"/imagine [PROMPT]": A Chat with @MidJourneyBot, or 10 Provocations for the Future of Media Literacy

"/imagine [PROMPT]": A Chat with @MidJourneyBot, or 10 Provocations for the Future of Media Literacy

- Ioana Literat

Associate Professor of Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design
Ioana paper header image

Introduction

hey @MidJourneyBot, how are you?

let’s do something a little different today…

i’m gonna tell you all about media literacy and misinformation, and share 10 provocations for the field going forward

and you're gonna help me imagine these visually, ok?

i mean, no offense, but bots like you, artificial intelligence, yada yada… you play a big role in both the present and the future of media literacy and misinformation, so might as well humor me in having this conversation, right? 

right. then let's get started.

Close-up of open mouth with pill on tongue

#1 /imagine: what would it look like to stop treating media literacy like a panacea?
A group of people carrying large rocks

#2 /imagine: what would it look like to move beyond individual responsibility and hold the big players accountable?
A creature caught between two masks

#3 /imagine: what would it look like to -- earnestly, openly, bravely -- interrogate the relationship between media literacy and epistemology today?
Blindfolded person, set against the background of the American flag

#4 /imagine: what would it look like to stop pretending that media literacy is apolitical?
Three silhouettes rising up, in black and white

#5 /imagine: what would it look like to broaden the media literacy discourse beyond fake news and (re)center social justice?
Stylized person at microphone, facing their own shadow

#6 /imagine: what would it look like to foreground voice and action, while grappling with the complexities of youth online participation?
Extreme close-up of a syringe in front of someone's face

#7 /imagine: what would it look like to learn from the COVID crisis and immunize against misinformation?
Colorful silhouettes with arms around each others' shoulders

#8 /imagine: what would it look like to talk *to* each other rather than *at* each other, and move toward interdisciplinary harmony?
Person looking into a mirror, against the background of clouds

#9 /imagine: what would it look like to fearlessly (self-)interrogate and, yes, criticize media literacy?
A lone person on an eerie empty road at dusk

#10 /imagine: what would it look like to find that perfect mix of pragmatism and optimism that allows us to move forward?
References
  • Allen, D., & Light, J. S. (Eds.). (2015). From voice to influence: Understanding citizenship in a digital age. University of Chicago Press.
  • Aufderheide, P. (1993). Media literacy: A report of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. Aspen, CO: Aspen Institute.
  • Bali, M. (2018, March 18). Too critical, not critical enough [Blog post]. Reflecting Allowed. Retrieved from https://blog.mahabali.me/social-media/too-critical-not-critical-enough/  
  • boyd, d. (2018, March 9). You think you want media literacy... do you? Retrieved from https://points. datasociety.net/you-think-you-want-media-literacy-do-you-7cad6af18ec2
  • Buckingham, D. (2017). Fake news: Is media literacy the answer? Retrieved from https://davidbuckingham.net/2017/01/12/fake-news-is-media-literacy-the-answer/
  • Bulger, M., & Davison, P. (2018). The promises, challenges, and futures of media literacy. Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from  https://datasociety.net/library/the-promises-challenges-and-futures-of-media-literacy/
  • Critical Media Project (n.d.). Media literacies. Retrieved from  https://criticalmediaproject.org/media-literacies/
  • Friesem, E., & Friesem, Y. (2021). Media literacy education in the era of post-truth: Paradigm crisis. In Research anthology on fake news, political warfare, and combating the spread of misinformation (pp. 589-604). IGI Global.
  • Gerodimos, R. (2022) Media literacy, values, and drivers of youth civic engagement: Reflecting on two decades of research. In de Abreu, B.S. (Ed.), Media Literacy, Equity, and Justice (pp. 98-105). New York: Taylor & Francis.
  •  Hobbs, R. (2018, March 10). Freedom to choose: An existential crisis. Medium. Retrieved from https://reneehobbs.medium.com/freedom-to-choose-an-existential-crisis-f09972e767c
  •  Hobbs, R. ( 2017, January 10). Response to danah boyd's "Did Media Literacy Backfire?" [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqOvXv-wOUc
  •  Jenkins, H. (2020, October 26). Covid-19, participatory culture, and the challenges of misinformation and disinformation [Blog post]. Confessions of an Aca-Fan. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2020/10/23/covid-19-participatory-culture-and-the-challenges-of-misinformation-and-disinformation?rq=misinformation
  • Jones-Jang, S. M., Mortensen, T., & Liu, J. (2021). Does media literacy help identification of fake news? Information literacy helps, but other literacies don’t. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(2), 371-388.
  • Kellner, D. and Share, J. (2007). Critical media literacy, democracy, and the reconstruction of education. In Macedo, D. and Steinberg, S. (Eds.), Media literacy: A reader, pp.3-23. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
  • Literat, I. (2021). On research and hope, in an America aflame: sketching youth civic futures as a mother and a researcher, Journal of Children and Media, 15(1), 109-111, doi: 10.1080/17482798.2020.1858904
  • Middaugh, E. (2019). More than just facts: Promoting civic media literacy in the era of outrage. Peabody Journal of Education, 94(1), 17-31.
  • Mihailidis, P. (2018). Civic media literacies: Re-imagining engagement for civic intentionality. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(2), 152-164.
  • NAMLE. (n.d.). NAMLE’s history. National Association for Media Literacy Education. Retrieved from https://namle.net/ about-namle/namles-history
  • Rogow, F. (2016, December 4). If everyone was media literate, would Donald Trump be president? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://medialiteracyeducationmaven.edublogs.org/2016/12/04/if-everyone-was-media-literate-would-donald-trump-be-president/
  • Vahedi, Z., Sibalis, A., & Sutherland, J. E. (2018). Are media literacy interventions effective at changing attitudes and intentions towards risky health behaviors in adolescents? A meta-analytic review. Journal of Adolescence, 67, 140-152.
  • Wuyckens, G., Landry, N., & Fastrez, P. (2022). Untangling media literacy, information literacy, and digital literacy: a systematic meta-review of core concepts in media education. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 14(1), 168-182.

 

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