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The True Digital Divide:
Multimedia Literacy in the 21st Century
Elizabeth M. Daley
Executive Director
Annenberg Center for Communication
Dean, School of Cinema-Television
University of Southern California
For years discussions have raged around the topic of "The Digital Divide." Educators, policymakers, computer manufacturers and countless other parties with a stake in this issue have consistently framed it in the context of those who have access to digital devices and those who do not. Over the course of the past decade, that gap has clearly narrowed as a greater segment of the population has acquired the machines, software and networks that make up our digital infrastructure. With this increase in market penetration, some would argue the digital divide is a thing of the past. It is not. Clearly people have tremendous access to digital tools, but what they lack is access to is the underlying philosophy and ground rules that govern the effective use of these tools. As such, it is imperative that we recognize the true digital divide is between those who have mastered the "language of multimedia" and can effectively fuse sound, image and text, and those who have not. In an era when all modes of education, entertainment and knowledge sharing are increasingly based on multimedia technologies, it is essential that educators at all levels strive to develop this new language and make it a fundamental element of pedagogy in the 21st century.
 Elizabeth Monk Daley was named executive director of the USC Annenberg Center for Communication in 1994. Daley also serves as the dean of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, a post she assumed in 1991.
As Director of the Annenberg Center, she has overseen the development of a variety of research programs including the Labyrinth Project, which is a model for interactive narrative, and the Multimedia Literacy Program, which is dedicated to the recognition that true literacy in the 21st century demands fluency in the language of multimedia. The center supports several other projects, among them the student-run Trojan Vision television service and the Annenberg House student residential facility. It also hosts a number of conferences each year on the intersection of content and technology.
Prior to joining USC, Daley served as executive director of Taper Media Enterprises, the film and television subsidiary of the Mark Taper Forum, and as a producer for MGM/UA Television. Daley's television credits include "Right to Kill?" for ABC; "Tell Them I'm a Mermaid" and "Who Parks in Those Spaces" for Embassy Television; and "Vestige of Honor" for CBS.
Before joining Taper Media, Daley was an independent television producer in Washington, D.C., where she established a media-consulting group that produced a variety of art, educational, documentary and corporate programming for public television, the federal government and the private sector. She was also a member of the faculty of the School of Communication at American University.
Daley has served as a consultant to a variety of organizations, including the International Electronic Cinema Festival, Montreux/Tokyo; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Organization for Women; the Indo-U.S. Sub-commission on Arts and Education; the National Center for Economic Journalism; the National Institutes for Health; the American Association of University Women; the International Television Association; the Labor Institute of Public Arts; and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She serves as a member of the boards of the California Film Commission, the Center for Governmental Studies and the Benton Foundation.
Daley earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Tulane University and Newcomb College.
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