Literacy for everyone: the privileged role of journalism in promoting media literacy

Abstract

In contemporary societies, communication becomes increasingly plural, with the multiplication of information channels, connections, and social actors. On the one hand, this promotes greater democratization of communication and information systems, but, on the other hand, these become increasingly complex, requiring a growing degree of literacy to understand the value of each message and its potential impact. In this context, this article highlights the privileged role that professional journalism has in promoting media literacy, largely thanks to its ability to reach different audiences and actively contribute to opinion-forming processes. With this objective in mind, three projects are discussed involving the newspapers Público (Portugal) and O Estado de S.Paulo (Brazil), as well as the BBC (United Kingdom). It concludes that there is a need to diversify the role of journalism, which is often reduced to promoting knowledge about news production methods. The theoretical-methodological framework adopted is based on Cultural Studies, Critical Discourse Studies and Communication and Media Studies.