and conceptual development of media literacy education—what has influenced it, current trends, and... more
Media Literacy Education in Action brings together the field’s leading scholars and advocates to present a snapshot of the theoretical and conceptual development of media literacy education—what has influenced it, current trends, and ideas about its future. Featuring a mix of perspectives, it explores the divergent ways in which media literacy is connected to educational communities and academic areas in both local and global contexts. The volume is structured around seven themes:

• Media Literacy: Past and Present

• Digital Media and Learning

• Global Perspectives

• Public Spaces

• Civic Activism

• Policy and Digital Citizenship

• Future Connections

Compelling, well-organized, and authoritative, this one-stop resource for understanding more about media literacy education across disciplines, cultures, and divides offers the fresh outlook that is needed at this point in time. Globally, as more and more states and countries call for media literacy education more explicitly in their curriculum guidelines, educators are being required to teach media literacy in both elementary and secondary education contexts.
News Literacy gathers leading scholars, educators, and media makers to explore new approaches to thinking about, examining, and evaluating news media and civic engagement around these fundamental questions: What are the most pressing... more
News Literacy gathers leading scholars, educators, and media makers to explore new approaches to thinking about, examining, and evaluating news media and civic engagement around these fundamental questions: What are the most pressing issues in news, media, and culture in a converged, digital, and global media age? What are the best educational practices to foster media literate understanding, engagement, and expression across borders, across cultures, and across divides? The book will prepare future media practitioners (and citizens) to embrace new media environments that can simultaneously empower their craft and their civic voice. This means teaching not only about the various ways new technologies are used and to what end, but also how these tools can enable better engagement with audiences, more dialog with communities, and a more nuanced understanding of how information is processed through new media platforms. Such an approach can empower a more active, collaborative, and empowered information landscape for the digital age.
Make FOIA Work is about re-imagining journalism through design, participation and collaboration. Faculty, staff and students at Emerson College and the Engagement Lab staff worked alongside the Boston Institute of Nonprofit Journalism... more
Make FOIA Work is about re-imagining journalism through design, participation and collaboration. Faculty, staff and students at Emerson College and the Engagement Lab staff worked alongside the Boston Institute of Nonprofit Journalism (BINJ) and MuckRock, two independent and alternative news and information platforms and publishers, to produce a data-driven and engagement-based investigative reporting series that exposes corruption around the sales of guns in Massachusetts. Through design studios in participatory methods and data visualization, project participants created a participatory guide book for journalists, practitioners and community members on how to undertake participatory design projects with a focus on FOIA requests, community participation, and collaboration. The project also highlights the course syllabi in participatory design methods and data visualization.
The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), a project of the National Endowment for Democracy, aims to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and improve the e ectiveness of media assistance programs by providing... more
The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), a project of the National Endowment for Democracy, aims to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and improve the e ectiveness of media assistance programs by providing information, building networks, conducting research, and highlighting the indispensable role independent media play in the creation and development of sustainable democracies around the world. An important aspect of CIMA's work is to research ways to attract additional U.S. private sector interest in and support for international media development. CIMA convenes working groups, discussions, and panels on a variety of topics in the eld of media development and assistance. The center also issues reports and recommendations based on working group discussions and other investigations. These reports aim to provide policymakers, as well as donors and practitioners, with ideas for bolstering the e ectiveness of media assistance.
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For many years, media literacy educators, researchers, advocates, and practitioners worked under the assumption that media literacy serves to protect and uphold democratic practices within the United States. We assume media literate... more
For many years, media literacy educators, researchers, advocates, and practitioners worked under the assumption that media literacy serves to protect and uphold democratic practices within the United States. We assume media literate citizens are the best safeguards for our democracy; however, little attention is paid to defining how media literacy achieves this goal or how it is connected to ongoing inequities within democratic societies like ours.

While calls for media literacy practices to better support an equitable society are increasing within the field (and society at large), there remains a gap between how impactful media literacy practices are defined and how they are connected to equitable goals supporting social justice. We argue this chasm persists because many of the underlying assumptions about media literacy practice are amorphous and difficult to capture through more traditional impact measures.

In this project, we worked with three core assumptions made within the field of media literacy--that media literacy practices empower individuals, support communities, and ultimately contribute to engaged citizenship within a democracy. This report encapsulates a year’s worth of research into the connection between impactful media literacy practices and equity. For our research, we started by interrogating the three assumptions made within media literacy to develop three research questions:
● RQ1: How is impact defined in media literacy research?
● RQ2: What are the main practices and processes that lead to impactful
media literacy practices?
● RQ3: What are the challenges and opportunities for incorporating
equity into impactful media literacy practices?

Working from these questions, we developed a multi-method approach to studying impact within media literacy practices that centers issues of equity and social justice. This approach included (1) a scoping review of media literacy literature spanning a decade; (2) in-depth interviews with 27 educators, administrators, and practitioners in the field; and (3) a survey of 741 media literacy practitioners from a number of fields and organizations.
The findings from the scoping review of current literature on media literacy practices suggest impact is defined by six distinct themes we call the “6 Es.”
These include impact as evaluation outcomes, enquiry, expression, experiential learning, engaged citizenship, and equities. Findings from the in-depth interviews reflect back on the three core assumptions that media literacy empowers individuals, supports communities, and contributes to engaged citizenship within a democracy. The interviews also indicate the urgency for media literacy to be implemented as a core educational standard, especially in light of the events of the Jan 6, 2021
insurrection in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. and the worldwide #BlackLivesMatter uprisings after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.
Finally, the results of our survey of media literacy educators, administrators, and practitioners align closely with the findings of the in-depth interviews. Many respondents indicated that their media literacy practices focused on individual agency over the more abstract concepts of community empowerment and democratic practice. The survey also captures the challenges that many practitioners face with incorporating topics related to equity and social justice within their communities and classrooms.

We believe that if media literacy practices are to be truly impactful, they must necessarily address social inequities within democratic societies. Therefore, impactful and equitable media literacy practices are one and the same. This report includes our findings and the full methodology of each study, including the development of new survey measures for equity in media literacy practices. We also include a public-facing, practical, user-friendly tool about equitable media literacy practices in the form of a field guide to help practitioners reflect on their existing media literacy practices and consider more equity-driven approaches to media literacy education in formal and informal learning ecosystems.
This journal issue is separated into four sections. Invited essays, written from the academic, organizational, development, and professional perspectives, provide unique perspectives into key issues in news literacy through distinct... more
This journal issue is separated into four sections. Invited essays, written from the academic, organizational, development, and professional perspectives, provide unique perspectives into key issues in news literacy through distinct questions that are guiding each author’s work in this space. In the critical perspectives section, the essays provide “big
picture” inquiries into framing debates in news literacy, offering deep explorations into the historical, contextual and cultural issues that are defining key academic debates in news literacy today. From exploring evaluation studies into youth production of news and learning about news in secondary and higher education, to surveys and pilot study that offer
field assessments of curricular, philanthropic and capacity-building, the research section provides rich inquiries into what is happening in the classroom and beyond. Lastly, the looking forward section offers provocative insights into what opportunities and constraints exist for news literacy research, teaching and practice going forward. They leave us with some critical questions to consider, about the direction of news literacy research, pedagogy and practice.

