Media and Information Literacy Repository – South Asia

Digital platforms have transformed viral and network marketing by reshaping how information spreads and influences consumer behavior. This review integrates social network theory, graph models, behavioral insights, Big Data, and AI to explain how network structures, influencers, and algorithms drive modern marketing. It highlights how real-time personalization improves effectiveness while raising ethical concerns such as misinformation, bias, and consumer vulnerability. The study also points to emerging directions—like Web3, decentralized platforms, and neuroscience-based targeting—offering guidance for future research and practice in interactive marketing.

This study explores the concept of Digital Literacy (DL), tracing its evolution from media literacy and proposing a four-branch theoretical framework. To enhance DL among secondary 3 students (aged 14–15), the researchers designed Web-Based Collaborative Inquiry Learning (WCIL) activities conducted through weblogs, supported by eight fortnightly lessons where students presented their progress and received teacher guidance. Data from lesson observations, focus group interviews, and student weblog posts revealed that WCIL effectively improved students’ digital literacy across various indicators. However, challenges included students’ inexperience in collaborative inquiry, weak leadership skills, and difficulties in analyzing, synthesizing, and accurately accessing information. In addition to improving digital literacy, the activities fostered social skills such as collaboration, communication, leadership, adaptability, and confidence. As a single case study, the findings are not necessarily generalizable, and further research is recommended.

This comprehensive handbook sets the global standard for how journalists and educators should handle the "information disorder." It provides case studies from around the world and practical tools for verification. It is a key text for the "Education and Policy" section of my review.

This book explores how libraries use film and digital media to build media-literacy skills and community engagement. It shows how screening films, producing videos, and discussing media help people critically interpret moving images and understand their cultural and social impact. The book identifies five core practices—viewing, creating, learning, collecting, and connecting—demonstrating how library programs and services foster lifelong learning, collaboration, and civic participation through shared media experiences. Examples from over 170 libraries illustrate how film and media literacy education supports critical analysis, creativity, and community dialogue across different age groups and backgrounds.

Education systems that promote respect for the rule of law in adherence with international human rights and fundamental freedoms can help to empower children and young people. Education, with teachers at the core, has a key role in nurturing future generations to become champions of peace and justice. This handbook is intended for teachers and teacher trainers in formal school settings at the primary school level. It aims to provide teachers with relevant and accessible educational resources that aim to support the development of children who are critically informed, socially connected, and ethically responsible and engaged. It may also be of interest to professionals working in non-formal education settings or other sectors – namely the justice, social and health sectors – working with primary level students. Empowering students for just societies: A handbook for primary school teachers was developed in the context of the UNESCO/UNODC partnership on Global Citizenship Education for the Rule of Law: Doing the right thing.

Concerns over fake news have triggered a renewed interest in various forms of media literacy. Prevailing expectations posit that literacy interventions help audiences to be “inoculated” against any harmful effects of misleading information. This study empirically investigates such assumptions by assessing whether individuals with greater literacy (media, information, news, and digital literacies) are better at recognizing fake news, and which of these literacies are most relevant. The results reveal that information literacy—but not other literacies—significantly increases the likelihood of identifying fake news stories. Interpreting the results, we provide both conceptual and methodological explanations. Particularly, we raise questions about the self-reported competencies that are commonly used in literacy scales.

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 paper examines television viewing among young children as a developmental concern, focusing on the increasing amount of television exposure due to the expansion of children’s programming. It reviews existing research showing that excessive television viewing in early childhood can negatively affect language and cognitive development, contribute to behavioral problems, attention disorders, aggression, and obesity, and shape developmental outcomes more broadly. The paper argues that these risks make the issue more urgent and proposes media literacy promotion as a key intervention.

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.

The current focus on the validity, credibility, and trustworthiness of media and information is urgent and global. In the past ten to twenty years, the information landscape has fundamentally changed due to an exponential increase in access to information consumption and production. Meanwhile, the role of traditional filters and gatekeepers that monitor accuracy and balance has been substantially reduced. This transformation has given rise to an unprecedented power shift in the way information is produced, consumed, distributed, trusted, and valued. On one hand, empowered citizens can now learn, participate, share, and express themselves as never before. On the other, abuses such as unintended spread of misinformation, disinformation campaigns by malicious actors, and misuse of personal information have become rampant, and citizens must navigate a complex new media landscape without traditionally trusted resources. The challenge for democracies is to find ways to preserve the freedoms that come with more access to information while minimizing the threats that go along with them.

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.

The proliferation of fake news in our time presents a major challenge to public discourse and informed decision-making. As social media platforms expose individuals to vast amounts of information, distinguishing between credible content and misinformation has become increasingly difficult. This paper examines the mechanisms that facilitate the spread of fake news, including clickbait headlines and emotional manipulation, which exploit cognitive biases and contribute to the virality of misleading narratives. Emphasizing the urgent need for enhanced media literacy, the study advocates for educational initiatives that equip individuals with critical thinking skills to assess information sources effectively. By fostering media literacy, societies can strengthen resilience against misinformation, promote trust in reliable sources, and support evidence-based decision-making in an increasingly complex information landscape

In the digital age, the proliferation of misinformation presents significant challenges for individuals and societies worldwide. This article explores the vital role of media literacy in combating the spread of fake news and enhancing critical information evaluation skills. Focusing on Uzbekistan, where rapid internet growth has led to increased exposure to misinformation, the study highlights the importance of integrating media literacy into educational curricula and community initiatives. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews, and case studies, the findings reveal a pressing need for structured media literacy programs to empower citizens, promote informed decision-making, and foster a more resilient society. The article concludes by offering recommendations for enhancing media literacy in Uzbekistan, emphasizing the collaborative efforts required among educators, media professionals and civil society

The consumption of information and news in the virtual environment, characterized by infinite content, permanent connection and information overload, makes it difficult to discern what is or is not factual information. Objective: The objective is to investigate what are the guidelines proposed by the DigComp and MIL documents to prepare individuals against fake news and misinformation. Methodology: Content Analysis, more specifically categorical analysis, was used to analyze the selected frameworks. Three analysis categories were created with seven inferences. Results: In the Key Concepts category, only misinformation inference is presented in both documents. There are recommendations for the evaluation of information in nontraditional information environments, as inferred in category two in both analyzed frameworks. It was found that DigComp brings specific guidelines regarding the Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes category, while the MIL includes two of the three inferences proposed in the category. Conclusion: The documents offer a set of conceptual, pedagogical and strategy-action references that provide guiding elements for the preparation of users, and it is imperative that information professionals are proactive in relation to misinformation and fake news, in addition to knowing, analyzing and criticizing the available references to develop strategies based on the integration of different skills to prepare subjects to use non-traditional informational environments