a primer; an easy-to-read, non-technical overview explaining what information literacy means, designed for busy public policy-makers, business executives, civil society administrators and practicing professionals

Empowering Students for Just Societies: A Handbook for Primary School Teachers foregrounds the role of primary education in nurturing democratic, inclusive and equitable societies. The handbook positions the classroom not merely as a site of academic learning but as a formative social space where children first encounter diversity, fairness, rights, and responsibilities. It argues that values such as empathy, mutual respect, cooperation, and critical thinking must be cultivated from early childhood in order to build socially aware and ethically responsible citizens.

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is one of the most important issues in today's mediatized world. Under the leadership of UNESCO, many international organizations in the world, as foreign donors, annually announce many projects and grants for the promotion and development of the field of MIL in the countries of the world. One of the main actors of this movement is DW Academy with various media and MIL projects in over 50 countries of the world. This research paper examines the role of DW Akademie's MIL model in shaping a media-savvy generation. The study examines the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of the DW Akademie's MIL model and analyzes its effectiveness in fostering media literacy skills. The research takes a multifaceted approach, incorporating case studies to assess the model's impact on different demographic groups. The paper also considers the model's alignment with global education policy and proposes recommendations for its integration into broader frameworks. By examining the DW Akademie's MIL model, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on media literacy education and provides valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and researchers. The findings offer a nuanced understanding of the model's place in cultivating a media-savvy generation capable of navigating the complexities of the information age.

This article conceptualizes digital media literacy as a multidimensional construct by distinguishing between media devices and media content. It outlines key literacy dimensions related to accessing, understanding, creating, and participating in digital media. The article further explores how social exclusion is closely linked to unequal capacities for media creation and participation.

This study is situated within the context of rapidly expanding media environments in which knowledge is continuously produced, circulated, and reshaped through multiple communication channels. Given young people’s heightened exposure and vulnerability to mediated messages, the ability to critically evaluate and consciously interpret fictionalized media content has become an essential educational competency. Media and television literacy education is therefore positioned as a necessary response to equip adolescents with an understanding of how mass media operates and influences perceptions.

This paper examines the influence of reality television on children and adolescents, highlighting concerns about the blurred distinction between mediated content and reality and its potential impact on youth values. It argues that media literacy education can mitigate negative effects and proposes integrating media literacy training into psychiatry residency programs to support preventive mental health interventions.

This paper discusses some of the theoretical issues which are at stake in the basic analogy between television and written language, and argues the case for a social theory of television literacy.

This paper examines the effectiveness of a Media Studies program in supporting the educational goals of at-risk secondary school students. The study evaluates the impact of structured media literacy instruction on students enrolled in a special education program. Findings indicate that formal media literacy lessons enhanced students’ ability to critically understand television and print advertisements, demonstrating the value of media education for vulnerable learner populations.

In the context of the rapid expansion of mass media technologies, this paper underscores the urgent need for education systems to cultivate students’ critical viewing and critical thinking abilities. Drawing on the 1982 UNESCO International Symposium on Media Education, it highlights international calls for comprehensive media education from preschool to adulthood.

The study focuses on teaching television literacy through research-based, empirical classroom practices. It argues that students develop television literacy not by impressionistic critique but by systematic analysis of television texts and audiences.

This work conceptualizes television literacy as an essential component of media education, arguing that effective engagement with television requires critical viewing skills rather than passive consumption. It examines television as a constructed medium shaped by economic, technological, and ideological forces, and outlines analytical frameworks through which viewers can interpret television messages.

This article is guided by the question of what digital competencies are needed to deal with disinformation strategies in social media and how these competencies can be embedded in the discourse on (media) pedagogy. It considers this question from the perspective of the digital condition and addresses the current competency debate by proposing a synergetic linkage of critical media competencies and data competencies. On this basis, it explores the relationship between learning opportunities, digital infrastructures, and the resilience of our democracies. The article concludes by discussing our “Synergistic Literacy Model Against Disinformation” in terms of its advantages and relevance for future literacy concepts, solutions to broader societal problems, and the resilience of democracies.

This conceptual paper highlights limitations within existing approaches to mis and disinformation and offers a cross disciplinary approach that draws from social shaping of technology and critical informatics to explain and understand these complex informational phenomena. Different scholarly perspectives from policy, technical, and information literacy spheres, often narrowly focus on information practices of actors or components of the technical systems and policy frameworks undergirding these systems often their “locus of change”, or concept of the problem and solutions, do not acknowledge the interconnected complexities inherent to mis and disinformation. Our proposed conceptual intervention can be useful to the information science and technology research and teaching community as it offers opportunities to cultivate a complex form of what Milner and Phillips describe as “ecological literacy” to holistically understand the mis- and disinformation problem domain as an interconnected set of sociotechnical systems.

