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

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS18520242443

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.

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Published

2024-02-13

How to Cite

Frota, S., Cortés, L., & Melo, A. (2024). Literacy for everyone: the privileged role of journalism in promoting media literacy. Observatorio (OBS*), 18(5). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS18520242443

Issue

Special Issue (2024) Uses of Media Literacy to tackle disinformation: the multiple roles of different stakeholders

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2024 Silvia Frota, Luísa Cortés, Amanda Melo Observatorio (OBS*) has an academic journal profile. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of its contents, and freely available to individuals and institutions without charge or formal permission. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. Authors will not be charged for publication or submission to this journal. Authors who publish in Observatorio (OBS*) will release their contributions under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-2.0 generic. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given - being the author the copyright holder. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials; • Use material consistent with original license terms; • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair. Fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; & 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the OBS journal believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.