ABSTRACT
Media literacy in Brazil and other Latin American countries has recently grown with the spread of a theoretical framework that values the participatory engagement of children and young people in the communicational process. Such a pedagogic approach is known as educommunication.
This chapter analyzes the use of what we consider to be a practical and theoretical paradigm, before and especially during the humanitarian and communicational crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, recognized by the UN as a true and historic “infodemia”. By describing projects born from the dialogue among educators, community leaders, and educommunication professionals, we reinforce the relevance of a universal collaborative struggle for freedom of expression and for quality information for a postpandemic scenario.
Two exemplary case studies are presented, one on the work of a civil society initiative (the Youth News Agency) managed by a nongovernmental organization, and the other administered by a public education network (the Youth Press Project). Under an essentially dialogical perspective, both programs show similar positive results regarding the contributions of educommunication as an innovative proposal in line with the field of media education.
