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 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.

Youth is not a homogeneous group. With this motto in mind, YouNDigital aims to study youth, their engagement with news, and digital citizenship dynamics. One of the core elements of the project is a digital newsroom, a space for meeting and exploring digital citizenship and news, considering the significant disparities that characterise individuals in this group. In order to better understand the target groups and to support the decisions regarding the development of the youth‐led digital newsroom, the research team carried out a systematic literature review focused on youth, digital citizenship, diversity, and different methodological approaches. This article explores the outcomes of the systematic literature review, particularly delving into the data gathered in one of the subclusters (Diversities). Findings underscore the challenges of inclusivity and diversity and the need for tailored media and digital literacy interventions that consider cultural differences, socioeconomic factors, and evolving technological landscapes. They also highlight the difficulties, as well as the positive results, of using digital tools and strategies to trigger learning and motivational processes for diverse audiences—digital tools that rely on media creation, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration can promote the empowerment and inclusion of youth from distinct backgrounds, bridging the gap between their realities and citizenship experiences. For research teams, the findings point out that involvement in collaborative, immersive, and participatory processes anchored on sustained literature review processes can encourage distancing preconceptions while bringing them closer to research participants. The article contributes to discussions regarding the potential and the challenges of considering youth’s diverse backgrounds through pillars such as co‐creation or inclusive design, and the urgency of mitigating youth social and digital exclusion in order to enhance democratic participation.

This article contains reflections on the further structural transformation of the public sphere, building on the author’s widely-discussed social-historical study, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, which originally appeared in German in 1962 (English translation 1989). The first three sections contain preliminary theoretical reflections on the relationship between normative and empirical theory, the deliberative understanding of democracy, and the demanding preconditions of the stability of democratic societies under conditions of capitalism. The fourth section turns to the implications of digitalisation for the account of the role of the media in the public sphere developed in the original work, specifically to how it is leading to the expansion and fragmentation of the public sphere and is turning all participants into potential authors. The following section presents empirical data from German studies which shows that the rapid expansion of digital media is leading to a marked diminution of the role of the classical print media. The article concludes with observations on the threats that these developments pose for the traditional role of the public sphere in discursive opinion and will formation in democracies.

Social media assume a role in activism by enabling the powerless to voice widely shared grievances and organise unequally distributed resources. However, the predominant focus on the episodic effect of social media in the digital activism literature presents a limited understanding of how social media can play a role at different level of grassroots involvement and for movement continuity. By adopting a multidimensional empowerment perspective and extending the temporal scope in examining social media-enabled social movements, this study expounds on the logic of connective action (in contrast to the conventional logic of collective action) to offer a theory of social media empowerment. The study builds on a case study of an environmental movement to derive two key contributions: (1) it extends our knowledge of grassroots organising through a conceptualisation of the processes of how social media can allow individuals to assume a more proactive role in driving a social movement and (2) it provides a new understanding of the use of social media to sustain activism over time through the conceptualisation of social media empowerment mechanisms. A framework for social media empowerment in social movements is offered with implications for the mobilising practices of grassroots leaders and organisations.

Social media platforms are popular sites, attracting millions of users who connect digitally. This has prompted some to argue that social media has promoted the return of Habermas’s ([1989] 1991) public sphere. We use data from in-depth interviews with Millennials and Generation Xers to refute this claim. Specifically, our results suggest that respondents do not engage in communicative action typical of the public sphere because they avoid political discourse online. Three factors influence this: (1) fear of online harassment and workplace surveillance; (2) engagement only with politically similar others; and (3) characterization of social media as a place for “happy” interactions. In addition, we find that these three factors interrelate, often sequentially, and we explore similarities and minor differences between Millennials and Generation Xers regarding each factor.

