ABSTRACT
In the chapter the authors argue for an approach to media literacy that embraces an ethic of care. As a means to designing media literacy pedagogy and practice, care ethics allow us to focus on the relational aspects of media literacy, shifting the locus of inquiry from critical analysis to critical consciousness, and the processes of media that put us in the world with others. Building on scholarship in caring ethics, and critical consciousness, the chapter frames media literacy practice as an appropriate process for developing a relational approach to caring, where critiquing and creating media supports a sense of personal and collective responsibility to act in relation to the betterment of others. In this sense media literacy supports inclusion and civility in a digital culture increasingly defined by distrust and division.
While traditional media literacies have placed a premium on deep engagement with media and a civic responsibility to care about truth, fact, and context, placing a caring ethic within these boundaries as part of the positive communication perspective, also requires those who develop those literacies act on behalf of those who have not yet been so fortunate.
