New readers, new reading skills and meaning: challenges for media and information literacy

Recognizing the importance of developing the information and media literacy in contemporary society, this article discusses the scenario of hybrid languages born on cyberspace, hypertext and the new types of readers who interact with information, now disseminated by digital media. As theoretical references authors such as Lucia Santaella, we develop arguments that present the headquarters of language and thought within a semiotic support. Matrices help to understand the phenomenon of hybrid language in hypertext. Therefore, we emphasize that the development of skills associated with the new reading environments propitiated by the virtual environment requires the understanding of language, which is one of the concepts used within the media and information literacy (MIL) proposal of Unesco, which combines the two concepts and skills of information and media literacy. It is hoped that this article motivate scholars and practitioners of education and information to take responsibility to educate for information environments that arise with new media and technologies, emphasizing the issue of reading and language.

Critical training of mass media documentalists

This study takes the old myth of objectivity in media discourse to one of the most important but unrecognized actors in the process of its construction: the mass media information scientist or documentalist. Accepting the subjective presence of the documentalist in his/her productions, this article opts for the recognition and explicit statement of this role, recommending two actions. First, we suggest that public higher education institutions combine the technical training of mass media documentalists with training in critical thinking skills. Our study analysed the subjects covered in course syllabi to detect the deficiencies to be addressed in meeting this objective. Second, we propose alternative lines of training that can contribute to cross-training of mass media documentalists in those degree programs to ensure that they acquire the needed skills in critical analysis.