Background: In this technologically advanced era, media literacy is necessary to effectively evaluate the information and understand various biases inherent in media messages. Several media literacy (ML) tools are available; however, we need generic and objective tools that can be applied to all forms of media messages.Objectives: The current study aimed to develop and validate an objective and generalized measure of media literacy based on the previously available tools. This study suggested that the access component should be removed from the media literacy tools as recommended in previous literature. Methods:The total of 386 respondents, both males and females, were recruited from different universities in Lahore. The age of the sample ranged from 18 to 25 (M=20.98, SD=2.12), with an approximately equal proportion of males (47%) and females. Results and Conclusions:This study proposed a compact Media Literacy Scale (MLS) with 3 constructs: analyze (09 items; α=.76), evaluate (08 items; α=.72), and comprehend (07 items; α =76). This 24 items scale explains 55.4% variance was administered to 386 respondents aged 18 to 30 years (M=20.98, SD=2.12). This developed scale will help assess the baseline level of media literacy in the audience so that in the future, evaluation of the efficacy of media literacy, and media literacy programs could be provided.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by researching the direct effects of media and personal characteristics on online participation in climate change, indirect effects when mediated by interpersonal communication and personal characteristics as predictors of media communications as sources of information about climate change. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire is distributed to collect data about the uses of communication sources and online responses toward climate change by using a quota sampling technique. The structural equation modeling by using Smart PLS 4 is used to explore the effects’ size. Findings Small levels of direct and indirect effects are found. Direct effects are found in online newspapers, YouTube, television news, personal relevance toward climate change and political interest in online participation in climate change. Indirect effects are found of WhatsApp on online climate participation through interpersonal communication. Personal relevance toward climate change has motivated respondents to take information about climate change from Facebook. Climate skepticism is found among respondents who have received information from television news/talk shows, printed newspapers and WhatsApp. Practical implications University teachers in Pakistan will have to work on educational strategies to increase the knowledge of university students about energy generation through carbon and renewable energy sources. Originality/value The results of this study highlight the communicative-cultural dimensions of online discourse about climate change in the context of the less-researched country of Pakistan. This is the first study of researchers’ knowledge that comprehensively defines the digital media ecology in the context of climate change considering Pakistan.

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