Media literacy, media education, and the academy

This initial essay in the Media Literacy Symposium serves two purposes. First, we introduce the nine authors who have written the eight essays especially for this symposium. Second, we provide a broad context for the thinking expressed by those nine scholars. In building that context, we discuss;a range of conceptual and application issues. The conceptual issues focus on the range of definitions for both media and literacy. The application issues include considerations about curriculum design, teaching, and the assessment of media literacy.