Media Literacy in a Digital Age

Media literacy is the ability to identify different types of media from a wide array of sources and understand the messages they contain (Hobbs, 1997). In its simplest form, media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media; as such, it plays an important role in education, development, and innovation. 

Media literacy education first began in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was a direct result of war propaganda in the 1930s and the rise of advertising in the 1960s. During that time, the media was used to manipulate people’s perspectives; thus, there was a need to educate people on how to detect the biases, falsehoods, and half-truths depicted in print, radio, and television. 

Nowadays, the information people receive comes from an interconnected system of media technologies. While these resources allow for more diverse voices and stories to be heard, it also opens the door for misinformation and manipulation. From manipulating images and videos to even online intimidation, there are plenty of tactics being used every day to confuse and mislead. Many students are flooded with too much information. How do we know which are true and which are false? The key to answering this dilemma is media literacy. 

According to a poll, 85% of students get their information from social media. Some 14-year-olds may be better at gathering information than their parents and grandparents. But how do we equip audiences to be conscious news consumers in this environment with seemingly no rules? 

First, Recognize Common Misconceptions: 

● Criticizing the media is not in itself media literacy 

● Merely producing media is not media literacy  (although part of being media literate is the ability to produce media) 

● Teaching with media, such as using videos, 

presentations, etc., does not equal media literacy 

(nevertheless, an education in media literacy must also 

include teaching with and about media) 

● Viewing media from a single perspective and 

analyzing it from a single perspective is not media literacy 

Second, What Media Literacy Requires: 

True media literacy requires both the ability and willingness to view and analyze media from multiple positions and perspectives. 

1. Learn to think critically: When people evaluate media, they decide if the messages and key ideas make sense before being convinced of the information within it. 

2. Become smart consumers of products and information: Media literacy helps individuals learn how to determine whether something is credible before being persuaded by what is being offered.

3. Recognize Points of View: Identifying with the author’s perspective can help individuals appreciate different ideas in the context of what they already know

4. Create media responsibly: Recognizing one’s ideas and expressing them appropriately can lead to effective communication. 

5. Identify the role of media in our culture: Media shapes people’s understanding of the world, and can makes an individual act or think in certain ways. 

Third, Learn to Read Laterally: an especially important reading skill today.  Reading laterally is an online information evaluation strategy where you move off a webpage to open new tabs and research the source itself, its author, or its claims in other places across the web. This “sideways reading” helps you figure out if what you are reading is credible or not. If you find something that you think is trying to make you feel a certain way, ask yourself: why am I feeling like this? Do I believe this or have I just heard that something happened without checking? 

Media literacy has absolutely nothing to do with which side of the debate you are on. It doesn’t matter if you are conservative or liberal; you should be able to look at whatever article you’re reading through a critical lens. You can have an opinion on either side, but you should be able to validate that opinion with facts. 

Fourth, ask 5 powerful questions when consuming media: 

1. Who created this message? 

2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? 

3. How might different people understand this message differently? 

4. What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in or omitted from this message? 5. Why is this message being sent? 

All of us can become better digital citizens as we consume, produce, and share our own stories. If each of us practice lateral reading skills and the 5 key questions in our activities, we will move closer to a positive and well-informed civic environment. Media literacy is not hard to have, people just need an open mind and willingness to learn. 

References 

1. Hobbs, R. (2017). Measuring the digital and media literacy competencies of children and teens. In F. C. Blumberg & P. J. Brooks (Eds.), Cognitive development in digital contexts (pp. 253–274). Elsevier Academic Press. 

2. Boyd, Danah (2014). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens (PDF). New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. pp. https://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf.

3. https://www.stagwellglobal.com/what-the-data-say-85-of-young-people-get-their-news-from-social-m edia/ 

4. Literacy for the 21st Century/Orientation & Overview, Center for Media Literacy (CML) /www.medialit.org