Coordinator |
Volunteer Needed
Project Leader |
Volunteer Needed
Researcher |
Volunteer Needed
Author |
Nader Akoum + Perla Daou
Media Literate Society aims to cultivate media literate and civically involved citizens by providing frameworks to properly navigate through media spheres and systems. This is made possible through our construction of chat rooms and live conferences that would take place in collaboration with various media professionals, academics, and scholars. By contextualizing different media theories to our surrounding and local environment, we can provide the public with the ability to critically access and understand their media intake. The discussions that would be conducted will be in collaboration with multiple institutions, universities, and schools.
Project Narrative
In our modern-day information age and our daily bombardment with misinformation, biased news, fake news, and polarizing news, media literacy becomes an essential survival skill to resist manipulation and comprehend media systems and messages that should be practiced and attained by everyone. However, media consumption in the Arab world and beyond is taken lightly and arbitrarily rather than critically. A study by Melki [2015] found that there is “a strong need for developing and advancing media literacy education in the Arab region” as there are low levels of critical media literacy among Arab youth. Therefore, this project is imperative as it aims at providing the necessary tools towards becoming media literate.
Intention
The project takes the form of online and in-person chat rooms. We have developed a framework to discuss and introduce a series of media theories that would be a ground base for critically accessing and analyzing media. Having said so, several topics were placed at the core of these chats such as Fake News, Media Hegemony, Selective Exposure, Third Person Effect, Echo Chambers and so on. This methodology provides a space to discuss media theories outside the realm of the classroom. It also creates an environment that fosters dialogue and engagement among learners and media professionals and scholars. Our roadmap includes collaborations with different educational institutions such as schools and universities across multiple majors to cater to media literacy’s interdisciplinary nature.
Future Prospects
This project expands beyond educational institutions to foster media literacy across political, cultural, and economic spheres. The noble target is to create mass-awareness and dialogue among the youth about the importance of critical media literacy globally. Additionally, we want to bring forth the possibilities we have in alternative media as opposed to current traditional media in Lebanon.
