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Surviving in the World: Media Literacy Now in the digital world


Good morning. Welcome back to Surviving in the World (SIW), your newsletter written by CI students for anyone interested in global affairs. We always try to present select topics in global news in an easy-to-understand format.

 

Today's letter provides an overview of Media Literacy Now's mission and impact on media literacy education.

 

Brought to you by:Wendy An (’26).

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Word Count: 400 / Time: 3 minute read.

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Understanding media literacy

 

The Role of Media Literacy Now: Media Literacy Now, a non-profit organization, leads grassroots movements aimed at developing a public education system that equips students with essential 21st century skills for health, economic engagement, and citizenship.

 

  • Media Literacy Now has made such the concept of media literacy realistic and approachable, specifically towards students.

  • Currently, four states, New Jersey, Texas, Delaware, and California, require media literacy education for K-12 schools.

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What’s grassroots movement: A grassroots movement mobilizes local community members for political or economic initiatives, enabling collective action to create change at various levels, from local to international.

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Media literacy is key to understanding online behaviors, digital rights, and ethical use of technology. (source: @medialiteracynow instagram)
 

 

What’s Media Literacy: Media literacy education is a way to teach young people how to consume and evaluate information in our complex and ever-changing media landscape.

 

The aim: The aim is to empower students to ask critical questions and avoid manipulation. As the world becomes digitalized, a greater number of people are utilizing social media as a research tool.

 

The side-effects: While social media platforms help collect more diverse voices of stories, they have also opened the door to misinformation and manipulation.

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  • Specifically, cases of manipulating images, videos, news, and profiles have risen dramatically.

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Student Perspectives on Media Literacy Education: Students at South Brunswick School, located in New Jersey, have spoken about their experiences of media literacy education.

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  • Akshara Sathees, a 9th grade student at South Brunswick, described her experience as “it is hard to see which ones are true or not.”

  • Another student, Harrison Pekosz said, “I thought it was very interesting to think about the word choice that people use and how it can influence your opinions.”

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Key Challenges and Solutions in Media Literacy:

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  • Lisa Manganello, the librarian at South Brunswick School, pointed out key areas of issue, claiming “(about) 75% of students get their information from social media.”

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Media Literacy classes directly target such concerns:

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  • The classes teach students specific methods and techniques, such as lateral reading, to improve their knowledge of bias, credibility, and reliability.

  • The classes help students develop the ability to assess their sources critically and ultimately make wise decisions on which viewpoints to consider.

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