The Importance Of Media Literacy

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Media has grown drastically over the last 100 years, and we have become accustomed to it being a part of our everyday lives. Media is such an influential part of our society that we forget that not all media is created equally. Media has become so widespread that we might be oblivious to the messages right in front of our faces. Media such as television, newspaper, radio, Internet, social media, and billboards have created an information epidemic that has the ability to influence a person’s thoughts and ideas. Media literacy is a tool that allows people to take information and evaluate it so they can form their own thoughts and ideas about the information presented to them. Media literacy allows people to decipher information that is opinionated, …show more content…

Media literacy gives us the ability to understand the information and process the underlying meanings within. According to the video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009), media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in all its forms. The video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009) refers to media literacy as a skill that allows people to be critical thinkers, which makes it more difficult for others to influence a person’s thoughts and ideas. With the massive amounts of media available, we need to be able to decipher the meanings beneath the messages. Media literacy is more important than ever in today’s society because of the advancements in technology and the increase of all forms of media. In today’s society, we should make an effort to change our ways and use a culturalist approach to media literacy. “A culturalist approach to media literacy education views mass media as an integral part of the cultural lives of youth, not an outside force to be resisted or overcome” (Mittell 391). With the amount of media we are all exposed to, we need to give our younger generation the appropriate education on how to analyze and evaluate the media that they will be bombarded with. With the evolution of technology and media, it is absolutely crucial that we include media literacy in the education process for the sake of the younger

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