ABSTRACT
Media and information literacy (MIL) is viewed as a contextually embedded phenomenon, strongly dependent on the public and political culture, media development and professionalism, the role of the state, and the nature of a civil society. This chapter uses examples from three Baltic countries (i.e., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) to demonstrate that the public understanding of digitalization and its role in mediated well-being and socialization has evolved as a diversified process in terms of approaches, practices, and MIL actors. Viewed from a socially and politically engaging perspective, even the smallest countries, as revealed here, can expose variations in terms of what types of media are accessed and trusted and what types of content people tend to choose as their daily news practice (if any). The Baltic experience proves the growing demand for a more systemic and inclusive approach toward MIL education for all. As revealed here, all groups of people (young and old, less experienced and highly educated, women, minors, and people with disabilities) have been threatened by increasing indecisiveness and reservations toward new realities and information confusion arising in relation to COVID-19.
