The need for media literacy
Democracy in the 21st century functions in the midst of the greatest change in information and social interaction ever, the internet. The internet has connected us to one another and information in numerous and increasingly complex ways. While this has seen incredible social innovation and empowered billions who previously had no recourse to power. However, this has not lead to more democratic and peaceful societies, rather we have witnessed a rise in populism at an incredible rate and a corresponding decrease in trust in technical expertise and institutions. Similarly, the new found access to information has not had the effect of an increase of truth and trust in experts, but rather it has led to the prevalence of ‘fake news’ and a distrust of expertise. One need only look at the denial of climate change science to see how something that has been verified by the scientific community for decades is doubted and denied by vast swathes of society.
Democracy relies on transparency and trust. When the truth is becoming less and less clear and corporations, politicians and the government itself are able to become less transparent, trust that citizens have for these institutions is undermined. There can be no accountability without transparency. Without the fullness of information available to those who hold the state to account (the population) there is no capacity to hold those to power in account. When the people who the state represents no longer have a say in the functioning of the state then the state no longer represents them. Therefore, the capacity for disinformation to spread so widely and quickly is a direct attack on democracy as an institution.
Misinformation, either from the state or from corporations is nothing new. Propaganda as well as manipulative advertising is as old as the existence of the state and the market. However, with the innovation of internet and specifically the capacity to save data from consumers has led to an exponential rise in the power of advertising. Even 20 years ago companies looking to sell a product would look to advertise the product on certain billboards, tv programmes or on newspapers where they thought their demographic would see them. Now they have don’t have to guess. They exactly where we are, our shopping habits, and even the conversations that we have in private. The same goes for our government and political parties. As I explain in my other article (LINK), they know exactly the kind of politicians we read and follow and so know exactly what ‘product’ we will likely consume. Couple this with little to know regulation on media platforms means that the government or any politician can knowingly lie with impunity and spread untruths without any fear of repercussions.
One of the tools in which we need to best fight this attack on democracy is media literacy. The skills required to understand an article or piece of information presented to ourselves are more important than ever before as we have access to more information than ever before and there are more people cable to spread information than ever before. While this can be a wonderful thing, as it puts power in the hands of normal people than previously when a small elite had complete control over the production of information. However, it also means there is far less regulation and capacity to fact check information before it is produced and disseminated.
This has all been compounded by the development and explosive growth of social media. Social media has been transformative in the dissemination of news, particularly in countries with a fractious press or one that is monopolised either by the state or the oligarchs. More so than any other form of media however, there is little regulation at all on information being spread via social media platforms. Alongside this, social media posts are designed to be consumed in seconds and so any nuance or conversation around the news gets thrown out in favour of sensationalised headlines. No wonder that hateful rhetoric has flourished in this climate. It seems like the system of news consumption we live in is one that is designed to let hateful rhetoric flourish.
The second change, or rather slow transition that we have lived through in the 21st century that has impacted our consumption of media and highlights need for media literacy, is this: the ever-growing world of extreme, unregulated capitalism and its mistress, consumerism, which has, thanks to the internet, exploded the ways in which we can consume goods and in doing so determines the way we relate to the media. This article is not a blanket criticism of Capitalism nor does it lay the blame for our creaking democracy at the door of Capitalism. However, it is impossible to ignore what unregulated systems intent on making money above all, coupled with a near infinite source of information on consumers through internet activity has done to every aspect of our society, including our media and our social media which provides that data.
In the UK we have the BBC, a public service broadcaster, funded by and owned by the public. Because it is a publicly owned entity it is held responsible to the people of the UK by its charter, to inform, educate and entertain. It is organisation that has the priority of people at its heart, as it is paid for by the people. However, beyond the BBC, the vast majority of media outlets and coverage is owned by a few individuals on a for profit basis. Being for-profit organisations in a world of rampant consumerism means that the priority of these companies is generating profit and the best way to do that is to create a product that is most easily consumed and then create desire for that product.
While the existence of a private media is nothing new, the move online by most newspapers and news providers has transformed the media landscape. News no longer needs to wait for set times during the day to be produced and consumed but can at any point be made available to the public. Again, this is not a bad thing in of itself and in many contexts is a great thing. I am immensely glad I can just check the news online to see updates about Coronavirus rather than having to tune in at specific times to get updates. However, this phenomenon coupled with the consumer culture we have developed in our country and a press that is driven by a need to make money -not to report the truth- has led to a mass outpouring of misinformation.
Without any natural restrictions to access of information like newspapers being published or the news coming on at certain times, even the way in news is reported has turned into an extraordinarily competitive market. Naturally what this means is that media companies and broadcasters now have an immense pressure to produce material as quickly as possible. While having access to news as quickly as possible is convenient, it is increasingly coming at the price of integrity and accuracy in reporting. Because headlines and output are more profitable than accuracy it means that media outlets and journalists will inevitably prioritise putting ‘breaking news’ before waiting to produce accurate news. This furthers the amount of false information that is constantly being produced.
Again, this issue is compounded by social media. Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have come under criticism lately for their lack of fact checking posts and taking down hurtful rhetoric and political disinformation. But why would they take these down? Even if a post causes public outcry, it increases interaction on the platform and thus generates more income through advertising for the platform.
We are left with a system where we are being bombarded with disinformation wherever we turn in today’s world. And while we cannot tell every truth from a lie, what media literacy training allows for is a population better equipped to spot the lies as well as think critically about the information that is being presented to us. At the basest level, media literacy allows us to accept the nuance that exists in politics and particularly in democratic discourse. This simple acceptance allows for us to fight populism and engage with democracy in a far healthier fashion with eyes wide open.
If we lived in a country that didn’t know how to read, we would expect the government to provide teaching and training, so we became literate. We wouldn’t be expected to be given access to books and news without being able to be taught how to read them. Similarly, we are in need of being educated as a country in how to use and read online media and social media. If democracy in the UK and abroad is to survive the 21st century, we need to be educated and become media literate.
While I argue that the government needs to provide media and internet literacy, there is plenty that we as individuals and institutions can do to equip ourselves to be able to deal with the myriad of ‘fake news’ we are continually bombarded with. I have also written another article with a list of 8 tips and tools you can use to fight fake news here, which you can view using the link below.