The paper describes specific experiences with educational activities aimed at strengthening media literacy in the field of combating disinformation among primary and secondary school teachers, which were implemented in 2022-2023 through the Central European Digital Media Observatory. A total of 3633 primary and secondary school teachers from all over the Czech Republic participated in the education and evaluated the educational events. The article presents examples of specific educational activities oriented to the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes of students through teaching in primary or secondary school.

Background Despite decades of a call to action to engage men in reproductive health, men are often left out of programs and interventions. In India, where half of pregnancies are reported as unintended, patriarchal gender norms and still dominant patterns of arranged marriages make engaging men in family planning and strengthening couples communication critical in increasing reproductive autonomy and helping young couples meet their reproductive goals. This study explores the feasibility and acceptability from the men’s perspective of the pilot of a gender transformative intervention for newly married couples in India. Methods A pilot study was conducted of TARANG, a 4 month intervention for newly married women, with light touch engagement of husbands (4 sessions). A total of 41 husbands participated in the pilot, and we collected baseline knowledge and endline feasibility and acceptability data from them, along with in depth qualitative interviews with 13 men. The study was conducted in June 2023-January 2024. Results Men had low levels of knowledge about biology, family planning, with the majority of men reporting that no one had provided them information about these topics. Most men wanted to delay the first birth by at least 2 years, yet less than a quarter had discussed childbearing plans with their partner or engaged in family planning methods. While all men reported high acceptability (satisfaction and usefulness), feasibility (participation) was low, with only 43% attending 2 or more sessions. Main barriers to participation included commitments due to work and migration. Men reported that the intervention led to improvements in their relationships with their wives, gave them a sense of empowerment, and led them to become resources for other men in their community. Conclusions Men in these rural communities are not receiving the information that they need to meet their reproductive goals, however, they greatly desire this information and ways to improve relationships with their new wives. Such an intervention appears to have the potential to help change norms and spread information in the community and provide men with positive, life affirming feelings. Providing information through technology could address barriers to in-person engagement.

Gender equality and women empowerment are worldwide issues that, in many parts of the world, require urgent attention. And it is a challenging task to achieve. Women empowerment is a social action which encourages the engagement of individuals, social groups, families and governing bodies. The United Nations sustainable development goal project considers the 17 goals that depend on achieving gender equality and women empowerment. Therefore, in terms of the importance and seriousness of the issue, the researcher tries to find out the relationship between community media and women empowerment. Because in a developing country like India, media from the local bodies is very important. Community media frequently reflects societal diversity in a meaningful way by reaching the last mile of listeners, piercing media-dark spaces, and broadcasting voices and opinions that would otherwise go unheard (UNESCO, 2021). Hence this study focuses on community media and how it enhances women empowerment. The study was conducted in Kanchenjunga community media situated in a rural village of West Sikkim. My hypothesis is that community media is the major source of information and it helps the women community to participate in all social actions, which leads women to achieve empowerment. The researcher employs a qualitative analysis method for the study. For that, the researcher conducted a case study with 5 focus group discussions consisting of 15 to 20 women in each group and an in-depth interview with the community media executive committee members. The study results prove that there is a positive relationship between community media listeners and women empowerment.

The purpose of the article is to address the relationship between digital literacy and women empowerment in Varanasi. Women empowerment is one of the most crucial challenges in India. This study explores how enhanced digital literacy contributes to increased empowerment among women. This study collected the data with authentic and well-developed questionnaires, and the samples size for the analysis consisted of 402 participants. The causal relationship between empowerment through digital literacy is being examined by estimating empirical data through structural equation modelling in SmartPLS. The result of this study found that digital literacy tools and techniques had positive contributions towards women empowerment. Statistical analysis shows that digital literacy has brought significant changes and development to women in economic, social and technological areas.

This article explores the dynamics of media representation and its profound impact on cultural identity and intercultural relations, exploring how various forms of media—television, films, and digital platforms—shape and are shaped by cultural identities globally. By employing key theoretical frameworks like cultural imperialism and representation theory, it examines the ways in which media influences cultural perceptions and identities across different regions, from the dominance of Western narratives to the cultural expressions in Eastern media. The review further investigates the role of modern media technologies, such as streaming platforms and social media, in facilitating global cultural exchange while also perpetuating stereotypes. Case studies of diverse media representations illustrate the dual role of media in challenging and reinforcing cultural norms and stereotypes. The findings highlight the necessity for media producers, policymakers, and educators to foster more accurate and inclusive representations to enhance cultural understanding and identity formation in an increasingly globalized world.

