What is media literacy?

Media literacy can be defined as the combination of skills that helps people analyze the content of media messages that they receive and that they send (Trilling and Fadel, 2012). If you possess media literacy, you are able to vet sources and see which ones are reliable, avoid fake news, maximize your digital experience, and create online. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of strengthening media literacy skills, and how these skills are often lacking in underserved communities.

Why is it important?

It is essential to be media literate because it makes you a critical thinker. Critical thinking skills are important to be an strong student, wise consumer, and productive member of society and the workforce. It is so easy to be passive in our consumption, but it is important to resist this. Since children are being exposed to media and technology at younger and younger ages, it is important for this education to be taught at school. I remember receiving a presentation on reliable sources and fake news at my high school, but not all schools prioritize this. Media conglomerates and advertisers profit off the lack of media literacy in consumers, which Smith discusses in their interview.

Open dialogues about media literacy and factual information can create conflict, why does this happen?

Since forms of media and the works they produce all have a bias to them, it is not surprising that they can cause controversy. Someone can experience an event and have a completely different perspective on it than another person. That does not necessarily mean that one of the individuals is spreading false information, but rather, have a disagreement in opinion. Media literacy allows consumers to distinguish fact from fiction.

Works Cited

EDCI 338 (2020, Nov 1). A01 Smith, Julie [Video file]. Retrieved from YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_T9RghwJlI&feature=youtu.be

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2012). Digital Literacy Skills. In 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.