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Definitions
As a scholar of media studies *slash* librarian, I view media and information as inherently intertwined and inseparable. So naturally, I favor UNESCO's approach to media and information literacy as a composite concept:
Media and information literacy empowers citizens to understand the functions of media and other information providers, to critically evaluate their content, and to make informed decisions as users and producers of information and media content.
The Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas has expanded upon existing definitions of media literacy:
The goal of critical media literacy is to engage with media through critically examining representations, systems, structures, ideologies, and power dynamics that shape and reproduce culture and society. It is an inquiry-based process for analyzing and creating media by interrogating the relationships between power and knowledge. Critical media literacy is a dialogical process for social and environmental justice that incorporates Paulo Freire's (1970) notion of praxis, "reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it" (p. 36). This pedagogical project questions representations of class, gender, race, sexuality and other forms of identity and challenges media messages that reproduce oppression and discrimination. It celebrates positive representations and beneficial aspects of media while challenging problems and negative consequences, recognizing media are never neutral. Critical media literacy is a transformative pedagogy for developing and empowering critical, caring, nurturing, and conscientious people.
These are a few more common defintions worth mentioning:
American Library Association: Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."
Center for Media Literacy: "Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy."
CILIP: "Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to develop informed views and to engage fully with society.'
National Association for Media Literacy Education: "Media literacy is the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, CREATE, and ACT using all forms of communication."
Frameworks
With so many definitions, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that there are a similar number of frameworks to guide decoding and deconstructing media. Many of these overlap quite a bit, but one I tend to go do comes from TKI Media Studies out of New Zealand (by way of the British Film Institute):
TKI Media Studies
Chart of Key Concepts
| Media Audiences | Who is watching? How audiences are identified, constructed, addressed and reached; how audiences find, choose, consume and respond to media texts. |
| Media Technologies | How do they do that? What kinds of technologies are available to whom, how to use them, the differences they make to the process as well as the final product. |
| Media Agencies/ Ownership |
Who made/owns what? Who produces the text; roles in production process, media institutions, economics and ideologies, intentions and results. |
| Media Languages | How do they convey meaning? How the media produces meaning; codes and conventions; narrative structure. |
| Media Categories | What is it? Different media (television, radio, film); forms (documentary, ads, etc); genres, and other categories; how these relate to understanding. |
| Media Representation | How are things, places and people portrayed in the media? The relation between media texts and the actual places, people, events, ideas; stereotyping and its consequences. |
Similar frameworks include Critical Media Literacy framework: Conceptual Understandings and Questions by Douglas Kellner and Jeff Share in The Critical Media Literacy Guide: Engaging Media and Transforming Education (Brill, 2019) and the Center for Media Literacy's Media Deconstruction/Construction Framework.
UNESCO also put forth the Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy in the 2016 publication Media and Information Literacy: Reinforcing Human Rights, Countering Radicalization and Extremism. The Five Laws were inspired by the Five Laws of Library Science proposed by S. R. Ranganathan in 1931. The Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy approach media and information through a human rights lens, and are intended as a guide for practictioners and stakeholders.
LAW 1 |
Information, communication, libraries, media, technology, the Internet as well as other forms of information providers are for use in critical civic engagement and sustainable development. They are equal in stature and none is more relevant than the other or should be ever treated as such. |
LAW 2 |
Every citizen is a creator of information/knowledge and has a message. They must be empowered to access new information/knowledge and to express themselves. MIL is for all – women and men equally – and a nexus of human rights. |
LAW 3 |
Information, knowledge, and messages are not always value neutral, or always independent of biases. Any conceptualization, use and application of MIL should make this truth transparent and understandable to all citizens. |
LAW 4 |
Every citizen wants to know and understand new information, knowledge and messages as well as to communicate, even if she/he is not aware, admits or expresses that he/she does. Her/his rights must however never be compromised. |
LAW 5 |
Media and information literacy is not acquired at once. It is a lived and dynamic experience and process. It is complete when it includes knowledge, skills and attitudes, when it covers access, evaluation/assessment, use, production and communication of information, media and technology content. |
Teaching Resources
- Checkology: Checkology provides free lessons, extensions, and activities to help students learn to navigate our information landscape.
- Critical Media Project: Critical Media Project (CMP) is a free media literacy web resource for educators and students that enhances young people’s critical thinking and empathy, and builds on their capacities to advocate for change around questions of identity.
- News Literacy Project: The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan education nonprofit building a national movement to create a more news-literate America.
- Reading the Pictures: Reading the Pictures is a web-based, non-profit organization dedicated to visual culture, visual literacy and media literacy through the analysis of news, documentary and social media images.
- Retro Report: Retro Report is an independent nonprofit newsroom creating documentary videos that connect the past to the present, with a special focus on news reporting.
- TED-Ed: “Hone your media literacy skills” – this playlist of 16 short, animated videos introduced a variety of topics related to media and information literacy, including misleading health headlines, circular reporting, and how misconceptions spread.
- TKI Media Studies: This site, designed to support the New Zealand Curriculum, offers information, resources, and guidance; inspiring media studies teachers to engage students in relevant learning.
- What’s Going On in This Picture? New York Times photographs stripped of their captions for student discussion.
