Home > Reference Group > Question and Answer

Reference Group

Question:

samanthastilphen
samanthastil...
Student
High School - 9th Grade

What is the definition of Media Literacy and the importance of it? 

Rate question:

Posted by samanthastilphen on Saturday November 7, 2009 at 10:36 AM and tagged with media literacy media project defintion, reference.

Answers:


  1. pohnpei397 Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    Media literacy essentially means not believing everything you read or hear in the media.  It means that when you read or hear something in the media, you need to be able to analyze it and think critically about it so you know whether you should believe it or not.  So... media literacy is the ability to analyze stuff you hear or read and make judgements about how believable it is.

    Why is it a big deal?  Well, everything we know about the world around us comes through the media (except what we can actually see for ourselves).  The only way I know about global warming, or the war on terror or health care I know because I read or heard about it.  So if I don't have any media literacy I have no clue whether what I'm hearing or reading could possibly be true.

    This is especially important today when there are so many ways to get information, especially on the internet, that may or may not be credible.

    Sources:
    http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_lite...

    Rate answer:

    Posted by pohnpei397 on Saturday November 7, 2009 at 10:40 AM