The advent of television technologies has significantly restructured the context within which community television producers operate. Digital technologies have undercut “spectrum scarcity” arguments for limiting access to distribution platforms and opened up new paths to reach audiences. It has also, however, seen a decline in some of the regulatory structures that provided protection to noncommercial providers in eras of spectrum scarcity. The rise of the prosumer has, in its focus on production by individuals, weakened some of the underpinnings (economic and ideological) for community-based production, with consequent challenges for the sustainability of these often precarious projects. In this article, we tease out the implications of digitization for community television operators, exploring the state of the sector in the liberal North Atlantic region, and compare “traditional” community channels with “newer” channels that have emerged in the digital context in the past two decades. Our study explores the opportunities and challenges that face the sector following the transition to digital models.

The rapid development of mobile technology have proliferated new media to most aspects of our daily life. This new way of consuming and creating information is in particular attractive to youths as a platform and space for activities not passible in the face-to-face context. This highlights the importance for educators and policy makers to understand where our youths are in terms of their capabilities to participate in the new media ecology. This capability can be conceptualized as new media literacy (NML) that has been theorized into four quadrants with ten fine-tuned indicators. However, existing instruments have yet to explore the prosuming aspect of NML. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop an instrument to measure youth's NML. This paper reports the development and validation of this instrument. This instrument can be used for further studies, contributing to theory building of NML and assessing students' NML for informing practice in schools. Data were collected from 574 Singapore students range from grade 4 to grade 11 (age 10–17). Results suggest that the instrument is reliable and valid.

This special issue of the Journal of Media Literacy Education explores the role of media literacy across the lifespan. Media literacy education interventions must be designed to meet the needs of individuals of different ages by understanding the life roles and goals that they have across the lifespan. Different pedagogical strategies are required to effectively address the media literacy competencies of young children, teens, adults, parents, and older adults. In old age, media literacy education may support cognitive functioning and social relationships and help people critically assess health-related information and services. Adopting a life course perspective enables the examination of media literacy competencies which unfold over time in response to changing historical conditions, social institutions and policies. This article reviews the literature to identify the current state of media literacy for different age groups, the present and future needs, and the media education content and instructional methods that have been used with children and adolescents, adult, and older people.

The media represents a crucial part of everyday communication and it has become an imperative of time and lifestyle, for which educational systems are preparing students for. Students today are commonly exposed to opposed value judgments of family, school and media; and the social system faces a challenge of how to successfully integrate all forms of media disclosure and how to change the educational system adapted to the period in which students are developing and the one they are preparing for.

Media literacy, which traditionally aims to help individuals become better-informed users through proper consumption of media messages, has historically been reshaped to reflect the characteristics of the tools that individuals utilize to consume such messages. Information and Communication Tools (ICT) developed in the 21st century, also referred to as the Digital Age, have enabled individuals to become producers of media messages in addition to consumers. Therefore, there has been a need for empirical studies into the concept of media literacy that has evolved into new media literacy with the impact of these new participatory and connective technologies. Within this regard, this study seeks to investigate the new media literacy levels of open and distance learners who primarily depend on ICT to access tertiary education. Besides, the study examines the relationship between demographic information of learners and their new media literacy skills.

This chapter identifies how media literacy education must adapt to accommodate the changing nature of young people’s experience with digital media and new communication technologies. Teachers who traditionally emphasize the processes of analysing news, advertising and entertainment media must expand their focus to include new media (like cellphones and handheld devices), new message forms (like search engines, instant messaging, blogs and online entertainment) and new social issues (including identity and anonymity, privacy and surveillance). By examining certain conceptual principles and instructional practices which may (or may not) support this shift in focus, this chapter examines the process that teachers will experience as they aim to strengthen students’ communication and critical thinking skills as full participants in the digital age.

The advent of television technologies has significantly restructured the context within which community television producers operate. Digital technologies have undercut “spectrum scarcity” arguments for limiting access to distribution platforms and opened up new paths to reach audiences. It has also, however, seen a decline in some of the regulatory structures that provided protection to noncommercial providers in eras of spectrum scarcity. The rise of the prosumer has, in its focus on production by individuals, weakened some of the underpinnings (economic and ideological) for community-based production, with consequent challenges for the sustainability of these often precarious projects. In this article, we tease out the implications of digitization for community television operators, exploring the state of the sector in the liberal North Atlantic region, and compare “traditional” community channels with “newer” channels that have emerged in the digital context in the past two decades. Our study explores the opportunities and challenges that face the sector following the transition to digital models.