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Importance of Media Literacy for Political Communication in Russia: A Case of Student Community
Authors: Ilya Bykov, Maria Medvedeva
Number of views: 9
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a new model of political communication with the emphasis on media literacy as an important factor for political information dissemination in the society suggesting new perspectives for political public relations activities. The authors combine concepts from media literacy studies (Buckingham, 2003; Carlsson, 2019; Jones-Jang et al., 2021; Len-Ríos et al., 2016; Rasi et al., 2021), public relations research (Friedenberg, 1997; Holladay, Coombs, 2013; Moloney, 2006; Newman, 1999), and public opinion theory (Bykov, Kuzmin, 2017; Lilleker, 2014; McNair, 2007; Simons, 2019; Zaller, 1992) to derive a four-component model, conceptualizing the importance of media literacy for political communication in Russia, comprising specific factors into a four components: socio-demographic profile, media literacy, media effects, and political effects. Results show how socio-demographic profile, media literacy, media effects, and political effects vary in affecting the process of political communication in Russia. It is also demonstrated how digital literacy acts as a mediator in the political communication process. The study relies on the results of the available public opinion polls in Russia (Kazakov, 2017; Levada-Center, 2019) and online survey (N = 632) conducted by the authors in the beginning of 2021.