News literacy is a growing space. Just in the last decade we’ve witnessed a burgeoning movement responding to a rapidly changing landscape for news and its role in contemporary civic life. I believe the growth of news literacy mirrors the growing uncertainty about the ways in which news will be disseminated, received, and supported, both structurally and process-wise. And in my opinion that uncertainty, while alarming in the short term,
offers opportunities for a reinvention of the future. This special issue is an attempt to help support the new technologies, practices and designs that will facilitate a future of vibrant, inclusive and critical news literacy practice and research.
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This report examines the uses of digital media among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with migrants and refugees primarily in Europe. Based on interviews with leaders at over 20 NGOs, this report documents how organizations... more
This report examines the uses of digital media among non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) working with migrants and refugees primarily in Europe. Based on interviews
with leaders at over 20 NGOs, this report documents how organizations are thinking
about digital and media literacies for combating xenophobia. NGOs are strategically leveraging various storytelling techniques to build effective communication campaigns that identify and respond to discriminatory messages and racist sentiments prevalent in public discourse. This report highlights seven key strategies for digital storytelling that is current practice as well as a five-part framework of emergent practice. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for the management of digital media programs and projects
Contents: Stephen Salyer: Preface - Paul Mihailidis: Introduction - News Literacy in the Dawn of a Hypermedia Age - Stuart Allan: Civic Voices: Social Media and Political Protest - Manuel Guerrero/Monica Luengas Restrepo: Media Literate... more
Contents: Stephen Salyer: Preface - Paul Mihailidis: Introduction - News Literacy in the Dawn of a Hypermedia Age - Stuart Allan: Civic Voices: Social Media and Political Protest - Manuel Guerrero/Monica Luengas Restrepo: Media Literate "Prodiences": Binding the Knot of News Content and Production for an Open Society - Stephen Reese: Global News Literacy: Challenges for the Educator - Raquel San Martin: Reaffirming the "Journalist" as Vital to 21st Century. Information Flow, Civic Dialog, and News Literacy - Constanza Mujica: Creating Shared Dialog through Case Study Exploration: The Global Media Literacy Learning Module - Moses Shumow/Sanjeev Chatterjee: The Role of Multimedia Storytelling in Teaching Global Journalism: A News Literacy Approach - Jad Melki: Incorporating In-Depth Research Methodologies and Digital Competencies with Media Literacy Pedagogies - George W. Lugalambi: Deepening Democracy through News Literacy: The African Experience - Susan Moeller: ...
Through a series of focus groups, this study explores how students, at the conclusion of a university-level media literacy course, see media’s necessary role in democratic society. It is a narrative inspired by the core belief of the... more
Through a series of focus groups, this study explores how students, at the conclusion of a university-level media literacy course, see media’s necessary role in democratic society. It is a narrative inspired by the core belief of the media literacy discipline that if people are effectively taught the critical skills to access, evaluate, analyze, and produce media1 they will better understand media’s roles and responsibilities in civic life. Initial findings show that while media literacy may indeed enable for critical analysis skills, it carries the potential to breed cynical outcomes if not taught in a holistic manner.
ABSTRACT This paper explores the structural constraints of contemporary approaches to media literacy in the face of increased partisanship, tribalism, and distrust. In the midst of a renewed call for media literacy initiatives that... more
ABSTRACT This paper explores the structural constraints of contemporary approaches to media literacy in the face of increased partisanship, tribalism, and distrust. In the midst of a renewed call for media literacy initiatives that respond to the increasing levels of distrust in both legacy and grassroots media, this paper argues that media literacy interventions must be re-imagined as intentionally civic. A new set of emerging norms of digital culture further put into question the relevance of long-standing approaches to media literacy pedagogy and practice. This essay puts forward a new set of constructs that position media literacy initiatives to ‘produce and reproduce the sense of being in the world with others toward common good’ (Gordon, E., and P. Mihailidis. 2016. “Introduction.” In Civic Media: Technology, Design, Practice, edited by E. Gordon and P. Mihailidis. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2). These constructs – agency, caring, critical consciousness, persistence, and emancipation – reframe media literacy as relevant to the social, political, and technological realities of contemporary life.
In the current hypermedia age, the borders of information are increasingly indistinguishable. There now exist few, if any, limits to how far, fast, and wide messages may travel. Across the globe--from the growth of community internet in... more
In the current hypermedia age, the borders of information are increasingly indistinguishable. There now exist few, if any, limits to how far, fast, and wide messages may travel. Across the globe--from the growth of community internet in rural Europe and the Middle East, (1) to the expansion of cell phone technology in India (2) and Africa, our media-saturated world is shrinking. At the same time, the convergence of media platforms has enabled access to information on a global scale. New media technologies have allowed for wide and unfettered consumption of information in many parts of the world. (3) Such progress has brought the world closer together. From recent public health scares, to the economic recession, and continuing efforts to combat climate change, we can no longer ignore the need to understand the role of information in defining issues globally. Beyond specific issues, the global expansion of media has allowed for new understandings of culture. Nations that are increasingly dependent on one another for economic, political, and social stability must, often cultivate public awareness of such relationships through media. This entails an understanding of cultures and communities far removed from physical and geographic familiarity. The current global media environment as a result, will continue to have significant effects on how individuals, societies, and nations view and interact with one another. Within this new landscape exists the opportunity for a new type of global citizenship: one that hinges on preparing future citizens for lives of inclusive and active participation in global dialogue. Writes UNESCO's Benito Opertti: The challenge is not just to provide criteria and instruments so the child or youth can critically face off to the media, but also to understand that the media contextualize and often determine the ways that people exercise their rights culturally, politically, economically, and socially. (4) What are the best practices for enabling new understanding of global culture through media? In the present, cultivating media literacy education for global audiences must embrace much needed educational responses to an increasingly borderless and open media environment. It is no longer an option to ignore the media's increasingly central role in framing identity. Media literacy can enable future generations to recognize both the power and potential of media to bridge cultural and ideological divides. DEVELOPING MEDIA LITERACY FOR GLOBAL AUDIENCES Media literacy, commonly defined in the United States as the ability to "access, evaluate, analyze, and produce all types of communication," (5) has been expanding worldwide. Across all levels of education, media literacy is increasingly seen as a core component in preparing the future public for active and engaged citizenship. While media literacy programs continue to grow within nations, few initiatives have collectively pursued curricular efforts that address media literacy on a global scale. Global media literacy, as developed in the context of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, not only seeks to enhance students' media analysis skills, but also their critical understanding of media's larger political, cultural, and ideological implications. (6) In this way, the Academy's approach to media literacy is based not on specific content, but rather on the application of content to specific cultural contexts. By shifting the focus from content to context, the dialogue initiated during the three-week program in Salzburg, Austria, approaches media from a cultural perspective. In a global setting finding common ways to discuss media is challenging because of its many diverse voices. The experiences of the Salzburg Academy have shown that attempting to analyze a specific message--whether about health, conflict, economy, or politics-- in a global context fails if it is not understood first in terms of where it originated, who created it, in what context it was created, and what values are associated with the message. …
This essay articulates a model for media literacies that embrace a more robust civic infrastructure and intentionality. This model responds to a digital culture that prioritizes the extraction of data, algorithmic ambivalence, and... more
This essay articulates a model for media literacies that embrace a more robust civic infrastructure and intentionality. This model responds to a digital culture that prioritizes the extraction of data, algorithmic ambivalence, and spectacle as a form of normative information distribution. It is against this backdrop that media literacies must prioritize their civic intentions, and the values that support them. To support this argument, this paper introduces a civic media literacy toolkit, Civic IDEA, designed to explicitly move learners from knowledge to action. Civic IDEA envisions a media literacy process that scales knowledge into action, and that focuses on using digital technologies for building voice and agency in a participatory capacity. IDEA stands for
Inquiry, Deliberation, Expression and Advocacy. Each module in this framework is supported by a set of value constructs that support what Peter Levine calls civic renewal, deliberate civic action taking by communities that supports media practices that reform community structures for inclusion, equity, and meaningful engagment in daily life.
This paper explores the structural constraints of contemporary approaches to media literacy in the face of increased partisanship, tribalism, and distrust. In the midst of a renewed call for media literacy initiatives that respond to the... more
This paper explores the structural constraints of contemporary approaches to media literacy in the face of increased partisanship, tribalism, and distrust. In the midst of a renewed call for media literacy initiatives that respond to the increasing levels of distrust in both legacy and grassroots media, this paper argues that media literacy interventions must be re-imagined as intentionally civic. A new set of emerging norms of digital culture further put into question the relevance of long-standing approaches to media literacy pedagogy and practice. This essay puts
forward a new set of constructs that position media literacy initiatives to ‘produce and reproduce the sense of being in the world with others toward common good." These constructs –agency, caring, critical consciousness, persistence, and emancipation–reframe media literacy as relevant to the social, political, and technological realities of contemporary life.
This article explores the phenomenon of spectacle in the lead up and immediate aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Through the spread of misinformation, the appropriation of cultural iconography, and the willing engagement... more
This article explores the phenomenon of spectacle in the lead up and immediate aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Through the spread of misinformation, the appropriation of cultural iconography, and the willing engagement of mainstream media to perpetuate partisan and polarizing information, the proliferation of populist rhetoric, polarizing views, and vitriolic opinions spread. Revisiting the world of critical theorist Guy Debord, this article argues that the proliferation of citizen-drive spectacle is unique in its origination and perpetuation, and a direct result of an increasingly polarized and distrustful public spending an increasing amount of time in homophilous networks where contrarian views are few and far between. We apply the frame of spreadable media to explore how citizen expression online initiated, sustained, and expanded the media spectacle that pervaded the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The conclusion of this work argues that media literacies, as a popular response mechanism to help cultivate more critical consumers of media, must be repositioned to respond to an era of partisanship and distrust. We present a set of considerations for repositioning the literacies to focus on critique and creation of media in support of a common good, and that can respond meaningfully in an era of spreadability, connectivity, and spectacle.
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[Excerpted from paper] In this paper, we argue that the usability of knowledge is the most compelling metric through which to assess the value of liberal learning in the modern university. The distinction between usability and usefulness... more
[Excerpted from paper]
In this paper, we argue that the usability of knowledge is the most compelling metric through which to assess the value of liberal learning in the modern university. The distinction between usability and usefulness is one of framing, rather than content. The direct application of knowledge is still emphasized, just not predominantly tied to specific career goals; knowledge may have instrumental value, but it is presented in an expressive context; the efficient retention of facts is important, but understanding how facts get interpreted and put into practice is more important; and the individual learner matters, but, as John Dewey has argued, the process of learning is always social, and the value of knowledge is its being put into practice in the social world.

