In the age of social media, fake news and data-driven capitalism, the need for critical understanding is more urgent than ever. Half-baked ideas about ‘media literacy’ will lead us nowhere: we need a comprehensive and coherent educational approach. We all need to think critically about how media work, how they represent the world, and how they are produced and used.

In this manifesto, leading scholar David Buckingham makes a passionate case for media education. He outlines its key aims and principles, and explores how it can and should be updated to take account of the changing media environment.

Concise, authoritative and forcefully argued, The Media Education Manifesto is essential reading for anyone involved in media and education, from scholars and practitioners to students and their parents.

Review

‘With his characteristic clarity and wisdom, David Buckingham skilfully guides media teachers, students and researchers towards a critical media education suitable for digital times.

’David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds‘Buckingham positions media education as an expanded conceptualization of literacy and explains how it is essential for the ever-changing digital worlds we now inhabit.

’Renee Hobbs, University of Rhode Island