EPALE Conference 14 May 2023 © OeAD/ APA-Fotoservice/Hörmandinger

Our societies are undergoing a media-related transformation that is also challenging our education systems. How we perceive reality is increasingly being shaped by what and how it is presented in the media. However, simply talking of a “media transformation” does not paint the full picture in this case, because both the media and society are changing in a two-way relationship, which is also having a fundamental impact on how our democracies work. One way to achieve better understanding is to consider the concept of mediatisation, which explores those changes to culture and society that are caused or amplified by the media transformation. Mediatisation is a historical meta-process that also renders the interplay between globalisation, individualisation, commercialisation, and digitalisation tangible. The discovery of printing, the invention of the steam engine, and electrification can be understood as early forms of mediatisation (Krotz 2015).

This trend has been accelerated considerably by the massive spread of mobile and convergent devices (such as smartphones and tablets), which combine the features of previously distinct technical devices and allow them to be used anywhere, including on the move. The blurring of media boundaries thus lies at the heart of the mediatisation debate in several respects: in terms of time, space, social relationships, availability at any time or place, the increase in media-related forms of communication, connectivity, and a change in perception. Communication that is conveyed by and related to the media generates mediatised contexts for life and society. This media culture thus also serves as a seedbed for new habits, new norms, new values, and new social expectations. On this point, Karmasin (2016) notes that the increase in “media-mediated” forms of how reality is perceived has far-reaching consequences. Although reality cannot be assembled completely at will, it does become flexible or elastic depending on the political, social, and ethical standards of the people living it. An academic study of mediatisation thus also provides some important fundamentals and arguments in favour of the need for citizens to possess critical media literacy skills. Couldry and Hepp (2017) have since spoken of deep mediatisation in conjunction with the increasing relevance of datafication and the use of artificial intelligence. In this case, it is also – and increasingly – a question of how civil society in the sense of active citizenship and participation can be strengthened against the backdrop of this advancing datafication of human behaviour, be this a matter of commercial interests or government surveillance.

Recognising, analysing, and reflecting on the individual, social, and societal effects of digitalisation and mediatisation on our lifestyles and identifying how we can act in response are key to educational work. Teaching critical media literacy thus calls for a holistic, intersectional, and transdisciplinary approach. However, a whole host of concepts already exist that we can draw on in this regard.

Concepts of critical media literacy[1]

In German-speaking countries, Dieter Baacke’s concept of action-oriented media education (1997) is still considered the key point of reference in the media literacy and media education debate. Baacke distinguishes between four aspects: media critique, media studies, media use, and media design. He argues that citizens will also need to know about media economics and media policy, for instance, so that they can help shape the media policy discourse as well based on their individual requirements.

Concepts from the English-speaking world that are worthy of particular note are David Buckingham’s “media education” (2019) and Douglas Kellner and Jeff Share’s “critical media literacy” (2019). In his concept, Buckingham highlights four key perspectives that need to be taken into account when teaching critical media literacy: the language of the media, the politics of representation – e.g. how the media claim to tell the truth or to be realistic or authentic but also which individuals or groups the media include or exclude – as well as the media’s production relationships and the role of the audience.

In their concept of critical media literacy (CML), meanwhile, Kellner and Share underline how media relationships always represent power relationships as well. They argue that the mission of teaching critical media literacy always has to be to look into core aspects of inequality such as class, race, and gender, and it has to adopt an intersectional approach. In an environment shaped by digitalisation and growing linguistic and cultural diversity in society, they champion a more in-depth sociological understanding of literacy as a social practice. They also broaden the perspectives offered by Buckingham, specifically by adding an examination of the social construction of reality – media content is always shaped by social factors and is never objective – and the issue of social and environmental justice.

The approach taken by Roberto Simanowski (2021), who calls explicitly for media reflection skills to be taught as well as how to actually use the media, is also helpful. These media reflection skills relate to understanding how the media work and the role that they play in creating culture. According to Simanowski, merely being able to use digital media is not enough if it is not accompanied by a debate in civil society about how they also change our societies. He includes some striking turns of phrase in his observations. For instance, he calls media usage skills – everything required to be able to use different media correctly, in other words – “verkehrspolizeiliche Medienbildung”, or “traffic-warden-style media education”. If we are to be able to analyse and reflect on the effect of the evolving media world on society, however, we also need media reflection skills, which he terms “kriminalpolizeiliche Medienbildung”, or “CID-style media education”.

UNESCO (2021) goes one step further with its curriculum on media and information literacy entitled Media and information literate citizens: think critically, click wisely! With its call for more media and information literacy, UNESCO is not aiming to ensure that skills are acquired at purely a functional level. Rather, UNESCO sees media and information literacy as vital to participation in society and for safeguarding peace and sustainable development in democratic, knowledge-based societies (cf. Grizzle/Singh 2016, p. 29). Its curriculum provides a comprehensive basis for creating specific syllabuses for teaching critical media literacy. The core themes and perspectives are brought together in 14 modules, and different teaching concepts that can be used in lessons are addressed. Depending on the area in which the curriculum is to be taught, it also includes tips for consolidation and further reading and covers the assessment of knowledge tests, amongst other things.

