Abstract

By nature, human beings are ‘beings in communication’. The very attribute of humankind – ‘social being’ – is meaningless in a non communicating environment. Communication played a vital role in the transition process of human kind to the modernity. Humanity developed not in isolation, but in communion – sharing of ideas, knowledge, technology and skills. The emergence of diverse media platforms in the last millennium facilitated the communication processes with immense vigour and enormous possibilities. But in course of time, the institutionalization of media became extremely complex. It perpetuated inequality in the media economy and magnified the information/knowledge divide. The lopsided and discriminatory socio-political and economic scenarios worsened the situation. This fact reiterates the need to re-comprehend and demystify the present day media and communication practices. As Galician (2004) observed we need to disillusion ourselevs and our media. Media literacy intends to do away the historically set inequalities by enabling the individuals to be active meaning makers of the media contents.

[1]Albert Abraham is Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass communication, Indraprastha College for Women and Research Scholar, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi.