The Journal of Media Literacy

The Journal of Media Literacy began as Better Broadcasts News, an organizational newsletter for the American Council for Better Broadcasts in 1953. It evolved into Telemedium, The Journal of Media Literacy in the 1980’s, as the organization changed its name to the National Telemedia Council. In 2021, the International Council for Media Literacy begins to transform The Journal of Media Literacy into a more fluid space of interactivity, bridging academia to action. We bring together the major pioneers, the current practitioners, and the future thinkers in media literacy through programs, publications and dissemination of research and innovations in the field to stimulate critical conversations leading to deeper education and cultural transformation.

Recent Articles

Being an AI in a Marshall McLuhan World

McLuhan foresaw a reality where media would not be conduits of human ideas but living ecologies that reconfigure perception and possibility.

The metaphysics of Marshall Mcluhan: Technology, Ethics and Human purpose

Renée Cherow-O’Leary

McLuhan’s intellectual and spiritual roots (including Ellul) reveal how media reshape perception, culture, and ethics—and why human responsibility matters in the age of AI.

McLuhan Messaged Up My Mind

McLuhan shifted the author’s view of media from delivery system to lived environment — shaping a lifelong commitment to storytelling, education, and meaning-making.

Contextualizing Marshall McLuhan

Farrell reads McLuhan through a Catholic, analogical lens, where media are environments shaping perception and understanding.

The Medium Matters More Than Ever

Julianna Kowlessar

McLuhan, Innis, and Hall ground critical media literacy, showing how media shape perception, meaning, and power.

At the Digital Frontiers: Extending Media Literacy through Media Ecology

Dennis D. Cali, Erik Gustafson

Media literacy must move beyond reading content to recognizing how media environments—especially in an AI-driven world—shape how we think, learn, and know.

Media Literacy in the Ecosystem: After McLuhan

Julian McDougall

Media literacy is reimagined as an ecological, dynamic force for change within a complex communication ecosystem, beyond and after McLuhan.

More Recent Articles

“Making the familiar strange again”: media effects, knowledge construction, and media literacy in the age of artificial intelligence.

Alessandro Martinisi

Critical Media Literacy and the Importance of Critical Self-Reflexivity

Tatevik Mamikonyan, Andrea Gambino, Melina Melgoza, Jeff Share

The Message Is Multimodal: Acoustic Space, Disability, and the Present Future

Kiron Heriot Darragh

McLuhan’s Playground

Kalina Kukiełko, Aleksander Cywiński

Talking with Fish: An Arts-based Retrospective of Media Literacy in Teacher Identity and Pedagogy

Theresa Redmond

McLuhan, Media Ecology, and Machine Learning: Rethinking Media Literacy in K–12 Education

Media Literacy Education For Survival In An Algorithmic Age

Designing for Digital Wellbeing with Teens: Participatory Co-Design Workshops to Explore Youth-Centered Platform Concepts

Borbála Timár

The Case of an AI Agent

GenAI Agent Imposters: A Cautionary Tale: A Podcast

Wisdom Weavers by Tom Cooper: A Book Review

One Plus One Equals Three: A review of Dr. Paolo Granata’s Generative Knowledge

When the Algorithm is the Message: GenAI as Educational Environment

Edgardo Toledo, Silvana Comba

Hot Knowledge, Cool Action? Designing Digital Knowledge Platforms in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Sara Gabai, Gianguglielmo Calvi

The Imploded Hourglass

Media Literacy’s Role in Preserving and Redefining the Public Commons

Karen Ambrosh, Belinha De Abreu

Holding space for the commons

Michael Hoechsmann, María Luisa Zorrilla

Introduction to: Democracy by Collision or Connection? The Crisis of the Public Commons

María Luisa Zorrilla, Michael Hoechsmann

Transforming the Public Commons in the Age of Intelligent Machines

Renée Cherow-O’Leary

The Canicab Charter: A Mayan Model for Data Governance

Juan Carlos Mijangos Noh

Advancing Land-Relations through the Digital Commons: The Working Toward Self-Determination Together, Indigenous Research and Data Governance Project

