Manuel Pinto reflected on Media Education in the Braga library

On the evening of October 24, another Encounter of Citizenship was held at the Biblioteca-Lúcia Craveiro da Silva, in Braga. The monthly initiative promoted by Civitas-Braga, Association for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, was dedicated to Media Literacy. This time the guest was Manuel Pinto, Full Professor at the University of Minho, a specialist in communication and media education policies and a CECS researcher.

The event was part of the cycle that the Civitas-Braga Association has promoted every last Tuesday of the month, more than ten years ago. It began with the question of whether or not the communication comes from the media, which led to another one: what is necessary for the reader to grasp meanings beyond the visible? And also to the questioning about the paradoxical lack of transparency of the media about themselves. Who produces the content? And why are them produced? What mission/purpose do they fulfill?

Manuel Pinto framed the problem capturing the attention of those present, mapping the field and looking at the conventional media, from analog to digital media, and to social networks as a privileged way for production and transmission of information. With the library auditorium filled with attentive citizens, the conference was opened for discussion, and finished with a video on the importance of being competent media and the relevance of the media to live in freedom and to actively participate in society of the European Association for Viewers Interests.
With these Meetings, Civitas-Braga intends to expand the horizons for the application of Human Rights, fostering the spirit of democratic dialogue and citizenship.

Text: Inês Granja
Photo: José Rocha