Usability, regardless of discipline, is a productive way of applying the value of liberal learning. It suggests that the learner, through practice, is comfortable with the application of knowledge in a range of contexts. Usability, we argue, is the pedagogical framing of what Danielle Allen and Jennifer Light understand as the pathway from voice to influence.5 They, along with the contributors to their collected volume by the same name, focus on the civic relationships that cultivate citizenship. In order to move beyond the legal connotations of citizenship, they use the term “civic agency.” They are interested in the informal and often participatory mechanisms in which young people pursue political efficacy, regardless of legal status. While they don’t explicitly refer to higher education, their framework productively resists the notion of “good citizenship” that has long been at the core of liberal learning. We see usability as the way to discuss this path from voice to influence within higher education. It expands the focus from a range of educational outcomes, such as knowledge of great books and employability, to educational practice. The purpose of usability is to empower young people to apply knowledge and skills to the social, cultural, and political problems their communities face.

In order to make this more concrete, we provide examples from our own teaching and research at Emerson College and suggest that the lessons are reproducible and transferable. For the last several years, we have been working in a field of study and practice called “civic media.” In our 2016 book by the same name, we define civic media as “the technologies, designs, and practices that produce and reproduce the sense of being in the world with others toward common good.”6 On one hand, civic media implies all the deliberate uses of digital tools and practices that foster social change or civic cohesion. And on the other hand, it represents the range of mediated practices through which knowledge is usable for social action.
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Despite the increased role of digital curation tools and platforms in the daily life of social network users, little research has focused on the competencies and dispositions that young people develop to effectively curate content online.... more
Despite the increased role of digital curation tools and platforms in the daily life of social network users, little research has focused on the competencies and dispositions that young people develop to effectively curate content online. This paper details the results of a mixed method study exploring the curation competencies of young people in digital culture. Forty-seven college students from two institutions in the northeastern United States used the social curation platform Storify to curate essays on the topic of income inequality. Their curated stories were coded to explore for narrative development, consistency, sourcing, analysis, and content type. Regression models were used to assess clarity and balance of the curated stories, and a detailed questionnaire explored dispositions towards curation as a relevant and effective mode for engagement in digital culture. The paper argues that curation can enhance core media analysis and storytelling skills, and an understanding about the role of peer-to-peer platforms and collaborative spaces in digital culture. The results advocate the utilization of student-and creation-driven pedagogies that embrace curation as core digital and media literacy competencies for young people in daily life.
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This essay argues for critical media literacy as a precursor for civic action in digital culture.
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This essay argues for media education as a core tool for civic education and civic participation in digital culture.
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The increasing global ubiquity of mobile phones has called into question their efficacy as dynamic tools for engagement and participation in daily life. While there is little argument in their growth as primary communication tools,... more
The increasing global ubiquity of mobile phones has called into question their efficacy as dynamic tools for engagement and participation in daily life. While there is little argument in their growth as primary communication tools, scholars have actively debated their role as conduits for dynamic and diverse, information flow. This study explores how an international cohort of university students uses mobile phones for daily communication and information needs. In spring 2012, 793 students from 8 universities on 3 continents participated in a 24-hour mobile tracking exercise and reflection to answer the questions: How are college students using mobile phones for daily communication and information needs? and, how do college students perceive of the role of mobile phones for communication and information needs in their daily lives? The findings point to a population tethered to their mobile devices primarily through social networking apps, to the extent that they find it increasingly difficult to distinguish relationships that exist in their pockets from those that exist in their physical surroundings. While the participants acknowledged the diverse and participatory capacity of mobile devices, their dependence on the phone for connecting to peers left them skeptical of the phone’s efficacy for productive connectivity, vibrant communication, and diverse information consumption in daily life. The study concludes with suggestions for more inclusive and active engagement in the dynamic potential of phones that are not necessitated by a response to large-scale political or civil injustices
The emergence of social media tools and technologies to facilitate daily information and communication needs has called into question the relationship between these new spaces and traditional formulations of engagement in daily life.... more
The emergence of social media tools and technologies to facilitate daily information and communication needs has called into question the relationship between these new spaces and traditional formulations of engagement in daily life. Recent scholarship has exposed both the newfound connectivity that social networks provide, and at the same time questioned the value of these spaces for meaningful participation in social and civic life. This study attempts to provide an insight into the perceptions of young adults toward their social media habits and dispositions. In the 2010/2011 academic year, a survey was administered to over 800 university students, asking about their social media habits across six categories: news, politics, privacy, leisure, education, and relationships. Additionally, focus groups conducted with 71 study participants explored how students saw the role of social media in their personal and civic lives. The results show a population that increasingly uses social media spaces and for all information and communication needs, but that conceptualizes these platforms as primarily social outlets. The emerging disconnects located in the survey and focus group exploration recommends further inquiry into how social media can be positioned as an inclusive tool for engagement in daily life.
This article highlights the birth, development, and growth of a dynamic educational program promoting global media literacy. The Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, a pro- gram born in summer 2007, annually gathers 50 students... more
This article highlights the birth, development, and growth of a dynamic educational program promoting global media literacy. The Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, a pro- gram born in summer 2007, annually gathers 50 students and a dozen faculty for three weeks to create educational and multimedia products around media literacy, global citizenship, and freedom of expression. With more than 200 student and 30 faculty alumni from 25 countries, the Salzburg Academy has created a curriculum that has been downloaded in more than 100 countries worldwide, and has enabled new forms of dialog across borders, across cultures, and across divides. Now in its fifth year, the program stands to benefit the future information societies by offering re- sources to help maintain active and participatory journalists
and citizens of the digital age.
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Youth today live integrated lifestyles. Not only must they negotiate personal and public identities online, but they also must navigate information types now incorporated into single web platforms. As a result, there is an increasing need... more
Youth today live integrated lifestyles. Not only must they negotiate personal and public identities online, but they also must navigate information types now incorporated into single web platforms. As a result, there is an increasing need to understand how youth today see social platforms as serving personal, public, and civic needs. This paper utilizes a survey (n=279) and focus groups sessions (n= 71) to explore student dispositions towards Facebook, specifically exploring its perceived value for information gathering, community interaction, relationship maintenance, and civic dialog. The results show a population that increasingly uses social media platforms for all information habits, but who see them as inherently social. Students also reported little to no formal training or education about social media and its role in their lives. The paper concludes by proposing a more purpose driven approach to teaching and learning about social networks as vibrant civic spaces in addition to the social and personal outlets they provide.
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This paper explores how a global cohort of young people from around the world understands the role of media in cultural representations in global culture. Specifically, the study asked 65 young people, aged 18-25, from twenty-two... more
This paper explores how a global cohort of young people from around the world understands the role of media in cultural representations in global culture. Specifically, the study asked 65 young people, aged 18-25, from twenty-two countries, enrolled in a global media literacy summary program, to answer an open-ended questionnaire that investigates media assessment dispositions and media’s role in cultural representation. The results reveal an emerging disconnect in media literacy’s empowerment narrative for global culture. Students in the media literacy program displayed strong confidence in their own media assessment competencies and dispositions, while at the same time using that confidence to detach their responsibility and participation in media representations of their cultures. They claimed to have little faith in media’s ability to deliver diverse and accurate content across cultures and borders, blaming media for many of the misinterpretations, stereotypes, and misunderstandings that they perceived to be perpetuated in society today. The results of this study suggest a focus on media literacy empowerment narratives must have at their onset personal relevance and meaning for participants before extrapolating to critical explorations of global media texts.
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This essay details the results of fifty-four open-ended interview questionnaires with university-level communication students from eleven countries, exploring the opportunities and challenges for journalism and news in participatory... more
