ENCOUNTER: JOURNAL OF AFRICAN LIFE AND RELIGION

We are in living an era of media explosion. This fact has already been acknowledged by many scholars in the field of Information and Communication Technologies. The present stage in the evolution of media culture is pregnant with blessings and curses. Today, what humanity of makes out of this culture of digital media depends greatly on the ingenuity or creativity with which it is approached. The utmost desire of humanity is to maximize the utility of the blessings that derive from it and minimize the curses that are liable to it. One productive measure of achieving this dream is an inclusive and radical engagement in media pedagogy. This is a pragmatic and worthwhile measure to curb the already increasing excesses of the “curses” made out of the present media culture. One outstanding example of the many cases of abuse of the media culture today is the escalating democratization of information through all sorts of yellow journalism or commercialization of information, especially through social media platforms. The radical response needed to turn the present media culture into an instrument of learning, creativity, positive cultural and political engagements, and an environment of friendship requires a creative collaboration of relevant spiritual, political, and other social institutions, especially the Catholic Church and the States. This is the hub of this article. Our focus is to investigate the phenomenon of media culture today, its effects on humanity, and to indicate some pragmatic measures through which the Church in collaboration with political and social institutions can contribute to transforming the present-day media culture into an instrument, environment, and an experience of love, truth, justice, solidarity, and fraternity for humanity as a whole.

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