Global Divides and Transnational Media Literacy

Abstract

The present article explores the challenges of global divides for media researchers through the example of a foreign reporter’s blog from an area of intense conflict in Pakistan, where he was threatened by religious students. The event triggering the threats was an MMS containing a Norwegian-made cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The reporter’s initial entry to the blog after this event received a large number of re sponses from a mainly national audience, although the event itself was of a transnational character The chain of events underlines the need to further explore how, with the help of modern technology, national media events may transcend continents and be reinterpreted in very dif ferent circumstances, while the debate mainly remains constrained by national boundaries. Furthermore it demonstrates how such a transnational event may be seen as an inspiration for academics concerned with global journalism and discusses the concept “transnational media literacy” as a tool of interpretation.