This essay details the results of fifty-four open-ended interview questionnaires with university-level communication students from eleven countries, exploring the opportunities and challenges for journalism and news in participatory democracy. The study participants were enrolled in a three-week summer global media literacy program, at the end of which they were asked to complete an open-ended survey questionnaire, asking about the role digital media technologies and social media platforms have on journalism and its role in a participatory democracy. Results highlight a general negativity toward the growing influence of new media technologies in journalism with regard to objectivity, autonomy, balance, and depth, juxtaposed with the embrace of the same technologies in contributing to greater citizen participation, voice, and inclusion in journalism and news flow. This divide raises questions around the relationship between journalism, journalism education, and technology in the context of participatory citizenship. The study concludes by recommending a more integrative model for journalism education than presently followed that addresses the disjuncture evidenced in this study between professional notions of journalism and participatory citizenship in the digital age.
The ubiquitous media landscape today is reshaping what it means to be an engaged citizen. Normative metrics for engagement—voting, attending town meetings, participation in civic groups—are eroding in the context of online advocacy,... more
The ubiquitous media landscape today is reshaping what it means to be an engaged citizen. Normative metrics for engagement—voting, attending town meetings, participation in civic groups—are eroding in the context of online advocacy, social protest, “liking,” sharing, and remixing. These new avenues for engagement offer vast opportunities for new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning about political engagement in the context of new media platforms and technologies. This article explores digital media literacy as a core competency for engaged citizenship in participatory democracy. It combines new models of engaged and citizenship and participatory politics with frameworks for digital and media literacy education, to develop a framework for media literacy as a core political competency for active, engaged, and participatory citizenship.
In today's hypermedia landscape, youth and young adults are increasingly using social media platforms, online aggregators and mobile applications for daily information use. Communication educators, armed with a host of free, easy-to-use... more
In today's hypermedia landscape, youth and young adults are increasingly using social media platforms, online aggregators and mobile applications for daily information use. Communication educators, armed with a host of free, easy-to-use online tools, have the ability to create dynamic approaches to teaching and learning about information and communication flow online. In this paper we explore the concept of curation as a student- and creation-driven pedagogical tool to enhance digital and media literacy education. We present a theoretical justification for curation and present six key ways that curation can be used to teach about critical thinking, analysis and expression online. We utilize a case study of the digital curation platform Storify to explore how curation works in the classroom, and present a framework that integrates curation pedagogy into core media literacy education learning outcomes.
Mobile technologies and social media platforms are reshaping how we think about community in the 21st Century. Today, youth are sharing content, opinions and ideas multiple times per day, every day, all day. Digital media have created... more
Mobile technologies and social media platforms are reshaping how we think about community in the 21st Century. Today, youth are sharing content, opinions and ideas multiple times per day, every day, all day. Digital media have created opportunities to engage around common ideas, shared interests and civic goals. This paper explores how a global group of university students understands community in the digital age. It asks how students see the role that media education plays in community and civic engagement.
This article explores what media literacy courses actually teach students. Do students become more knowledgeable consumers of media messages? Do students, armed with that knowledge, become more engaged citizens? A large multi- year study... more
This article explores what media literacy courses actually teach students. Do students become more knowledgeable consumers of media messages? Do students, armed with that knowledge, become more engaged citizens? A large multi- year study utilizing a sample of 239 University of Maryland undergraduates in a pre-post/control “quasi-experiment” found that the students enrolled in a media literacy course increased their ability to comprehend, evaluate, and analyze media messages in print, video, and audio formats. Based on the positive empirical findings, focus group sessions were conducted within the experimental group and the control group. When the discussions concerned media relevance and credibility, the students from the media literacy class expressed considerable negativity about media’s role in society. Preliminarily, these findings suggest that media literacy curricula and readings that are solely or primarily focused on teaching critical analysis skills are an essential first step in teaching media literacy but that the curriculum should not end there. The paper concludes by recommending a way forward for postsecondary media literacy education—one that aims to connect media lit- eracy skills and outcomes that promote active citizenship.
This article explores how participatory online tools can enable media literacy learning outcomes premised on production, participation, and collaboration. In Spring 2009, 218 students enrolled in media literacy courses at Hofstra... more
This article explores how participatory online tools can enable media literacy learning outcomes premised on production, participation, and collaboration. In Spring 2009, 218 students enrolled in media literacy courses at Hofstra University and the University of Maryland remixed news from major news networks around the world using LinkTV’s (n.d.) Know the News remix tool. The participants were then asked to complete a series of questionnaires detailing their experiences with remix, media literacy, and learning about bias, perspective, and ethics in news. The study investigated how the remixing process influences new understandings of bias, perspective, and ethics in the context of digital technologies and participatory web tools. The results of this study show that by allowing students to actively remix and (re)create their own media scripts, they were able to better grasp the storytelling process and its limitations. These outcomes recommend that students in P–12 education may better utilize new media technologies if they embrace active educational strategies throughout their educational experiences. Teachers armed with firsthand experience of such tools will be better prepare to enable participation, engagement, and creativity with their students in the 21st century.
re We Speaking the Same Language? Assessing the State of Media Literacy in U.S. Higher Education surveys the reported existence of media literacy education in U.S. universities. Looking at two national surveys that investigated the... more
re We Speaking the Same Language? Assessing the State of Media Literacy in U.S. Higher Education
surveys the reported existence of media literacy education in U.S. universities. Looking at two national surveys that investigated the existence of media literacy programs and/or courses in the academy, this paper shows how the term has been conceived in many different ways and across all academic depart- ments. This has resulted in wide and varied adoptions of media literacy in U.S. higher education which, the paper argues, has caused vague and somewhat disparate understandings of what media literacy edu- cation is and how it functions in a university classroom. The paper concludes by asking three questions about post-secondary media literacy education: Should media literacy develop definitional parameters for the university? What differentiates media literacy from other media-related disciplines? What should media literacy look like in the university? and offers suggestions for future inquiry into post-secondary media literacy education that can enable dialog around media literacy frameworks for higher education.
This essay details the results of fifty-four open-ended interview questionnaires with university-level communication students from eleven countries, exploring the opportunities and challenges for journalism and news in participatory... more
This essay details the results of fifty-four open-ended interview questionnaires with university-level communication students from eleven countries, exploring the opportunities and challenges for journalism and news in participatory democracy. The study participants were enrolled in a three-week summer global media literacy program, at the end of which they were asked to complete an open-ended survey questionnaire, asking about the role digital media technologies and social media platforms have on journalism and its role in a participatory democracy. Results highlight a general negativity toward the growing influence of new media technologies in journalism with regard to objectivity, autonomy, balance, and depth, juxtaposed with the embrace of the same technologies in contributing to greater citizen participation, voice, and inclusion in journalism and news flow. This divide raises questions around the relationship between journalism, journalism education, and technology in the context of participatory citizenship. The study concludes by recommending a more integrative model for journalism education than presently followed, that addresses the disjuncture evidenced in this study between professional notions of journalism and participatory citizenship in the digital age.
The Center for International MediaAssistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy commissioned a series of studies on media literacy worldwide, focusing on citizen journalists,the general public, and youth. This studyhighlights... more
The Center for International MediaAssistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy commissioned a series of studies on media literacy worldwide, focusing on citizen journalists,the general public, and youth. This studyhighlights the role of media literacyinitiatives for youth and young adults ona global scale. The aim is to shed light onhow support for media literacy educationcan enable more effective responses to thechallenges of educating youth about the roleof media in democratic societies.Media literacy is growing globally. At alllevels of education, initiatives in medialiteracy are premised on teaching youth andyoung adults to consume media critically— from how media shape political messages tothe increasing pervasiveness of advertising.Few would argue with the need to offer youth effective educational platforms to helpthem understand the role of information inan increasingly hyper media age.The successful implementation of such platforms, however, depends on manyvariables. Governments must have the proper infrastructure and expertise toenable successful media literacy educationinitiatives for youth. Educators must haveadequate training to teach media literacy.Schools must have the resources to engagestudents with media on a personal level. Andeducational bodies must have a framework from which they can produce positiveoutcomes in media literacy learning inclassroom settings.

