I think that it would be really interesting to look at media depiction of literacy and illiteracy from a historic perspective. If media depiction of literacy and illiteracy is not majorly concerned with depicting accurate representations of literacy, and is instead mostly concerned with depicting representations of literacy which are newsworthy or increase readership and/or viewership, then it may be assumed that the depictions of literacy and illiteracy presented by the media would be representative of that society’s view of which groups are most disadvantaged and which are believed to be more powerful.
For example, if we were to consider media depictions of literacy and illiteracy in Chicago over the last century or so, since the Irish were considered to be the most downtrodden of residents, would conversations surrounding illiteracy depict the Irish in photographs? Another question is whether or not there were media depictions of African Americans as representations of illiteracy around the same time. If literacy is considered a saving grace, would media depictions of illiteracy and the representations of the Irish in such depictions act as a source of outrage for the general public and thus a way to facilitate change and upward mobility for the Irish?
I think that the idea of media depictions of literacy and the ability to use such depictions as a mechanism for initiating societal change would be extremely interesting to investigate.
