Media and Information Literacy and the Paradox of Neutrality

Higher Seminar in Media and Communication Studies with Olof Sundin, Lund University

At the seminar, Olof Sundin will present a chapter from his forthcoming book (with Jutta Haider) Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy: The Crisis of Information (Routledge, Spring 2022). In the book the authors analyse how media and information literacy (MIL) is proposed as a solution to the current crisis of information and the paradoxes involved.

The presentation will focus on a neutrality paradox in the discussion of media and information literacy, using Sweden as an example. In Sweden, critical evaluation of information and information sources is given a prominent role in the fight against misinformation and disinformation. In Swedish there is even a word for it - källkritik. The presentation will draw on both quantitative and qualitative analyses of Twitter feeds, media material and Google search results. Media and information literacy is always political. It will be argued that certain expressions of media and information literacy have been deliberately inverted to destabilise trust in public knowledge.

Olof Sundin is professor in Information Studies at Lund University. The forthcoming book Paradoxes of Media and Information Literacy: The Crisis of Information is an outcome of the project Algorithms and Literacies: Young people's understanding and society's expectations (Swedish Research Council)

It will be possible to participate in the seminar both live on campus or digitally via Zoom. For more information including Zoom link, please contact Saga Hansén (details below)