Open Data and Media

Literacies: Educating for

Democracy

Javiera Atenas

Leo Havemann

Andrea Menapace

Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the

younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it

becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to

participate in the transformation of their world.(Shaull 1972, p. 13)

eg

Who needs media literacies?

Media studies as a discipline:

• often derided as useless

• ‘no jobs’

What is its purpose?

• critical analysis

• who’s telling the story

• form is content

• factual/fictional blurred

• examine operations of power

News media and news values

• what phenomena become ‘news’?

• ‘news values’ as selection criteria

From Harcup & O’Neill (2016)

There may be little doubt that digital media can help

challenge mainstream news agendas, but the most popular

stories do not reflect this democratic ideal. Rather, the most

common news value is entertainment; such stories seem to

be shared by online readers because they are fun, and

sharing them can brighten the day. This suggests a

possible new news value… : shareability.

... the most shared stories tend to be “stuff that makes

you laugh and stuff that makes you angry” (Harcup and O’Neill, 2016)

so: mainstream media is flawed...

now add into the mix:

the new diffusion of news sources, including fake

news/alternative facts (boyd, 2017)

the impact of search and social filter bubbles (Pariser, 2011)

and now the weaponization of personal data

when equipped with a critical attitude, learners can become

agents of change who recognise and challenge stereotypes

and transform social structures. (Zembylas, 2012)

Learners must be capable of critically analysing information from

various sources and formats, including data, as capabilities in analysing

and interpreting raw data are becoming understood as increasingly

important both in and out of the workplace, contributing to a person’s

range of transversal skills, which are defined by UNESCO (2015) as

“critical and innovative thinking, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills,

and global citizenship”.

Students should be able to

critique and fact-check news.

One way of fact checking

news reports is to seek out

source data, e.g. open data.

But! Data is not a flawless form of information, it is produced via a process of deciding what

questions to ask, and how. Who decides?

Data is a source for checking media narratives against but must also be questioned.

The growing importance of data makes data literacy increasingly vital. Open data

affords an opportunity for students to engage with real data and also raises their data

awareness.

The mainstream media spins stories that are largely racist, violent, and

irresponsible - stories that celebrate power and demonize victims, all

the while camouflaging its pedagogical influence under the cheap

veneer of entertainment. (Henry Giroux)

Although a lot of the emphasis in the “fake news” discussion focuses on content that is widely spread and downright insane, much of the most

insidious content out there isn’t in your face (Boyd, 2017)

In academic studies, students are asked to research

and shape narratives in the forms of essays and

reports, to avoid plagiarism, to reference and think

critically. But generally speaking, they are asked to

engage with academic literature. Because of concerns

around ‘reliability’ of popular media sources, citing

them is often not recommended.

Engaging with and learning to understand the

academic literature on a topic is important, but it is as

if the information you consume in daily life is going on

in a parallel universe.

“statistics are quite the opposite of elitist. They enable journalists, citizens and politicians to discuss society as

a whole, not on the basis of anecdote, sentiment or prejudice, but in ways that can be validated. The

alternative to quantitative expertise is less likely to be democracy than an unleashing of tabloid editors and demagogues to provide their own “truth” of what is

going on across society” (Davies, 2017).

Journalism, can be divided into

certain categories

(simplified version).

one is the traditional way of telling a story, reporting on a

fact with an independent (or not) perspective, the other

one is data journalism, telling stories using data and

numbers as principal characters giving the readers a

different view of a phenomena, and then we have the

corporate newspapers, serving their masters, and then,

we have media that is pure propaganda, just try watching

Fox news without being infuriated.

Data journalism is a journalism specialty reflecting the

increased role that numerical data is used in the production

and distribution of information

If we can ask student to apply data

journalism techniques to assess their

sources of information, to use storytelling

techniques combining data, media and

academic sources to represent a

phenomena asking them to observe and to

research their sources (who owns the

newspaper) to write their essays, we are

teaching them transversal skills that can help

them to understand and participate in the

society

Really??

Not according to

the CORE

(COntinuous

REcording of

Lettings and

Sales in Social

Housing in

England.)

“Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for

any purpose”

By using real data from research developed at their own institution,

multidisciplinary research projects enable opportunities to develop

students’ research and literacy skills and critical thinking skills by

establishing ways for collaborations amongst students, researchers and

academics.

it is wrong to assume that we are somehow being liberated through improved media

technologies(Jenkins, 2006)

With the rise of new technologies, media,

and other cultural apparatuses as

powerful forms of public pedagogy,

students need to understand and address

how these pedagogical cultural

apparatuses work to diffuse learning

from any vestige of critical thought. This

is a form of public pedagogy that needs to

be addressed both for how it deforms and

for how it can create important new

spaces for emancipatory forms of

pedagogy.

(Henry Giroux)