Social Media and Diasporic Digital Communion: The Ukrainian Experience

Alla Kachanivska

The Ecomedia Commons: An Ecomedia Literacy Analysis of ChatGPT

Antonio López, Rachel Guldin

Three Case Studies of Power in Pixels: The Female Protagonist in Viral Protest Photography

Navigating the Public Commons: A Student Perspective on Democracy and Public Space

Alejandro Jose Ramos

Civil Discourse and Democracy: Unteaching Divisive Argumentation Through Critical Inquiry

Alaa Al-Musalli

Tik Tok, Teenagers and Phygital Wars

Katerina Chryssanthopoulou

State of Play of Media Literacy at National Level: An evidence-based approach towards setting national policy models of media literacy

Irene Andriopoulou

Making the invisible visible: Emancipatory approaches to algorithmic literacy in Brazilian education

Storytelling for Social Justice: A Case Study of Secondary School Media Literacy Curriculum as Global Citizenship in Action

Meredith Baldi, Prescott Seraydarian

Student Media Projects Elevate Student Voices: UN Sustainability Goals

Are High Impact Approaches Helpful in Boosting News Media Literacy? Lessons from an Online Experiment Conducted in the United States During the 2024 Election Season

Alina Oxendine, Zack Sullivan

Building Civic Competencies: Design and Outcomes in Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Instruction

Barbara Robertson, Tamra Ortgies-Young

Conference Conversations

Belinha De Abreu

Media Literacy 2024: A Vibrant Summer in a Year of Excellence

Travel far enough, you meet yourself

How can we teach curiosity for successful media literacy?

Enhancing Trust in News through Digital and Media Education – Insights on Academic Initiatives

Cristina Nistor, Rareș Beuran

The challenges of implementing Media Literacy in a school in São Paulo

Daniela Baccheschi Pioli Pellossi

The Role of Emerging Technologies in Enhancing Immersive Literacy in News Media Organizations: A Qualitative Case Study Approach

Ioanna Georgia Eskiadi

Analysing journalism diet through sentiments: A pedagogical approach to entangle the role of emotions in news literacy education

Maarit Jaakkola

Interactive Media Education Model for High School Students in Croatia: Case Study of EDUbox

Igor Kanižaj, Stela Lechpammer

Navigating My AI Journey: The Power of Literacy in Overcoming Challenges

Quo vadis, media literacy? Notes from Latvia, Bulgaria and the USA

Liene Ločmele, Barbara Ruth Burke, Nadezhda Sotirova

Film Criticism of Documentary Movies as a Media Literacy Tool

Digital Nutritionists: Media Literacy in Primary Schools

From Gen Z to Gen Z: Teaching and Promoting Media and Information Literacy Through Service-Learning

Media Literacy is Contextual and Relational

Joanna Marshall

Voices from the Front Lines: First Responders’ Perspectives on the Role of Media Literacy in Emergency Management

Melda N. Yildiz

Teens consuming disturbing news on media and the role of school

Katerina Chryssanthopoulou

Magic in the Mundane: Media Literacy Advocacy Advice from Carol Arcus

Diana Maliszewski

Building Digital Immunity – Insights from DCN’s Conference in Finland

Is media literacy dead? Challenging conversations for these digital times

Warfare in the Disinformation Age

A Personal Journey at the 5th International Media Literacy Symposium: My Insights and Inspirations

Taciane D'Angelo Batista

IMLRS, June 2024 Azores, Portugal

Privileging materiality, action, care and kinship in critical media literacy education

The summer of Media Literacy Education

Alexandre Le Voci Sayad

Media Literacy Through Filmmaking: International Media Literacy Research Symposium 2024

Celebrating Achievement: Reflections on the International Media Literacy Award and Conference Experience

Melda N. Yildiz

Change is Happening

Reflecting on Conversation

Considered Conversations in Complexity

Karen Ambrosh, Belinha De Abreu, Hannah Conner, Grace Msauki

Media Literacy + Information Literacy: Converging Spaces / Transcending Silos

Neil Andersen, Spencer Brayton, Natasha Casey

From Silos to Synergies: Co-developing Collaborations Across Media Education Sub-fields Towards Social and Environmental Justice

