Plato's Dilemma and the Media Literacy Movement

Abstract

Plato's dilemma-that is, the question of whether or not the transition from an oral culture to a script culture was more emancipatory than it was a form of social control-is taken as a point of departure from which to consider contemporary perspectives on literacy, and by extension, media literacy. The article will give definition to the parameters of approaches to media literacy taken by scholars, educators, policy-makers, and advocacy groups, with some focus on the media literacy movement in Canada. The most widely adopted definition of media literacy will be presented within the context of the argument that it is necessary to revisit often any definition of media literacy, given the rapidly evolving media environment of contemporary western culture. A media literacy model that originates in a consideration of Plato's dilemma is constructed as an instrument of comparison against which approaches to media literacy could be measured.