“Critical thought is at the core of digital media literacy”

On 15 January 2025, Wednesday, IPS Communication Foundation/bianet organized an online digital media literacy workshop within the scope of the “Our Media” (Bizim Medyamız) project.

The workshop covered the theoretical framework of digital media literacy and focused on topics including reading data, data retrieval, visualization and reading indictments.

During the first session, Prof. Dr. Yasemin İnceoğlu spoke on the “Theoretical Framework of Digital Media Literacy”. In the second session, Lawyer Deniz Yazdan Şenay made a presentation on “Digital Developments from a Legal Literacy Viewpoint” and Hikmet Adal made a presentation on “Data Use in News Reporting”.

“Critical thought is at the core of digital media literacy”

İnceoğlu began her session by stating that information can now be received not only from tools of traditional media but also from social media and digital news platforms.

İnceoğlu defined digital literacy as the skill “to understand content, critically assess content and consciously use information”.

İnceoğlu said that digital media in today’s world had become an inseparable part of news, entertainment, socializing and in fact, all process of education, and that now the field faced many problems including disinformation, misinformation, manipulation and information pollution.

İnceoğlu stated that, “digital media literacy, at this precise point, is no longer only a skill, but also part of democratic participation and a topic that involves our responsibility as citizens”, adding that critical thought is at the core of digital media literacy.

İnceoğlu then discussed concepts in the field, stating that media literacy involved three fundamental approaches, which are the protective, encouraging and participatory approaches. İnceoğlu said that our lives are now being shaped by algorithms, adding:

“Algorithms repeatedly present content internet users have shown interest in previously, thus trapping them within certain ideological frameworks. This makes it difficult for individuals to access different viewpoints, while consolidating existing ideologies.”

“All the visuals, videos and graphics used in digital media are the most effective conveyors of ideological messages. For instance, when we look at Instagram posts that display luxurious life styles, we see that they support capitalist consumer culture. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube use the aesthetic codes of popular culture to mediate the rapid spread of ideological messages.

“News platforms are used to support all the manipulative information and certain political and economic interests that spread via social media. For instance, disinformation campaigns are used during election periods to increase ideological political polarization.”

“The judicial system is digitized”

In the next session, Deniz Yazgan Şenay focused on data verification techniques within the context of the National Judiciary Network Platfrom (UYAP). She also discussed topics such as ethical and legal frameworks and data journalism in line with current developments.

Yazgan Şenay stated that there is no stage of judicial procedure left today that has not been digitized, adding, “If UYAP is down, then hearings are not held on that day, and statements cannot be taken. This is also why journalists’ skills of following and reporting on judicial processes have been transformed with the introduction of UYAP”.

Yazgan Şenay explained that there was no other country either in Continental Europe or within Anglo-American systems that had integrated a platform as broad as UYAP to their legal infrastructure. Describing this as a positive development, she nevertheless added that digitization brought along different problems, stating:

“Journalism is of different significance in judicial procedure depending on who it involves, whether it is the victim, intervener, defendant or a suspect, since the journalist has to defend the rights of the person on trial. It is at this point that we can speak of two different types of legal literacy: Acquisition of data and knowledge in legal processes and the accurate transmission of this data and knowledge. Both processes are critically important in terms of presenting accurate and reliable news.”

“Data severed from its context can lead to misguidance”

Hikmet Adal then made a presentation on data use in news reports. Adal stated that media played the fundamental role in disseminating information today, and that news audiences and also had to develop their critical thinking and digital skills regarding reliability and context.

Adal added that data used in news reports contributed to rendering events and conditions to be reported in a clearer, more measureable and more verifiable manner.

Hikmet then went on to say, “Data that has been properly analyzed and visualized presents complex issues to the audience. For instance, it is highly important to present data such as economic indicators, health statistics and election results in an accurate and contextualized manner. However, if, as part of this process, data is distorted, used selectively or severed from its context, then that can lead to misguidance.”

Adal then provided examples from data platforms, including the data platforms of state and supra-state institutions such as the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), OECD and Eurostat. He also explained how to draw data from platforms including the İSİG (Workplace Health and Safety) Assembly, DİSK-AR (The Research Center of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey), BETAM (Bahçeşehir University Economic and Social Research Center) and the online classifieds and shopping platform sahibinden.com.

(HA/NHRD)