A Delicious Metaphor: How ML and IL Can Address the Crisis of Trust

“Information Literacy,” “Media Literacy,” and Professional Territories: Recognizing Blurry Lines and the Value of Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue

The Trouble with ‘Information Literacy’: a valuable dialogue grows from a provocative blog post

David Buckingham

Pedagogies for Critical Media Production and Disinformation Studies: A Taxonomy of Co-Literacies

Alaa Al-Musalli, Ki Wight

The Critical Cultural Literacy Model

Nicole A. Cooke

Promoting Informed Citizenship in a Connected World: Advancing Media and Information Literacy

W. Ian O’Byrne, Laura Hilliger, Doug Belshaw

An Orgy of Utter Chaos: Connecting Media Literacy and Information Literacy with the Feeling of Knowing

Troy A. Swanson

Radical Media Literacy: Self-Defence in The Communication Age

Building a Bridge to Somewhere: A Critical Dialogue to Further Media and Information Literacy Practice

Jennifer L. Bonnet, Judith E. Rosenbaum, R. Alan Berry

Faculty & Librarian Collaboration on an Information and Media Literacy Undergraduate Course

Yonty Friesem, Arlie Sims

Teamwork makes the dream work: Reflections on collaborations to support media and information literacies in liberal arts education

Rachel Guldin, Lisa Morrison

We’re all in this together: Approaching media literacy from a holistic point of view

Megan D. Mallon, Melissa N. Mallon

Media and Information Literacy Instruction: A Case for Collaboration

Sunny Minelli Weiland, Scott J. Weiland, Adam Balcziunas

How will Academic Institutions integrate MIL curricula? A case from Greece

Katerina Chryssanthopoulou

Embracing Media Information Literacy in Community Development Initiatives in Sub Saharan Africa

Grace Msauki, Nancy Kwangwa

Media Literacy in the Third Space School Library

Julian McDougall, Shannon McDavitt

Mid-Atlantic HBCU Libraries and Media/Information Literacy: Practices and Strategies for 21st Century Diverse Learners

The National Library of Latvia: Engaging people with media and information

The Colors of Disinformation: Disinformation and the Literacy Landscape

Nicole A. Cooke

Joy, Contradictions, Complexity: A Day In the Life of a Teacher-Librarian

Diana Maliszewski

ML3: Librarians as Leaders for Media Literacy

Chris Sperry, Cyndy Scheibe

An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told (Richard III, Act 4 Scene 4): Media Literacy and the Role of the School Library

Rachael Brennan

A Generational Change in Information Consumption: Approaches for Teaching Information Literacy

How Media and information literacy affects reading of different text types: academic libraries and digital generation

Anthi Baliou, Panagiotis Kapos

Global Collaborations/Synergistic Relationships — The International Media Literacy Research Symposium

Belinha De Abreu

The Wisconsin Idea Takes Center Stage at International Media Literacy Research Symposium

What Super Bowl Advertisements Can Teach Us About the Civic Imagination

Henry Jenkins, PhD

Habits of Inquiry and Skills of Expression Needed to be Critical Thinkers

Fernanda Bonacho, Zélia Santos

Using Design Fiction to Develop Pupils’ Critical Inquiry Competence

Géraldine Wuyckens

Critical Media Literacy Analysis and Production for Systems Thinking About Climate Change

Jeff Share, Richard Beach

Developing Agency with Virtual Kindergarten Students via GamePlay and Design

Diana Maliszewski

Media Literacy, Absence, Invisibility and Criticality

Shashidhar Nanjundaiah

Action Research to Understand and Empower Children Growing Up in Foster Care in Hungary

Borbála Timár

A Metacognitive Approach to Reduce the Spread of Online Misinformation

A Media Literacy Case in Peru: Reflections on a 10-year journey

Tessa Jolls, Julio César Mateus, Sara Guzmán de Tam, Daniel Chappell Voysest

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