This study examines the concept of media literacy in the context of rapid technological developments and the expansion of digital media. It discusses how new media platforms, including social networks and digital communication tools, have transformed the way people access, interpret, and produce information. The research emphasizes that media literacy is essential for enabling individuals to critically analyze media content, recognize misinformation, and participate effectively in digital society. It also explores the educational, social, and cultural challenges associated with promoting media literacy, highlighting the need for structured educational programs and policy support. The study concludes that strengthening media literacy is vital for empowering citizens and ensuring responsible media consumption in the digital age.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of librarians on access to Information for Sustainable Development in Enugu State, Nigeria in the Digital Age. Access to information is said to play a major role in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).In Nigeria, access to information is increasing and yet does not seem to be making real impact towards the realization of the SDGs. Four research questions were formulated to guide the study and descriptive survey design was adopted. The area of study was Enugu State. The population of the study comprised all 93 librarians from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and Enugu State University of Science and Technology. The instrument for data collection included a combination of oral interview and a structured questionnaire made up of four clusters and 76 items on a 4-point scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). All 93 librarians were sampled using the questionnaire and oral interviews were conducted with librarians at the management level. Of the 93 questionnaires distributed, 72 useful copies were received and analyzed. The findings revealed that librarians access information on Sustainable Development Goals highly because of available resources and infrastructure. Responses to the oral interviews showed that information facilities are not available in many urban and rural communities where most citizens reside. A number of challenges were identified, including poor information structure, poor electricity supply and Internet connectivity, inadequate publicity of government programs on SDGs and non-involvement of people in key decision making. Government should improve the information architecture to widen access to information on SDGs through partnering with the libraries, increase publicity of accurate and relevant information, and involve citizens in the decision-making process.

For a nation to be developed, it requires information. Today, information is the most important singular variable which differentiates and determines whether a country is the first, second, third or fourth world. Information has a key role to play in the attainment of sustainable development goals. The roles of libraries in attaining the sustainable development goals are indispensable. Information as a commodity, if properly utilized for decision making, policy formulation, research and educational purposes can result in sustainable development. This paper looks at information literacy, skills required of individuals, importance of information literacy, roles of libraries as agents of information literacy for the attainment of sustainable development, challenges and imperatives for sustainable development.

The study examined media literacy skills forpromoting sustainable development in Rivers State. Threeresearch questions guided the study. The study anchored oninformation literacy theory. The survey research design wasadopted using a sample of 167 respondents drawn from apopulation of 278 lecturers in the four departments ofCommunication, film and media studies using proportionatesampling technique. The instrument for data collection was aquestionnaire which was validated by experts and used for datagathering. The reliability of the instrument was established at 0.82using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient(PPMC). The study found amongst others that critical andanalytical thinking, digital literacy, environmental literacy,cultural and social awareness, and collaborative communicationare media literacy skills needed for promoting sustainabledevelopment. The study concluded that media literacy andeducation can potentially empower the citizens to be able tocritically analyze and evaluate media messages, be betterinformed, engage, and be proactive in addressing both local andglobal issues that can bring about sustainable development inRivers State. Media literacy skills were essential for the citizens tobe well informed on the various types of media outlets and theirroles in promoting sustainable development in Rivers State-Nigeria. The study recommended amongst others thatPolicymakers and curriculum planners begin to think along thelines of integrating media literacy into the school curriculum. Thiswill help students develop a holistic understanding of media andits impact on society

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has been identified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a core requirement for achieving success in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Research around data, information and people for achieving success in different SDGs shows how important ESD is. Research also shows that the library and information sector can contribute in many ways to achieve the UN SDGs. Therefore, it is crucial that a strategic approach is taken to embed the concepts of SDGs and their targets and indicators, and the corresponding data and information required to achieve those, within the information science curricula, so that the SDGs form the foundation of information science education, research and professional activities. This article aims to develop a research agenda for education and research in information sciences for promoting and achieving success in different SDGs. First, taking the approach of a metareview, this article shows the trends, as well as challenges, of research and development activities around information for sustainable development. This article demonstrates how the different activities of the LIS (Library and Information Science) sector can be mapped onto some specific targets and indicators of different SDGs, and based on this, it develops an agenda for education and research in information for sustainable development. The research agenda will lead to the development of new information sciences curricula to accommodate the SDGs for training and research in specific LIS activities. This article discusses how the research agenda will also lead to the development of trained professionals in information science for promoting the concepts, and achieving the targets, of the SDGs for a sustainable future.

