Defining the Levels of the Audience's Media Competence and Critical Thinking in Sociological Surveys

The author of the article agrees that sociological researches of the levels of media literacy/competence of different groups of citizens are very timely today. However such researches require a significant shift of emphasis: the most important indicator should be the audience's ability to analyze and evaluate media messages and media's role in society (including a media text's analysis); only afterwards such skills as creation and communication of own media production and skills to use media technology should follow. The article attempts to illustrate that otherwise the findings of sociological surveys on media competence will display a common flaw - the overestimation of user's skills. The author emphasizes that media literacy does not benefit from its reduction as a technical matter