Redefining media literacy distinct from media studies.

1. Media Literacy
The way forward

2. Why media literacy
• To enable media users to understand that
defending free and independent media
from suppression is a fundamental civic
obligation.
• To equip media users with essential
knowledge which enable them to demand
a professional service from media they are
using

3. Media illiterate person is
someone who is unable to:
– Describe how news matters to society
– Identify what is news-worthy
– Describe how audiences interpret information
– Identify representation of viewpoints in news
– Identify how news media use certain words
– Describe how images can influence news
– Asses advertisements in media in the light of international code of practices
– Elaborate on universal principles as described in the Article 19 of UHDR
– Describe normative functions attributed to media in a democracy
– Describe what is media pluralism and why it is important
– Explain journalism as a discipline of verification and the self-accountability of media
– Explain functions of journalistic ethics and values, and why they are important
– Explain why safety of journalists should be a collective concern of the society
– Explain the concept of editorial independence and how to asses media content in the
light of the attributed editorial independence
– Describe the functions of a broadcast media regulator
– Describe the difference and complementarily between Public Service Broadcasting,
Community Broadcasting and Commercial Broadcasting
– Critique media content in the light of representation and under representation
– Evaluate media as a system which comprise with different competing and
complementary elements
– Engage with media by providing content based on basic journalistic principles and
meaningful opinions of media performances
– Understand media globalization beyond nation state centric viewpoints

4. Three skills needed to be engaged as an active citizen in a
democracy
•Critical Thinking
•Self-expression
•Participation in the public
discourse
Media literacy instills these core skills, enabling
future citizens to meaningfully asses, understand
and contribute to public discourse and ultimately
make informed decisions in the voting booth.

5. The purpose of media literacy
Media literacy is an outcome which
– Empowers citizens with essential knowledge about
media functions, enabling them to describe
adequately the place of media in the society as a
facilitator of democratic public discourse
– Equip the citizens with basic skills necessary to
critically evaluate the performance of the media
against democratic facilitating role attributed to media.
– Provides basic skills necessary to use media as a
platform for self-expression

6. ML & Information literacy
ML goes beyond IL as ML demands
conscious engagement in the democratic
process.
Information literacy is an outcome which
enables information users with skills
– To locate ,
– To evaluate and
– To produce information

7. Problem of defining the purpose of
ML
• Media Education, Media Studies and Media literacy are
terms which are often used interchangeably, which often
confuses the purpose of media literacy
• Media literacy is about basic skills needed to demand a
better media ecology, evaluate media and engage with
them, where as media education /media studies refers to
higher level of analytical studies of media content.
• The problem that misconceives the purpose of media
literacy is in part due to the history of media study field
and very diverse object of study.

8. Purpose should not be to foster a
pure Skeptic view of media
Purpose should not be to push media illiterates
into a particular school of thought such as
– (a) media text is a construct which should be treated
with skeptism (construct connotes to fabrication)
– (b) Media messages are constructed to gain profit
and/or power
– (c) media is loosing whatever the normative public
service role attributed to it due to commercial
interests.
– (d) media functions can be assessed in isolations of
the other societal factors exist in a particular situation

9. ML- Inadequate definitions influenced
through media study approach – an example
“Media literacy seeks to empower citizens and
to transform their passive relationship to
media into an active, critical engagement—
capable of challenging the traditions and
structures of a privatized, commercial media
culture, and finding new avenues of citizen
speech and discourse.” ( Source: Wally
Bowen, Citizens for Media Literacy, Asheville,
NC, U.S.A, 1996)

10. Developments of Post-media study period
• Media Pluralism is prevalent
• New ICT has opened up opportunities for
more audience participation
• People associate with a media ecology
which comprise of combination of national,
local and global media
• People want to be engaged in the political
process and countries are opening up

11. Let us keep in mind
• Aim is to transform a media illiterate
person into a media literate person
• Media literacy is a mass education effort
• Therefore we should limit our focus to
basics
• We should be able to transform a media
illiterate into a media literate within a
comparatively short period

12. The purpose of media literacy
• Media literacy should enable citizens to
understand:
– What are the functions attributed to media in a
democratic society
– Under what conditions media can effectively
perform those functions
– How one could evaluate media content
against the functions attributed to media