Media Literacy and Universal Access in Europe

The promotion of media literacy as way of increasing access to the range of services available via today's media and communication technologies is currently an emphasis in Europe's information society policy debates. The notion of media literacy heralds a shift in the communications policy arena, especially with regard to media access as a policy goal. Taking into account the situated origins of the inherited regulatory concepts of access, this article argues that the way in which we operationalize media access must reflect how individuals engage with convergent electronic media services. It proposes a context- and user-sensitive approach, where the situation of media (non)users is assessed in terms of the technological and social infrastructure needed to support their access to particular media services.