These challenges are not small. Withmedia growing and converging at ever-quickening rates, civil societies and civicdialogue are being influenced by mediain new and unforeseen ways. Supportingmedia literacy education for youth can help prepare children and young adults for livesof active inquiry around media and for a better understanding of the ties betweeninformation, community, and democracy.Government agencies, NGOs, foundations,and private developers looking to supportcivic and democratic endeavors in thedeveloping world should be made awareof media literacy as a key educationalcomponent for developing stable democraticdiscourse. This report explores support anddevelopment of media literacy educationand curriculum initiatives for youth in thedeveloping world. It has two aims:
1. To describe existing media literacy education programming for youth and young adults and support for it;
2. To highlight for policymakers theessential need for media literacyeducation for youth and young adultsas the next generation of citizens
School libraries today feel increasing pressure to reinvent themselves in the face of increasing financial pressures, new media technologies, and a progressively media-savvy population. Their transformation from information reserve to... more
School libraries today feel increasing pressure to reinvent themselves in the face of increasing financial pressures, new media technologies, and a progressively media-savvy population. Their transformation from information reserve to knowledge center has been fast underway. This paper builds on that evolution to develop an argument for media literacy education as the pedagogical foundation for the learning commons model for school libraries. This would position the school library as a dynamic media literacy learning hub, anchoring entire schools around knowledge, expression, collaboration, and creation in both virtual and physical spaces. The paper will highlight the case of Chelmsford High School Learning Commons in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, as a vibrant central space in a school for just this type of integrated learning.
Media literacy, while growing considerably during the past three decades, remains on the margins of educational establishments in the United States. Its interdisciplinary nature and broad defini- tion have caused some confusion as to how... more
Media literacy, while growing considerably during the past three decades, remains on the margins of educational establishments in the United States. Its interdisciplinary nature and broad defini- tion have caused some confusion as to how best it can be utilized in school systems. At the same time, the school library has had to reinvent itself rapidly for a digital media age. Reconceived as a “learning commons,” the school library of the twenty-first century is no longer seen as simply a repository for information, but as a center for knowledge. This article will outline a framework for the media literacy learning commons designed to help students navigate information in a digital age. The school library, repo- sitioned in this way, can excel as a place where students are free to express, explore, and empower themselves to become more active and engaged participants in their daily lives.
Exploratory studies were conducted in the United States and Sweden, in the spring and autumn of 2004, inquiring into how faculty in journalism/mass communication programs acknowledged and conceptualized media literacy both as a teaching... more
Exploratory studies were conducted in the United States and Sweden, in the spring and autumn of 2004, inquiring into how faculty in journalism/mass communication programs acknowledged and conceptualized media literacy both as a teaching tool and educational concept. The Swedish participants’ feedback was markedly different from U.S. academics’ in terms of acknowledgement and conceptualization of media literacy. Conclusions drawn may help clarify media literacy’s intentions as a both a curricular benefit and new teaching tool for programs of journalism/mass communication/media in the United States. Comparisons also provide a base for future rigid exploration into this topic.
Through a series of focus groups, this study explores how students, at the conclusion of a university-level media literacy course, see media’s necessary role in democratic society. It is a narrative inspired by the core belief of the... more
Through a series of focus groups, this study explores how students, at the conclusion of a university-level media literacy course, see media’s necessary role in democratic society. It is a narrative inspired by the core belief of the media literacy discipline—that if people are effectively taught the critical skills to access, evaluate, analyze, and produce media —they will better understand media’s roles and responsibilities in civic life. Initial findings show that while media literacy may indeed enable for critical analysis skills, it carries the potential to breed cynical outcomes if not taught in a holistic manner
The digitally marginalised communities are in focus in the EU-funded Rural Wings project 2006-2008. The aim is to identify and analyze the user learning needs in non-connected communities and to meet these needs by providing satellite... more
The digitally marginalised communities are in focus in the EU-funded Rural Wings project 2006-2008. The aim is to identify and analyze the user learning needs in non-connected communities and to meet these needs by providing satellite internet broad band connections, education and tools. This paper reports the findings of the user needs investigation of 31 communities in 10 countries in the initial phase of the project designed and coordinated by Stockholm University, Sweden. Each national coordinator conducted a user needs study in their country using a common framework of questions and guidelines. The sites were selected according to national and regional needs and where satellite provided Internet is believed to be the long term solution. The 31 communities selected can be summarized in a) Mainland/Lowland communities, 10 b) Mainland/Highland communities, 12 c) Island/Lowland communities, 5, and d) Island/Highland communities, 4. The analysis reveals common threads of lack of infrastructure, accessibility and reliability concerning information and communication technology (ICT) implementation and containment in the community. There is a plethora of reasons for wanting more reliable and frequent Internet connections. Reasons range from educational opportunities, language opportunities, governmental inclusion, information/news outlets, and medical and weather initiative capabilities. This study provides in depth macro-summaries of each participating country’s user needs analysis in total. It also includes the actual analysis of each test site based on over 31 sites spanning 10 European nations. In addition, generalizations, comparisons and differences have been composed, to provide a framework for European trends in rural ICT access
Abstract: Media literacy education in the US entails student-centered learning that enables individuals to be critical and analytical inquirers of knowledge and skills. In this way, media literacy is not a content based teacher... more
Abstract: Media literacy education in the US entails student-centered learning that enables individuals to be critical and analytical inquirers of knowledge and skills. In this way, media literacy is not a content based teacher disseminated form of learning. Teacher/Student ...

