Dimensions of Media Literacy from the Intercultural Perspective of Digital Transformation

This paper explores the multifaceted intersection of media literacy (ML) and intercultural communication (IC) within the rapidly shifting digital landscape. ML/IC overlap with the socio-cultural, economic, political, and socio-political tendencies, dimensions, and discourses of the globalized interconnected world. In these fluid digital ecosystems, understanding their synergy is essential for navigating complex media environments, where media users necessitate a guiding “orientation”, as conceptualized by Stegmaier, due to high, ubiquitous media exposure throughout individuals, social structures, and cultures. Employing a semi-systematic narrative review and thematic coding, this study introduces a Four-Dimensional Framework—comprising access and participation, representation and identity, interpretation and meaning-making, and ethical engagement—that illuminates the convergence of ML and IC and their implications in the digital era. Building on these dimensions, a Three-Layer Model is proposed, integrating foundational capabilities, interpretive competencies, and ethical-collaborative practices into a cohesive whole. Reframed through Stegmaier’s orientation philosophy, orientation is elevated to a cross-cutting meta-dimension, empowering media users to navigate—and shape—complex socio-cultural, economic, and political discourses on the global stage. Thus, this paper advocates a reflective, “alternative-thinking” approach to IC within fluid cultural contexts, highlighting the need for critical self-awareness and deeper inter-, intra- and cross-cultural understanding in a media-saturated world.