Media Literacy, Security, and Youth Engagement with Global Current Affairs: The Case of Deterrence.

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between media literacy, youth global engagement, storytelling, and contemporary security, using the case study of Deterrence, a web documentary in eight episodes co-created with students at Bournemouth University. ​ The paper starts by making the case for factual, interdisciplinary knowledge as a pillar of media literacy. I argue that, if media literacy has a role as an instrument of democracy, then engaging with the content and context of issues is a prerequisite to producing informed and accurate stories, otherwise there is the danger of trying to solve problems or talk about communities that we hardly understand. I then focus on security as a rarely discussed example of the overlap between media literacy and global citizenship. At the heart of that nexus lie certain core values, including freedom, trust and the pursuit of truth. The changing nature of warfare and the emergence of hybrid threats, such as fake news and misinformation campaigns, have placed media literacy at the front line of the New Cold War.