Macroauthorities and Microliteracies: The New Terrain of Information Politics

Abstract

A continuum model helps us understand contemporary information politics. One end describes authority-centric approaches, including governments and digital corporations, while the other focuses on teaching individual skills and the understanding needed to grapple productively with the digital information ecosystem. The extremes represent opposed views of human agency, current information enterprises, and the nature of media. We apply this continuum to two examples, QAnon and COVID-19. Two instances attempt to connect the model's two poles. We conclude with a forecast of the continuum's viability and then project its application forward in education.