Media Literacy is Something Everyone Should Strive for

Media literacy is a term that seems to be thrown around more and more commonly these days. However, there seem to be conflicting ideas on what being “media literate” truly means.

According to Britanica, media literacy is the use of critical thinking to analyze mass media, especially in an age of misinformation and disinformation. Media literacy itself is a broad term, which characterizes the movement associated with the phrase. Different media educators base their ideas of media literacy on different theoretical perspectives.

The one thing that almost all agree on? The fact that media is more prominent in people’s lives then ever before, enforcing the importance of developing critical thinking skills for this content.

No matter what types of media you consume, someone is constructing or producing it. These actors, whether you believe it or not, work within particular groups, whether social or political or historical or something else. Their job is to get a particular reaction from their audiences.

Media literacy is the act of deconstructing these efforts, especially in a time where the media a person hears can very well affect their sense of reality.

This isn’t just a problem for one generation. While younger generations may be more susceptible to the influence of someone’s agenda, other generations are at risk as well.

You are not immune to being influenced. But you’re not powerless either. You have the capability to do additional research, to take a step back and look at something from a different perspective.

After all, you shouldn’t believe everything you see, hear, or read online.

For The Collegian Editorial Board.

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