Critical media literacy in practice

Whilst media literacy is only taught hesitantly in adult education in most European countries (EAO 2016), non-commercial community media offer accessible educational opportunities in many places and are successful teachers of media literacy – often without being acknowledged as key players in adult education. Austria has 17 active community radio and TV stations, while Germany is home to some 200 different community media forms and Europe boasts well over 2,000 non-commercial broadcasters. The methods and concepts that they use are often the results of European-level projects or are developed in a coordinated way by national umbrella organisations. What all (further) education courses in the community media sector have in common is how they help learners to speak about their issues and concerns through the media, focusing on supporting educationally disadvantaged groups. In this case, the teaching and acquisition of media literacy skills is part of a commitment to strengthening social participation and the empowerment of disadvantaged communities in particular (Chapman et al. 2020). Taking an examination of the individual “media biography” of each participant as the starting point, different theoretical and practical aspects are explored. These range from the basics of media economics, journalistic forms of presentation, legal and ethical aspects, and dealing with disinformation through to speaking into microphones, moderating, interviewing, audio/video editing, programme design, and handling a peer feedback culture. COMMIT provides various working documents online for this purpose, which are being developed further and added to on an ongoing basis.[2] I would particularly like to mention the German translation of the analytical framework for critical media literacy according to Kellner and Share and the training document entitled Medien.Recht.Ethik, which is also available as an online tool.[3]

Any strategy for addressing the issue of critical media literacy in general adult education must make broad-based continuing-education courses available for trainers that do more than just teach them how to operate devices and applications. In particular, a sound background knowledge of media structures and of the impact of datafication, disinformation, and mediatisation on society in general and thus on democracy is important in order for adult educators to be able to pass it on to learners in a true-to-life way on all manner of different courses. Working more closely with non-commercial community media could play an important role here. Allow me to reiterate: Tackling critical media literacy will always require a more interdisciplinary dialogue and debate but also the places and resources needed to make it possible.

About this blog:

This blog post is based on a keynote speech given at the 2023 EPALE and Erasmus+ Conference entitled “Fact or Fiction? Teaching Critical Media Literacy in Adult Education”.

About the author:

Helmut Peissl is a communication scientist and media educator. He has been Managing Director of “COMMIT – Community Medien Institut für Weiterbildung, Forschung und Beratung” (“Community Media Institute for Continuing Education, Research and Consulting”) since it was established in 2010. He has led projects studying non-commercial radio in Austria and Europe on behalf of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR). Together with Dr Meike Lauggas, he published the study entitled »Ich lerne mit jeder Sendung«. Bildungsleistungen und Beiträge zum lebensbegleitenden Lernen des nicht-kommerziellen Rundfunks in Österreich and produced the »Kritische Medienkompetenz und Community Medien« dossier in 2018 for the adult education sector in Austria. Helmut Peissl works as an expert for the Council of Europe’s Media and Information Society Department.

[1] A more extensive overview can be found at https://erwachsenenbildung.at/themen/kritische-medienkompetenz/grundlagen/konzepte-kritischer-medienkompetenz.php

[2] https://www.commit.at/materialien

[3] https://www.medienrechtethik.at/

Helmut Peissl © OeAD/APA-Fotoservice/Hörmandinger

References:

Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) (2016). Mapping of media literacy practices and actions in EU-28. European. Strasbourg Online: https://rm.coe.int/media-literacy-mapping-report-en-final-pdf/1680783500

Baacke, Dieter (1997). Medienpädagogik. Niemeyer

Buckingham, David (2019). The Media Education Manifesto. Polity Press

Chapman, Martina et al. (2020). Media Literacy for All. Supporting marginalised groups through community media. Council of Europe. Strasbourg https://rm.coe.int/cyprus-2020-media-literacy-for-all/1680988374

Couldry, Nick and Andreas Hepp (2023). Die mediale Konstruktion der Wirklichkeit. Eine Theorie der Mediatisierung und Datafizierung. Springer VS

Karmasin, Matthias (2016). Die Mediatisierung der Gesellschaft und ihre Paradoxien. facultas

Kellner, Douglas and Jeff Share (2019). The Critical Media Literacy Guide. Engaging Media and Transforming Education. Brill

Krotz, Friedrich (2015). “Mediatisierung”. In: Hepp, Andreas et al. Handbuch Cultural Studies und Medienanalyse (pp. 439–451). Springer VS

Simanowski, Roberto (2021). Digitale Revolution und Bildung. Für eine zukunftsfähige Medienkompetenz. Beltz Juventa

Singh, Jagdar et al. (Ed.) (2016) Media and information literacy: reinforcing human rights, countering radicalization and extremism. UNESCO https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246371?posInSet=2&queryId=9d87875d-372b-4c7c-a27d-e9fe54c04596

UNESCO (2021). Media and information literate citizens: think critically, click wisely! Online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377068