Critical Media Literacy, 2
Critical Media Literacy as the Potential of Democratic Media Activism
This paper examines how critical media literacy can empower individuals to be active
citizens in the information society. When the concept of literacy is considered as empowerment
in the politics of knowledge, critical media literacy must be crucial for individuals to be
democratic citizenry in multi-mediated and hyper-mediated society. By acknowledging the
mechanism and the intention of media representations, individuals can negotiate and recreate the
meaning of the media contents. Moreover, by producing their own media representations,
individuals will be able to actively participate in the cultural politics of mass media.
Kellner (1995) stresses how media culture exerts huge power on individuals’ political
perspectives, identities, gender roles, values and desires. Dazzling images of mass media make
ordinary people desire what the media show and tell them. Considering it as industrial culture,
Kellner (1995) maintains that media culture is “a form of commercial culture and its products are
commodities that attempt to attract private profit produced by giant corporations interested in the
accumulation of capital” (p. 1). In this vein of argument, the primary mission of critical media
literacy has to be to inform individuals of political economy of media industry. In other words, it
is crucial for individuals to acknowledge that mass media contents are no more just or accurate;
rather, they are highly ideological (Buckingham, 2003; Ferreira & Ferreira, 1997; Giroux, 1992;
Convention