2024: 3C Against Conspiracy Theories: Considered, Checked, Countered. Critical (Social-) Media Literacy in Adult Education in Vienna

In recent decades, the rapid development of digital media has made (further) education in the area of critical media literacy and digital skills a prerequisite for the functioning of democratic societies. This raises at least two major problems:

First, misinformation, disinformation, emotionalization, scandalization, and conspiracy narratives circulate on a large scale in the digital sphere. Politically, these are dangerous for democracy: They spread stereotypical, discriminatory, and especially antisemitic content and offer universal, simplistic explanations for complex realities that often defy rational deliberation. Digital media therefore challenges users' media literacy – on the one hand, the algorithm-driven attention economy of the major platforms works against rational discourse on a fundamental level, and on the other hand, the sheer volume and speed of ‘news’ makes it difficult to verify information.

Second, digitalization itself leads to exclusion, for example, when a lack of digital skills makes it difficult to use digital tools independently, making communication with government agencies, educational institutions, or one's own bank difficult or even impossible without support. Digital exclusion is even more pronounced for people with limited German language skills or low literacy levels. Despite these needs, critical media education for adults is far less established than for young people.

Therefore, the project, which was funded by the City of Vienna/MA 7, investigated how adult education can promote critical media literacy, particularly among users facing educational barriers, i.e. focused on participatory and low-threshold settings.

Methodologically, the first part of the project surveyed the current structure of the field of adult education in Vienna through expert interviews with a wide range of stakeholders. Adult education is a highly segmented field, encompassing, e.g. continuing professional development, voluntary hobby-oriented learning opportunities, or basic education courses based on a uniform curriculum. Particularly in the area of critical media education, non-standardized learning venues are emerging as important actors, such as libraries or community media.

The second part of the project identified international good practices in two key areas: first, in the area of digital education in the post-professional phase of life, and second, in relation to pre-bunking, i.e., preventative information about disinformation ("information vaccination"). The identified strategies were discussed in two workshops with stakeholders from Vienna's adult education sector in spring 2024, and recommendations for policymakers and administrators, educational institutions, and trainers were formulated based on the results. The results were disseminated through a final conference in April 2024 and through the joint publication of articles by the project team in academic and practice-oriented publications.

Publications (in German):

Kritische Medienkompetenz in der Erwachsenenbildung. Tania Napravnik im Gespräch mit Stefanie Mayer. Ein Beitrag in der Sendereihe COMMITed – Kritische Medienkompetenz im Fokus auf Radio Orange vom 9. September 2024. https://cba.media/675443

Auf der Website erwachsenenbildung.at erschien ein Bericht von der Abschlusskonferenz am 18.04.2024: Wie kritische Medienbildung gelingen kann, 28.05.2024, https://erwachsenenbildung.at/aktuell/nachrichten/19294-wie-kritische-medienbildung-gelingen-kann.php

Mühlbauer, Josef/ Fridrik, Stefanie/ Mayer, Stefanie/ Temel, Brigitte/ Eberhardt, Viktoria (2024): Kritische Medienkompetenz in der Erwachsenenbildung als aufgeklärte Medienpädagogik? In: Medienimpulse – Beiträge zur Medienpädagogik 62/2024. https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/mp/article/view/8550
Direkter Link zum PDF: https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/mp/article/download/8550/8640/25198

Fridrik, Stefanie/ Mayer, Stefanie/ Temel, Brigitte/ Eberhardt, Viktoria (2023): Baustelle kritische Medienbildung in Wien. https://erwachsenenbildung.at/aktuell/nachrichten/18639-baustelle-kritische-medienbildung-in-wien.php