The authors developed a structural model of formation of information and media literacy of higher education applicants and the use of “cloud” technologies in the educational process of sustainable development. The researchers analyse the levels of formation of such literacy of higher education applicants in the process of sustainable development (cognitive and informative, constructive and search, creative and productive levels). The authors noted the effectiveness of the designed model. Positive dynamics of the development of indicators of the mobility under research are demonstrated on the basis of comparative analysis of the generalized obtained data before and after the experiment. The article presents the methodology of interaction of information and media literacy and “cloud” technologies in the educational process. Summarizing the results of the experimental research using statistical and comparative methods of analysis, made it possible to trace the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative changes in the basic structural components, in particular in the indicators of the interaction of information and media literacy and “cloud” technologies in the educational process of sustainable development of higher education applicants. The results of the research indicate the significant increase in all indicators.

The concept of digital literacy has been defined in numerous ways over the last two decades to incorporate rapid technological changes, its versatility, and to bridge the global digital divide. Most approaches have been technology-centric with an inherent assumption of cultural and political neutrality of new media technologies. There are multiple hurdles in every stage of digital literacy implementation. The lack of solutions such as local language digital interfaces, locally relevant content, digital literacy training, the use of icons and audio excludes a large fraction of illiterate people. In this article, we analyse case studies targeted at under-connected people in sub-Saharan Africa and India that use digital literacy programmes to build knowledge and health literacy, solve societal problems and foster development. In India, we focus on notable initiatives undertaken in the domain of digital literacy for rural populations. In Sub-Saharan Africa, we draw from an original project in Kenya aiming at developing digital literacy for youth from low-income backgrounds. We further focus on Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Tanzania, where field studies have been conducted on the use of digital technologies by low-literacy people and on how audio and icon-based interfaces and Internet lite standard could help them overcome their limitations. The main objective of this article is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) in the context of digital literacy skills as one of the pillars for digital inclusion. We will learn how digital literacy programmes can be used to build digital literacy and how KPIs for sustainable development can be established. In the final discussion, we offer lessons learned from the case studies and further recommendation for stakeholders and decision-makers in the field of digital health literacy.

This article explores the urgent need for integrating media literacy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the educational process, especially in the face of increasing information warfare and technological changes. The authors argue that media literacy is not only a skill but a crucial tool for ensuring critical thinking and social stability. They emphasize the role of educators as primary „operators” of information and discuss how improved media literacy can make educational systems more resilient against external threats. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, the article aims to develop effective systems for bolstering the media literacy of educational staff as a pathway to achieving specific Sustainable Development Goals.

This paper is an exploratory investigation on Information Literacy and Sustainable Development GoalsImplementation: The Role of Libraries and Librarians. It is imperative to note that libraries andlibrarians can help streamline services that encourage the participation and acceptance of stakeholdersthrough its sharing, collaboration and facilitation platforms and services. The familiarity of users totheir respective libraries avails the library the opportunity to sensitize, recognize and make visibleprospects and challenges recorded with the implementation of SDGs. As it was pointed out that everysector depends on the library, it could be concluded that the library has all that is required to supportthe sustainable development goals to be achieve because of its characteristic dependability andinclusiveness. This paper recommended that management of libraries should not see the libraries asavenue of enriching themselves as there have been situations where fund released by government hasbeen misappropriated and embezzled at the detriment of effective service provision. There should bein a existence a body with integrity whose responsibility should be to monitor and audit every libraryproject and anyone found culpable punished accordingly. Furthermore, librarians and libraries shouldget involve in advocacy programmes such as road-walk, distribution of informative flyers, radio jinglesand social media campaign with a view to intimating the public on the SDGs.