Status of Media Literacy Education in Pakistan
Abstract
This research was aimed to identify the media literacy education practices prevalent in the selected universities of Karachi, Pakistan. This is qualitative research, consisting of 13 in-depth interviews of media faculties from public, private, and semi-private universities of Karachi. Sample was extracted through purposive sampling technique. Key findings reveal that media literacy education has become inevitable for all media audiences particularly after experiencing infodemic during covid 19. Besides that, lack of synchronicity between public and private sector universities in terms of resource allocation and capacity building initiatives was significantly addressed by the respondents thus reflecting the absence of media literacy component in the national higher education policy of Pakistan. Academicians are cognizant of the inevitable need of media literacy; but due to the absence of media literacy curriculum guidelines, their pedagogical inclinations reflect their individual subject orientation and technical expertise only.
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