Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy contributes to ongoing conversations about control of knowledge and different ways of knowing. It does so by analysing why media and information literacy (MIL) is proposed as a solution for addressing the current information crisis. Questioning why MIL is commonly believed to wield such power, the book throws into sharp relief several paradoxes that are built into common understandings of such literacies. Haider and Sundin take the reader on a journey across different fields of practice, research and policymaking, including librarianship, information studies, teaching and journalism, media and communication and the educational sciences. The authors also consider national information policy proposals and the recommendations of NGOs or international bodies, such as UNESCO and the OECD. Showing that MIL plays an active role in contemporary controversies, such as those on climate change or vaccination, Haider and Sundin argue that such controversies challenge existing notions of fact and ignorance, trust and doubt, and our understanding of information access and information control. The book thus argues for the need to unpack and understand the contradictions forming around these notions in relation to MIL, rather than attempting to arrive at a single, comprehensive definition. Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy combines careful analytical and conceptual discussions with an in-depth understanding of information practices and of the contemporary information infrastructure. It is essential reading for scholars and students engaged in library and information studies, media and communication, journalism studies and the educational sciences.
Author(s): Jutta Haider, Olof Sundin
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 174
City: London
Tags: Information Literacy; Media Literacy
Cover
Endorsement Page
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of figures
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction to the literacy paradoxes
The crisis of information
Does alcohol protect you against a virus?
Crisis, co-constitution, and digital culture
Facts and opinions
Erosion of trust
Media and information literacy
Paradoxes
A note on methods and material
Outline of the book
References
Chapter 2: Responsibility and the crisis of information
Protection or empowerment: Information consumer, employable worker, or citizen?
Individual responsibility and automated intention
Critical evaluation of the information infrastructure?
Different expressions of responsibility
Other responses to the crisis of information
Content production and dissemination of vetted knowledge
Self-regulation of platforms
Fact-checking
Conclusion: the responsibility paradox
References
Chapter 3: Situating media and information literacy
Theoretical notions of media and information literacy
Goals of media and information literacy
A normative standpoint
Situatedness
A critical standpoint
Materialities of information literacy
Content of message or source of information?
Infrastructural meaning-making
Conclusion: the normativity paradox
References
Chapter 4: Media and information literacy as a site for anticipation
Meaning-making through anticipatory intervention
Generational relations: between the times
Media and information literacy as a moving target?
Conclusion: the temporal paradox
References
Chapter 5: Educating for media and information literacy
In different countries
The USA
England
Sweden
Similar but different
Performing media and information literacy in tests
Teaching evaluation or teaching searching?
Teaching trust, mistrust, or distrust?
Public libraries and the problem of the raised index finger
Conclusion: the trust paradox
References
Chapter 6: Polarisation of media and information literacy: The case of Sweden
Tracing the historical roots of source criticism
Source criticism as psychological defence
The politics of Swedish source criticism
Tweeting and googling
The library
Media and information literacy reverse-engineered
Conclusion: the neutrality paradox
References
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Sowing doubt
Paradoxical relations
Performative and anticipatory: infrastructure as action
References
Index
