Media Literacy

You can’t trust everything you see on the Internet…

You’ve probably heard this from an adult in your life… about a million times. But these days, we rely on the Internet for information—for news, test prep help, haircut ideas, recipes, you name it. How do we separate what’s reliable from what isn’t?

When it comes to making a Crash Course video, it’s essential that all of the information we present is accurate. So we’ve got some strategies for how to spot when information online is incorrect, whether it’s shared on purpose or not. Explore the Big Questions, Key Terms, and more below to learn how to know when a piece of media is the real deal.

Think Critically for a Second…

Why do you think someone might try to mislead their viewer/reader?
Can you think of something you’ve seen or read recently that was disinformation? How did you know?
Was there a time in your life when you spread misinformation? What happened?

Note your answers to these questions. We’ll return to them throughout the unit.

Key Terms:

Media includes all the things we use to communicate something, or the vehicles for a message.
The media, also called mass communication, is an umbrella term used to talk about newspapers, TV channels, websites, radio stations, movie studios, and more that create or distribute information to a wide audience.
Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication.
Media messages are the values and ideas that are promoted by the media, or the things that get put into them.
Media effects are the influences and consequences of media messages on audiences.
Misinformation is false information that spreads, regardless of what the spreaders intended.
Disinformation is a form of misinformation that’s spread intentionally to deceive, misguide, or influence public opinion.

Now that you have new vocabulary to talk about stories, how have your answers to our original questions changed?

Let’s get some context.

Watch Episode 1 of Crash Course Media Literacy. Jot down 3-5 bullet points of what you learned.

Can You Spot Disinformation?

Refer back to the key terms. Then, analyze the following situations.

Political Mischief?

A politician running for re-election says in a speech that his opponent was kicked out of the military for illegal drug use, when he knows that she was actually discharged because of a medical condition.

Yes. No. No (but it is misinformation).

Just a Typo?

A newspaper publishes an article saying that a fundraiser for cancer research raised $40,000 when it actually raised $400,000. A reader points out the error, and the newspaper publishes a correction.

Viral Sharks?

A popular influencer shares a statistic they read online about how common shark attacks are. It turns out the source wasn’t reliable and the statistic is wrong, but the video goes viral anyway.

Finally, let’s practice:

Analyze & Evaluate a Piece of Media

Using what you’ve learned so far, evaluate a piece of media. (Choose your own! A book, tv show, YouTube video, social media post, etc.) Fill in your observations, based on the following criteria:

Access: What kind of content did you absorb, and how did you get to it? Was it a social media post? A viral video? A newscast? Did you already know about it from friends, or did you find it via search?
Analyze: Were you making sense of its messages? Was the information clear and concise, or did it leave you feeling confused and unsure?
Evaluate: Were you aware that each message was created by someone with their own goals and opinions? Were those opinions and goals clear to you?
Create: When we create media like this, what is our responsibility to those who view it? Do you feel like these creators were responsible with their creation?
Act: Finally, what can you do with all that info you just received?