The level of media literacy skills among young Namibians

Abstract

The traditional notions of literacy, the ability to 'read and write' need revisiting in Namibia information technology is changing and altering the way we live and acquire information. In an age where television is preferred as a source of information over textbooks, es over print, literacy can no longer be defined in the old traditional context. Today's technologies make it almost impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality,between fiction and facts, (Considine 1995)

This paper is a research on media literacy, the ability to read, analyze, evaluate and produce nation in a variety of media forms of television, print, radio and internet. earch is on the one hand, an inquiry on the existence and level of media literacy skills Namibian young people and on the other an exploration on the impact of media fas a global counter pedagogy of mass media

The Search explores the different theories on the role of mass media in shaping and emancipating ideologies. It seeks to answer if the media are neutral, informative and a tool for emancipating masses. Or is the media a tool for ruling class ideas anda means for maintaining and emphasizing the status quo? Who really controls the media and whose interests do they represent?