Media literacy: Ambitions, policies and measures Editor: Sonia Livingstone (original) (raw)
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Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures
2011
Round Table 1: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures Participants: • Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair • Paolo Celot, Secretary General, EAVI – European Association For Viewers’ Interests • Susanne Ding, European Commission, Directorate General "Education and Culture" • Jane Rumble, Media Literacy Group, Ofcom • Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent) Conference Panel: Media literacy: ambitions, policies and measures Participants: • Sonia Livingstone, Professor, LSE - Chair and paper presenter • Ben Bachmair, Professor, University of Kassel, and Institute of Education, University of London • Conceição Costa, Assistant Professor and researcher at CICANT-Lusófona University, Lisbon • Tao Papaioannou, Assistant Professor, University of Nicosia, Cyprus • Kirsten Drotner, Professor, University of Southern Denmark and DREAM (Respondent)
Introduction: On the Multiple Facets of Media Literacy
2020
The notion of media literacy is one of the most fundamental concepts in media education and is central to the question of a confident and self-determined approach to media, whatever the perspective-be it academic (communication studies, media studies, education studies, psychology, linguistics, cultural studies, etc.), practical (the teaching of abilities and skills), social (participation, the knowledge gap, digital inequality, etc.) or political (digitalization, economic competitiveness, etc.). Within communication studies and particularly in the field of audience research, discourses on media literacy are mainly significant in the context of media use by children and adolescents. In some cases, empirical studies on the way children and adolescents deal with media conclude with policy recommendations about the promotion of media literacy for various target groups. Media literacy is also part of the debate on the opportunities and risks of the Internet. [m]edia education has been taught in schools in many countries for some decades sometimes as part of a protectionist agenda (teaching children to critique and be wary, the better to defend themselves against mass culture), sometimes as part of a creative agenda (teaching children to appreciate the cultural forms and genres, the better to extend their aesthetic and critical understanding), and more recently as part of an empowerment agenda (teaching children to use the technical tools of self-expression, the better to participate in modern society). The value of media literacy is also recognised by critical scholars and civil society advocates as part of a wider citizenship agenda, as a form of participation and inclusion, as a means of overcoming disadvantage, a means of community empowerment or, more tactically, as a preferable alternative to technical or regulatory content restrictions (Lunt and Livingstone 2012, p. 117). Within communication studies and particularly in the field of audience research, discourses on media literacy are mainly significant in the context of media use by children and adolescents. In some cases, empirical studies on the way children and adolescents deal with media conclude with policy recommendations about the promotion of media literacy for various target groups (e.g. parents, educational institutions, policymakers, etc.) in various contexts (e.g. Paus-Hasebrink et al. 2019; O'Neill and Staksrud 2014). Media literacy is also part of the debate on the
Media literacy is a key factor in the development of a critical and responsible citizenship in digital society and to receive adequate training is a right of citizens. Living surrounded by audiovisual messages, information from different sources and technological resources from childhood offer powerful tools to understand the society in which we live, and to become critical and active citizens. Family and school are the main references in the education of children and youth, so in this article we explore some reasons why they have to share the responsibility of media educating young people. We also discuss some initiatives undertaken in various countries, which constitute a reference to consider in order to respond to this educational challenge. The education of children and youth is not only the responsibility of the school, but family involvement is essential to ensure the right to a quality education. Traditionally we have learned everything you need at school, in which we acquired basic literacy skills to forge a solid professional future, attitudes and ethical commitments needed to live and be active members of society. Families relied on teachers’ professionalism, from whom is expected the best of experience and dedication so that children would grow up as citizens capable of transforming society. Therefore, the responsibility for education has been in teachers’ hands, who have sought, with varying success, to communicate with parents and get the family involved in order to assume responsibility for this educational work.
MEDIA@LSE Electronic Working Papers The Changing Nature and Uses of Media Literacy
Sonia Livingstone (BSc Psychology, UCL; DPhil Social Psychology, Oxford) joined the LSE in 1990 and is now Professor of Social Psychology and a founder member of Media@lse. Her research interests have centred on media audiences, particularly audience response to television genres (talk shows, soap opera, crime media). Her more recent work focuses on the domestic contexts of new media access and use, especially in relation to children and young people's use of new media. Details of her current ESRC-funded project on children's use of the internet can be found at http://www.children-go-online.net. Sonia Livingstone teaches on several media and communications courses at MSc and PhD level in the new Department of Media and Communications. In addition to articles and chapters on media audiences, she is author or editor of six books
THE CHANGING NATURE AND USES OF MEDIA LITERACY
Sonia Livingstone (BSc Psychology, UCL; DPhil Social Psychology, Oxford) joined the LSE in 1990 and is now Professor of Social Psychology and a founder member of Media@lse. Her research interests have centred on media audiences, particularly audience response to television genres (talk shows, soap opera, crime media). Her more recent work focuses on the domestic contexts of new media access and use, especially in relation to children and young people's use of new media. Details of her current ESRC-funded project on children's use of the internet can be found at http://www.children-go-online.net. Sonia Livingstone teaches on several media and communications courses at MSc and PhD level in the new Department of Media and Communications. In addition to articles and chapters on media audiences, she is author or editor of six books
The struggle over media literacy
Journal of Communication, 1998
The goal of media literacy is to help people become sophisticated citizens rather than sophisticated consumers. The authors argue against a purely "text-centered" approach in which media texts can be deconstructed and analyzed so we can choose among them. Instead, media literacy should integrate a textual analysis with questions of production and reception.
Literacy, Media Literacy and Social Change. Where Do We Go From Now?
Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 2017
Over the years research on literacy has progressively moved away from a narrow definition of the term in strictly psycholinguistic terms expanding it so as to recognize its inevitable embeddedness within particular social relationships and practices. In this paper, after a short historical overview of the scientific debate developed around this expanding notion of literacy, we are going to focus on the role media technologies have played in accelerating this expansion towards media literacy. To be media literate today means to be able to cope efficiently with the flood of information in contemporary highly mediated societies and act as critical, creative and responsible digital citizens. Eventually, we are going to question the techno-utopist and instrumentalist drift that often inspires the adoption of media technologies in educational contexts, and make some short conclusive re-marks on the risks and limits of the recent media literacy policy agendas as developed by public authori...