Dimensions of Media Literacy from the Intercultural Perspective of Digital Transformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52152/RCR.V13.14Keywords:
Media Literacy/Media Competence, Digital Transformation, Orientation, Socio-and Intercultural Context of Media Literacy, Intercultural LiteracyAbstract
This paper explores the multifaceted intersection of media literacy (ML) and intercultural communication (IC) within the rapidly shifting digital landscape. ML/IC overlap with the socio-cultural, economic, political, and socio-political tendencies, dimensions, and discourses of the globalized interconnected world. In these fluid digital ecosystems, understanding their synergy is essential for navigating complex media environments, where media users necessitate a guiding “orientation”, as conceptualized by Stegmaier, due to high, ubiquitous media exposure throughout individuals, social structures, and cultures. Employing a semi-systematic narrative review and thematic coding, this study introduces a Four-Dimensional Framework—comprising access and participation, representation and identity, interpretation and meaning-making, and ethical engagement—that illuminates the convergence of ML and IC and their implications in the digital era. Building on these dimensions, a Three-Layer Model is proposed, integrating foundational capabilities, interpretive competencies, and ethical-collaborative practices into a cohesive whole. Reframed through Stegmaier’s orientation philosophy, orientation is elevated to a cross-cutting meta-dimension, empowering media users to navigate—and shape—complex socio-cultural, economic, and political discourses on the global stage. Thus, this paper advocates a reflective, “alternative-thinking” approach to IC within fluid cultural contexts, highlighting the need for critical self-awareness and deeper inter-, intra- and cross-cultural understanding in a media-saturated world.
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