Digital Crossroads: Civic Media and Migration (original) (raw)

Media literacy is the ability to access, analyse, evaluate and communicate information. It relates to a wide variety of printed and electronic media and is increasingly recognized as an essential skill for today's wired and mobile world. How do we examine online content and sources today? How can digital media be used to connect migrants and receiving communities? What tools exist for effective and meaningful storytelling? What constraints still remain? The authors of the present study explore the role of media literacy in enabling citizens and public bodies to engage critically and skilfully with information and communication in digital spaces. They use the case of migration to explore how media frame issues, set public agendas, and engage in cultural meaning-making in the digital public sphere. The study forms part of ifa's Research Programme ‚Culture and Foreign Policy‛, in which experts address topical issues relating to culture and foreign policy with the aim of involving academics, practitioners, policymakers and the public. The main findings of this report were presented and discussed at a workshop during the tenth meeting of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change in July 2016. The report benefited from the invaluable input of participating media researchers and experts from four continents. Salzburg Global Seminar, an international non-profit organization founded in 1947, challenges present and future leaders to solve issues of global concern. Its multi-year programmes are designed to forge breakthrough collaborations to bridge divides and accelerate transformation. Salzburg Global's annual Media Academy, directed by Paul Mihailidis, puts this into practice. It connects universities, researchers and students across the world to foster cross-cultural understanding and generate practical media and communications tools to tackle shared challenges. We very much thank Paul Mihailidis, Liat Racin and Eric Gordon from the Engagement Lab, Emerson College, Boston for their excellent work and commitment to this research project. Special thanks also go to three ifa colleagues: Odila Triebel for her invaluable Foreword ifa-Edition Culture and Foreign Policy Digital Crossroads 3 conceptual input, and Sarah Widmaier and Isabell Scheidt for their work on the conception and editing of this project. Social media can play a pivotal role in building positive connections between migrant and receiving communities. Better understanding of social media use and literacy of different communities is crucial to reach out to migrant communities and include them in mainstream discourse and framing narratives.

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