Anchoring Media Literacy in Human Rights
Never before have media literacy issues occupied so much space in the public sphere. Among other things, violence in the media, privacy violations, cyberbullying, media manipulation, online sexual abuse and online risk are creating both social and political concerns. Yet we don’t study public policies in media literacy enough to understand their content or results.
As Canada Research Chair in Media Literacy and Human Rights, Dr. Normand Landry’s approach to understanding media literacy is rooted in human rights. He bridges the gaps between the skills and knowledge needed for this discipline with the issues it raises and universal rights.
Landry and his research team work with communities, schools, the public, and political stakeholders to develop and apply a systematic method of analyzing the educational media needs of Canadian schools. This allows them to better identify and analyze related public policies when they interview teachers and community educators about their practices.
Ultimately, Landry’s work will lead to an international approach to media literacy, while creating methods and tools to support the assessment of public policies in this field. His findings will also play a key role in the development of solutions that will help us better respond to the social and political issues created by today’s fast-changing media universe.
Reference: www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=3446