Media Literacy in the Time of Covid

In the early stages of the pandemic, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world was not only fighting coronavirus “but our enemy is also the growing surge of misinformation”. (Associated Press, 28.3.20). Media literacy in the time of Covid is situated at an intersection between its value as an educational innoculation against misinformation in general and the urgency of a rapid response to misinformation about the virus. Media literacy in this context takes on a role in public health. This article reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of media literacy in both contexts, collating findings from reviews conducted for the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), European Commisssion, US Embassy and UK Office of Communications (OFCOM), together with a rapid evidence analysis of media literacy with an applied, specific focus on ‘Covid fake news’