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Geographic media literacy: an introduction

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Abstract

In a media saturated world of globalization, information flow and knowledge economies, an interesting paradox exists: geographic literacy appears to be on the decline while geographic information is on the rise. In this introduction to a collection of essays on geographies of the media, we explore this paradox and use Baudrillard’s (1994) work on Simulacra and Simulation to argue that increased mediated information does not produce more meaning, but rather leads to a catastrophe of meaning and the medium. Drawing from McLuhan’s axiom, “the medium is the message,” we posit that with more mediated information there is less meaningful information and as such we need to address geographic media literacy as a primary mode through which to address geographic literacy.

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Notes

  1. http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm.

  2. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1322.

  3. A pollster and media adviser for the Bush Administration during Bush’s first term.

  4. Muntz’s retort came after the interviewer stated the following: “By 2000 the scientific consensus actually was not uncertain. It's essentially how it is today, which is the majority—a consensus of scientists believe that global warming is a fact.”

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Correspondence to Chris Lukinbeal.

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Lukinbeal, C., Craine, J. Geographic media literacy: an introduction. GeoJournal 74, 175–182 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9216-y

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