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This chapter engages with debates in news and media literacy to ask whether, rather than focusing on concerns and looking for solutions, it is time to consider journalism education’s civic mission. Journalism education has often operated... more
This chapter engages with debates in news and media literacy to ask whether, rather than focusing on concerns and looking for solutions, it is time to consider journalism education’s civic mission. Journalism education has often operated in the tense space of training practitioners to report and tell stories in the context of an industry that is continually disrupting and being disrupted. Increasing distrust in civic institutions and authorities, including journalism, combined with unregulated digital platforms and social networks, has sparked a landscape for journalism that makes it impossible to fulfill its civic purpose. i Journalism’s capacity to help citizens to take action and participate meaningfully in their communities is impeded by practices and principles that emerged in a different cultural context and are now being weaponised against its very mission. This chapter argues for journalism education to embrace civic intentionality: through the explicit focus on transformative media pedagogies and prioritising meaningful engagement that emerges from the intersection of the personal and the public, the critical and the creative, the concept and the application. Our chapter will highlight this pedagogical approach in action, through the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, a global project that applies transformative media pedagogies to a diverse cohort of aspiring journalists and storytellers from around the world. Through describing the Salzburg Academy model, this chapter will highlight both the processes and practices that place civic intentionality and transformation at the centre of a journalism education process
In this chapter, we advocate for media literacy initiatives, at all levels of formal and informal learning, revisit and re-prioritize their civic responsibility. Media literacy is increasingly being called upon to respond to the... more
In this chapter, we advocate for media literacy initiatives, at all levels of formal and informal learning, revisit and re-prioritize their civic responsibility. Media literacy is increasingly being called upon to respond to the heightened role of platforms and digital infrastructures on the fracturing of societies and erosion of trust. A focus on teaching skills and competencies alone, we argue, runs the risk of exacerbating social fragmentation and the erosion of trust. To develop our argument, we place emphasis within the context of an American culture enveloped in neoliberal realities, where giant tech companies and platforms are driven by the pursuit of market gain and revenue accrual over that of civic responsibility. We then reintroduce the work of three seminal scholars that emerged from the activist pedagogy tradition: bell hooks, W.E.B. DuBois, and Paolo Freire. While these three scholars are well known to the media literacy field and often evoked as thinkers that helped set a foundation for media literacy interventions, we place them together to show how we may consider refocusing the design and deployment of media literacy initiatives to have an explicit civic standpoint. Our intention is to start a robust conversation about the civic identity of media literacy, and to draw from the radical tradition to question the assumptions of media literacy initiatives that focus on skills and competencies over liberation, transgression, and critical consciousness.
Media Literacy, as a space of practice and field of research, is concerned with how people critically consume and produce media in all forms. General definitions incorporate the abilities to access, evaluate, analyze, reflect, and create... more
Media Literacy, as a space of practice and field of research, is concerned with how people critically consume and produce media in all forms. General definitions incorporate the abilities to access, evaluate, analyze, reflect, and create media across platforms, modalities and content areas. Media literacy interventions range from formal learning environments to communities and organizations. As an umbrella concept, media literacy incorporates sub-literacies that focus the core competencies of media literacy onto specific media practices. Common sub-literacies include digital literacy, data literacy, health literacy, information literacy, civic literacy and news literacy. Media literacy research and practice has long been concerned with journalism and news. These specific information environments are tied directly to democracy, and as such media literacy concerns itself with nurturing more civic-oriented participants in democracy. Journalistic practices are increasingly situated in online spaces, and influenced by social networks, algorithms and other digital technologies. As a result, how people engage with news and understand journalism practices are more central to the practices of media literacy. This entry introduces the main definitions and approaches to media literacy practice. It follows by exploring major debates in media literacy, followed by constraints and new directions for media literacy practice and research.
A Field Guide for Equitable Futures. To support these needs of educators working to build media literacy practices into their learning environments, our team created an empirically grounded resource that teachers can use to strengthen... more
A Field Guide for Equitable Futures. To support these needs of educators working to build media literacy practices into their learning environments, our team created an empirically grounded resource that teachers can use to strengthen their curriculum with equitable media literacy practices. The field guide challenges educators and students to think about language and writing to promote critical thinking about media texts and their impacts on individuals, communities, and democracies. TheField Guide to Equitable Media Literacy Practice is divided into five areas of exploration: where I stand, who cares, imagining inclusive futures, working with communities, and where we stand. (The interactive version of the field guide and the detailed project report are available at our site: www.mappingimpactfulml.org)
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only taken a toll on human life and burdened the capacity of public health systems around the world, it has also exacerbated existing challenges associated with misinformation and disinformation. In 2021, The... more
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only taken a toll on human life and burdened the capacity of public health systems around the world, it has also exacerbated existing challenges associated with misinformation and disinformation. In 2021, The World Health Organization evoked the term “infodemic,” that is, “too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak” (WHO, n.d., Para 1). Its use helped to articulate the difficulties they faced in their efforts to share public information and support the work of public institutions responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. An infodemic, they write, can cause “confusion and risk-taking behaviours that can harm health. It also leads to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response” (WHO, n.d., Para 1).This chapter explores the trends leading to increasing calls for news literacy, asking: what types of responses should we consider for news literacy movements to meet their aspirational goals of supporting a more critical, engaged public? The evolution of news gathering and dissemination practices in response to fast and disruptive technological innovations will not slow down in the near future. In this environment, the ways in which we prepare publics for critical engagement with news will dictate both the health of news and civic ecosystems around the world.
n 2021, the term infodemic was coined to describe the state of misinformation about health and science that has the potential to undermine public health initiatives and endanger lives. The current infodemic, this essays argues, emerges in... more
