This JML issue is dedicated to the crisis of the public commons, its implications, and how it is addressed across different spheres and contexts. The myriads of articles submitted for this issue reflect multiple perspectives on the notion of “commons” and the ways to confront threats that undermine their essence and purpose in contemporary societies.

In an effort to establish a discursive thread across these articles, this issue is organized into three main sections. The first one brings together six pieces that explore various interpretations of the ‘public commons’ and how these diverse perspectives shape our understanding of ourselves, our societies, and our interactions with others. 

This section opens with Renée Cherow-O’Leary who presents a condensed review of the evolution of the concept of ‘commons’ over time, culminating in the New Commons for the 21st Century— an expanded framework that extends into unexpected domains to address the complexities of our modern world.

Next, we feature two articles rooted in Indigenous perspectives, offering alternative ways of understanding and living the commons. Juan Carlos Mijangos Noh and Aurelio Sánchez Suárez introduce us to the Canicab Charter, a community-created document developed by Mayan organizations and collectives in Mexico as an instrument of resistance against predatory data extractivism by various actors, including academics. Also engaging with Indigenous perspectives, the work of Lana Ray (Waaskone Giizhigook) and Aurelio Sánchez Suárez discuss a related research project that leverages the digital commons to foster connections within and across Indigenous territories, advancing Indigenous data governance.

Also in this section, Alla Kachanivska’s editorial piece examines Ukrainian diasporic public groups on Facebook, exploring the concept of digital diaspora and its connection to online social media practices. Her essay presents digital interactions in relation to traditional offline diasporic communication, offering insights into how social media shapes diasporic identities and communities.

Expanding the spectrum of perspectives on the commons, Antonio López and Rachel Guldin propose a less anthropocentric view, approaching the commons from an ecomedia literacy perspective. They argue that media education can cultivate a deeper connection to the environmental commons, particularly in an era of indiscriminate artificial intelligence use and its associated environmental impacts.

Closing this section, Miranda McKee’s work reflects on the role of digital visual culture in social justice movements. She examines activism as a means of fostering public understanding and advancing diverse causes, emphasizing the crucial role of visual media in shaping public perceptions and driving social movements. In this context, activism not only generates awareness but also contributes to the construction of common spaces and shared understandings within advocacy narratives.

The second section is dedicated to reflections on the challenges arising from the crisis of the commons, featuring three pieces that explore how young people are relating to each other and consuming information. It opens with an editorial piece by Alejandro Ramos, who argues that in order to revive democracy in the United States of America, people must “reclaim public spaces—both physical and virtual—as arenas for genuine dialogue and collective action.” He also proposes looking beyond screens to reconnect with communities and “re-learn the art of engagement.”

In a similar vein, Alaa Al-Musalli examines how social media has fueled a confrontational rhetoric that has undermined interpersonal interactions, changing “the way we speak, listen, and disagree.” This work also explores how Oros’s (2007) Structured Classroom Debates (SCDs) were implemented in an undergraduate course to counter divisive argumentation and promote civil discourse.

This section concludes with Katerina Chryssanthopoulou’s paper, which highlights the critical role of news literacy in helping young people develop the ability to discern information and avoid perceiving major events of the real world, such as war, as mere branding campaigns.

The third and largest section is dedicated to displaying various media literacy efforts to address the challenges arising from the crisis of the commons. This section opens with Irene Andriopoulou’s work, which explores key findings from research aimed at developing a media literacy assessment policy model as a foundation for strong and sustainable democracies.

This section also includes examples of how media literacy challenges are being tackled within this broader crisis of the public commons. Mariana Ochs presents an innovative research ‘zine designed “to foster an understanding of algorithms beyond their technical aspects, developing a hands-on, exploratory, and emancipatory approach to information and media literacy in evolving technological contexts: a modern-day process of ‘technical disalienation.’” Meredith Baldi and Prescott Serydarian present “an example of how media literacy and production were used in a high school travel immersion course to help students connect personally and contribute positively to the refugee crisis in Greece.”

Andrea DeGette introduces an initiative where high school students in North Carolina explore topics related to the UN Sustainability Goals, linking these global objectives with local issues to inspire meaningful and tangible change. As part of her study, she includes a link to student work that demonstrates how students from a rural town “can articulate and share their ideas about important issues on a global scale.”

Closing this segment—and this issue—are two contributions focused on initiatives in higher education. Alina Oxendine and Zack Sullivan present the results of a controlled experiment in a politics course, comparing two pedagogical approaches: one incorporating a blend of high-impact and traditional strategies and another relying solely on traditional methods. Their findings reveal that students exposed to high-impact teaching strategies exhibited greater media literacy improvement than those who engaged only with traditional methods.

Finally, Barbara Robertson and Tamra Ortgies-Young present research on the integration of critical thinking and media literacy in higher education as a means to combat misinformation, voter apathy, and democratic backsliding. They also summarize a tested interdisciplinary instructional model that can be easily incorporated into existing course designs.

The diverse perspectives across these articles show that there is no single way to understand – or respond to – the crisis of the commons, nor is there just one crisis. Instead, they reveal a plural and complex landscape where common spaces are multiple, dynamic, and constantly evolving. In this context, media literacy plays a strategic role in both the deconstruction and reconstruction of these public spaces.

The editorial team of this special JML issue hopes that our readers find valuable insights for a deep analysis of its central topic.