“Are We in the Same Boat? Screenagers, Gatekeepers, & Gratekeepers in the New Literacy Universe”

Abstract

Screenagers are what this reporter calls those abled and enabled young people often described as «digital natives» or computer malchiki (i devushki). These children, this rising generation or generations coming-of-age in the 21st century, those born after what one befuddled public intellectual labeled «the end of history», in other words those born after or at least reared significantly in the wake of Soviet power’s demise, what one significant keen observer-participant deemed «the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century», or brought up, educated, and adopting world views in the digital age face combined developments, coincident revolutions or partial revolutions, that make more difficult the task of being effective, critical-minded news consumers.