Media Literacy for the Communication Ecosystem

Beschreibung

This book shows how media literacy can improve the health of communication ecosystems amid information disorder. It makes the case for media literacy as a human right and a foundation for civic resilience and curates research and best practices to show how media literacy can counter misinformation, support public health, and prepare society for challenges like pandemics and AI. The book is structured around a theory of change with four interconnected media literacy domains: Access (how and where we engage with media), Awareness (critical understanding of media), Capability (life skills for education, employment, civic and digital participation), and Consequences (taking actions with media literacy that improve communication ecosystems for everybody). It includes six chapters and an introduction, presenting a comprehensive field review which maps 400 projects from all over the world to the theory of change, concluding with a forward-looking chapter on the possible healthier future. Ideal for educators, academics and researchers, librarians, activists, journalists, policymakers, and health professionals, this book offers a timely, actionable vision for strengthening media literacy and building more resilient, informed communities.

This book shows how media literacy can improve the health of communication ecosystems amid information disorder. It makes the case for media literacy as a human right and a foundation for civic resilience and curates research and best practices to show how media literacy can counter misinformation, support public health, and prepare society for challenges like pandemics and AI. The book is structured around a theory of change with four interconnected media literacy domains: Access (how and where we engage with media), Awareness (critical understanding of media), Capability (life skills for education, employment, civic and digital participation), and Consequences (taking actions with media literacy that improve communication ecosystems for everybody). It includes six chapters and an introduction, presenting a comprehensive field review which maps 400 projects from all over the world to the theory of change, concluding with a forward-looking chapter on the possible healthier future. Ideal for educators, academics and researchers, librarians, activists, journalists, policymakers, and health professionals, this book offers a timely, actionable vision for strengthening media literacy and building more resilient, informed communities.

Autor*in

Julian McDougall

Themen in »Media Literacy for the Communication Ecosystem«

Journalism, Misinformation and Fake News Media and Information Ecosystems and Resilience Media and Information Literacy for Civic Engagement Restoring Public Trust in Public Interest Media Health and Science Communications

Stimmen zu »Media Literacy for the Communication Ecosystem«

“One of the challenges of working in and with media literacy is its wide relevance to all sorts of areas of life, but McDougall manages to turn this into a virtue. Ambitiously mapping a truly global sample of 400 projects, he shows how being flexible and imaginative about media literacy, but maintaining a questioning approach to the change it might create, has produced a robust theory of change based on a reasoned approach to its capacity for change, as well as its limitations and opportunities for improvement. A must-read for media literacy scholars and practitioners alike.” (Lee Edwards, Professor of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement, London School of Economics)

“This book offers an essential roadmap for making media literacy interventions more impactful in today's complex world. McDougall's profound insights and analysis guide the reader through the challenges and opportunities of current approaches, leading to a robust theory of change. The theory of change provides practical tools and evidence to help diverse communities become critical media consumers and recognize their interconnectedness through media and its effects. The accompanying open-access map further clarifies the varied approaches presented in the book. Anyone committed to advancing media literacy must read this book to cultivate a more positive and profound impact in their communities.” (Yonty Friesem, Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the Communication Department, Columbia College Chicago, Co-Director of the Media Education Lab)

“As a former teacher and now Professor of Media and Education at Bournemouth University, Julian has been working with policymakers and industry to inform approaches to media literacy both in the UK and across Europe. He is a reflexive and values-driven individual, and he is not afraid to confront the field's limitations. Because people learn as much from failure as from success, Julian explains some of the inadequacies and missed opportunities that are inherent in the trajectory of navigating change, particularly in institutions that are resistant to change. In this book, Julian offers a model that will help fertilize new initiatives in media literacy by synthesizing wisdom acquired over the decades, where a combination of trial-and-error experimentation and careful documentation have helped to discover and learn “what works”.”  (Renee Hobbs, Professor of Communications, Rhode Island University, Founder and Director: Media Education Lab)

“Julian McDougall teaches us something important here: to be comfortable navigating uncomfortable tensions in the field of media literacy. The book challenges simplistic, solutionist tendencies that position media literacy as an easy fix for toxic media ecosystems. At the same time, it makes a passionate case for why—and how—media literacy can change the world for the better. And for when it can’t. This is an ambitious project, drawing from a wide range of global initiatives to lay out a roadmap for a theory of change. Yet it is also a humble and situated project. McDougall does not fall into the trap of universalising Western concepts that are too often taken for granted—such as trust, public interest, and access. A brilliant, original, and honest piece of work—produced by a scholar who is not afraid to help us face the field’s limitations, but who is also brave enough to walk us through a journey of imagining healthier media and planetary futures, together.” (Andrea Medrado, Associate Professor in Global Communications and Research Director for Communications, University of Exeter)

“Julian McDougall latest work is a tour de force for the media literacy community. This text gathers decades of media literacy interventions to connect them all around a theory of change for media literacy across communication ecosystems and in support of healthier relationships with and to media. I don't think a book in our field has been so ambitious, covered so much ground, and connected so many different approaches.  This book both provides new insights into media education and will be used as an anchor for how we think about media literacies and our ever-abundant media and communication ecosystems.” (Paul Mihailidis, Professor of Civic Media and Journalism, Interim Dean, School of Communication at Emerson College, Director of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change)

“An absolute must-read for anyone interested in media literacy and its indispensable role in a healthy communication ecosystem. Mapping the broad and diverse field to an intellectually crafted theory of change, McDougall brings conceptual and empirical coherence to the multifaceted nature and impact of media literacy and 400 interventions in this space, while respecting and cherishing their complexity.” (Gianfranco Polizzi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Communication, University of Birmingham)

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