n 2021, the term infodemic was coined to describe the state of misinformation about health and science that has the potential to undermine public health initiatives and endanger lives. The current infodemic, this essays argues, emerges in a digital culture that exacerbates three phenomena: distributed propaganda, the hollowing of local media ecosystems, and rampant media cynicism. This chapter uses these phenomena to introduce the concept of “civic distance.” Civic distance here reflects the increasing space between our media lives and the human interactions necessary for meaningful engagement in civic life. The comparison to the automobile is made to reinforce the impacts of “distance” on how we interact with others.
This essay discusses the emergence of fake news in an age of platforms and digital capitalism. Fake news is contextualized as a term weaponized for political purposes, and employed in a digital culture that prioritizes spectacle, distrust... more
This essay discusses the emergence of fake news in an age of platforms and digital capitalism. Fake news is contextualized as a term weaponized for political purposes, and employed in a digital culture that prioritizes spectacle, distrust and the continued engagement of users. In this context, responses to this phenomenon include calls for regulation and media and news literacies that equip people with skills to identify and respond to false information. This essays argues that such responses, while a meaningful first step, are alone not enough to combat the current phenomenon. Efforts to combat the weaponization of fake news must also focus on the values that support meaningful dialog, human connection, and the information that supports vibrate community interaction.
Action taking in daily life has long been associated with media literacy practices and pedagogies. Traditionally, media literacy facilitations focused on media production as the core pursuit of civic activism. In contemporary digital... more
Action taking in daily life has long been associated with media literacy practices and pedagogies. Traditionally, media literacy facilitations focused on media production as the core pursuit of civic activism. In contemporary digital culture, civic activism has been more intentionally prioritized in media literacy scholarship and practice. Activism is closely related to concepts around voice, agency and participation. New modes of engagement with and through technologies have opened avenues for acting in public as a core part of the media literacy process. At the same time, they call to question how we define activism and what media literacy experiences include in their articulation of action taking in civic life.
In contemporary digital culture, media literacies increasingly take on a civic focus. This focus responds to a media environment that is complex, abundant, and defined by algorithms and platforms. Civic media literacies refocused the... more
In contemporary digital culture, media literacies increasingly take on a civic focus. This focus responds to a media environment that is complex, abundant, and defined by algorithms and platforms. Civic media literacies refocused the purpose of media literacy pedagogy and practice from skill-oriented to value-oriented. Civic media literacy practices and processes are framed by constructs of care, critical consciousness, imagination, persistence and emancipation. These value-based constructs focus media literacy skills on outcomes that prioritize civic renewal: placing power in the hands of citizens in digital culture.
Media literacies positioned as mechanisms for caring emerge from the work of education scholar Nel Noddings, who developed a feminist perspective on care where humans care and are cared for in a relational context, centered on their... more
Media literacies positioned as mechanisms for caring emerge from the work of education scholar Nel Noddings, who developed a feminist perspective on care where humans care and are cared for in a relational context, centered on their ability to co-exist. Here we aim to connect the work of caring ethics to media literacy. Media literacy practice framed by caring ethics focuses on media inquiry and application to support “a state of being in relation, characterized by receptivity, relatedness and engrossment” (Noddings, 1984, p. 112). In their support of agency and self-fulfilment, literacies of caring rely on dispositions that advance critical consciousness (Freire, 1973). In capacities for community-building, literacies of caring resemble attitudes of collaboration, investment, and advocacy in social and civic life. Media literacies often assume that learners come to a space of caring through the media inquiry process. But caring is not emphasized or even located in media literacy pedagogy or practice. We argue here that a caring ethic can position media literacy as a means of bringing learners together through what Gordon
and Mugar (forthcoming) call “caring practice.” By exploring caring ethics, critical consciousness, and action taking, we will put forward an argument for media literacies that bring people together to support collective efficacy and action taking.
This chapter explores the role of pedagogy in preparing young people for active and inclusive participation in civic life. It argues for a need to insert more explicit attention to civic voice—the dispositions and modalities of expression... more
This chapter explores the role of pedagogy in preparing young people for active and inclusive participation in civic life. It argues for a need to insert more explicit attention to civic voice—the dispositions and modalities of expression that young people use to participation in daily civic life—In media and digital literacy pedagogies that can support both formal and informal spaces of learning. Exploring examples and theories that support media literacies and connected learning reinforce the need to centralize participatory culture in teaching and learning about media’s role in civic life. Young people are using media for information and knowledge transfer, but also as tools for advocacy, participation, and engagement in daily life.  Adults should acknowledge these uses accordingly and integrate them into the core of a civics education.
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This chapter focuses on the concept of curation as a student- and creation-driven pedagogical tool to enhance digital and media literacy education. Specifically, it will unpack the phenomenon of curation as a pedagogical model for... more
This chapter focuses on the concept of curation as a student- and creation-driven pedagogical tool to enhance digital and media literacy education. Specifically, it will unpack the phenomenon of curation as a pedagogical model for enhancing civic engagement, community, and purpose within social media platforms. Online curation—an increasingly common way to refer to the act of organizing various content into cohesive online stories—has taken numerous forms in recent years. Media organizations are increasingly integrating such tools into their web presence, most recently seen by the New York Times, NPR and the Washington Post utilizing Storify curation software for multimedia stories; and Al Jazeera, CNN and others integrating Twitter into their regular online programming. Curation is also being explored through remix—the sharing, repurposing, or re-appropriating of content online—as a function of creative commons and copyright (Lessig, 2008 Benkler, 2007), and in terms of cultural production and social structure (Cheliotis & Yew, 2009; Dybwad, 2005; Diakopoulos, 2008).
Research Interests:
The emerging hypermedia landscape is reshaping how we think about citizenship, community, and participation today. Youth are sharing content and expressing opinions multiple times per day, every day, all day. Largely facilitated by social... more
The emerging hypermedia landscape is reshaping how we think about citizenship, community, and participation today. Youth are sharing content and expressing opinions multiple times per day, every day, all day. Largely facilitated by social media platforms and mobile technologies, an emerging participatory culture has fostered opportunities for communities to engage in active dialog and collaborative inquiry around common initiatives, shared interests and civic pursuits. In Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky writes of the potential for such new dynamics: “…when we use a network, the most important asset we get is access to one another. We want to be connected to one another, a desire that the social surrogate of television deflects, but one that our use of social media actually engages” (14).

