Media Education Issues for Professionals and Citizens: Bridging the Divides in Countries of the South

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are imposing a radical reform in journalism and media education. Without a strategic, participatory pedagogical vision, journalism and media literacy will not work to the advantage of the plan for a democratic and inclusive information society. By the same token, they will be unable to reduce the gap experienced world-wide between training and employment, nor will they have a positive impact on Government or media operators’ policies, nor on the practices of professionals and citizens, particularly in cyberspace. The media are a source of knowledge, a development tool, a citizenship matrix, a source for construction of the «social being» and peace. The ultimate issue is the advent of an inclusive information society, and particularly in the countries of the South, its solid emergence depends on an «emancipation journalism». This must be the objective of all media education..