As adults, we often navigate a sea of contradictory media reports. With age, it becomes easier to pick up on the nuances, biases, and misinformation within such reports. However, we can’t expect the youth to understand the complexities of the media.
That’s because their sole understanding of the media often comes from what they see on social media or their parents. The inability to discern fact from fiction and understand the complexities of such reports is a slippery slope.
This wouldn’t be a major concern if public schools educated students about media literacy. That way, we can teach the youth to critically analyze information instead of believing everything they read. Follow along as we explore why media literacy should be taught in public schools.
The Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
It’s become harder than ever to separate fact from fiction. In reality, you won’t often find articles that outright lie about current events, at least not from major publications. However, even the biggest media outlets often package information in such a way that they control how the reader perceives it.
Everything from the order in which they deliver facts to the words such journalists use can sway the reader. This makes it hard for readers of all ages to determine what is true, and what is simply the writer’s opinion. Diluting facts with buzzwords and filler meant to hit readers in the feeling is dangerous.
That won’t change anytime soon, but we can at least prepare young students to critically analyze such content. This starts in the classroom, and it’s a skill they can utilize for the rest of their lives. The more the youth think for themselves and compare resources, the more well-informed they will be.
Media Literacy Skills the Youth Must Know
Many people find themselves becoming more media-literate as adults as they weren’t taught it as kids. Could you imagine having that knowledge as a child or teenager? The ability to navigate tough subjects without someone else’s influence is invaluable. Our youth can benefit from being taught even just a few media literacy skills, such as:
Critical Thinking
Many people can relate to taking what they hear on the news as ironclad information at one time or another. However, you can quickly distinguish fact, fiction, and subjective language if you think about the information critically. One way to do this is to read several reports on the same subjects from different outlets.
In doing so, students can learn that they can’t necessarily put their stock in something they read online or hear on TV. Evaluation, analysis, and communication skills can help students discuss and interpret the information they get from the media. Public schools typically have the resources to instill such knowledge.
It’s also important to consider that some large companies own several media outlets. That’s why you can often find several reports that use surprisingly similar wording, if not the same wording altogether. A quick Google search can let you know if two outlets share the same parent company, and that’s something that we can teach in schools.
Understanding Bias
Bias is a large part of why media literacy isn’t universally taught in public schools. Some people understandably fear that media literacy classes will be tainted by the same biases as the media itself. However, public schools can easily teach students how to discern biases without encouraging them to lean toward a specific opinion.
For example, we can teach students to look into a media outlet’s background and political leaning. Doing so can help them understand how outlets report the news in a way that suits their beliefs. Encouraging students to compare outlets based on their biases and see how they stack against non-partisan outlets is valuable.
This can quickly reveal how language and reporting tactics vary based on an outlet’s agenda. Many outlets share the same journalism skills but vary in how they use them. Teaching students to identify biases can help them separate agendas from the root of the truth itself.
Break Stories Down
Facts lie in the center of any reputable news story. However, they are often surrounded by buzzwords and quotes that make it hard to identify them. Public schools can teach students to break news stories down to their core elements.
Elements like the timeline, context, perspective, proximity, and human interest are at the core of most stories. A well-written news story is typically easy to break down into these elements. Once you understand the facts, you can more easily form a personal opinion about the story.
For example, a student can take a story about the rise of nursing as a second career and list the key facts from it. Once they understand the facts and context, they can determine its relevance to themselves and the world around them.
Media Literacy is an Academic Must
Today, we are inundated with media, whether it be on television, Facebook, or your favorite news site. The ability for anyone to share media reports without context makes it harder than ever to separate fact from fiction. That’s why we must prepare the youth to understand how much news reports vary when it comes to context and wording.
That way, the future generation can emerge from public school with critical thinking skills that past generations learned later in life. After all, it’s best to enter early adulthood as an independent, critical thinker who cares about the truth.