This chapter will explore theoretical foundations of mediated communities, and use a media literacy framework to argue for empowered civic voices in 21st Century society. Media literacy, as both an educational and civic movement, promotes build individual agency—the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce effective personal and public communication—and social agency—to actively participate in civil society on local, national and global levels. Through this lens, this chapter will provide a framework with which readers can use as they explore in subsequent chapters the global case studies that show increased civic involvement through social media platforms and mobile technologies.
Research Interests:
This chapter focuses on the concept of curation as a student-centered pedagogical tool to enhance digital and media literacy education. Specifically, it will reimagine curation as a pedagogical model for enhancing engagement, community,... more
This chapter focuses on the concept of curation as a student-centered pedagogical tool to enhance digital and media literacy education. Specifically, it will reimagine curation as a pedagogical model for enhancing engagement, community, and purpose within social media platforms. Online curation—an increasingly common way to refer to the act of organizing various content into cohesive online stories—has taken numerous forms in recent years. Curation is also being explored through remix—the sharing, repurposing, or re-appropriating of content online—as a function of creative commons and copyright (Lessig, 2008; Benkler, 2005), and in terms of cultural production and social structure (Cheliotis & Yew, 2009; Dybwad, 2005; Diakopoulos, 2008).
This chapter will conclude by presenting a scaffolding approach to curation pedagogy that adds to existing models for digital and media education and remix culture (Mihailidis, 2011). It will develop curation as a foundational media education competency to teach students about responsibility, purpose, and participation in social media spaces.
The recent influx of migrants and refugees into mainland Europe has resulted in a rising tide of nationalism and a populist backlash throughout the West. This increase in migrating populations has highlighted tensions in how citizens of... more
The recent influx of migrants and refugees into mainland Europe has resulted in a rising tide of nationalism and a populist backlash throughout the West. This increase in migrating populations has highlighted tensions in how citizens of the West view their borders, their politicians, and their civic identities when faced with the arrival of those with little support and few resources for transitioning into a new culture.
Research Interests:
In the wake of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, a renewed interest in media literacy has emerged, centered specifically around the phenomenon of “fake news.” While the term “fake news” is being increasingly contested, it has framed... more
In the wake of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, a renewed interest in media literacy has emerged, centered specifically around the phenomenon of “fake news.” While the term “fake news” is being increasingly contested, it has framed contemporary discussions around the proliferation of misinformation through social networks, and into mainstream media spaces. This proliferation, and the open critique of media by senior political leaders, all the way up to the President of the United States, has led to a vigorous debate about why citizens do not vet the credibility of information, demand “truth,” call out false information, and request more accountability by fellow citizens online.
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