- Persuasion and reasoning.
- Media literacy and digital citizenship.
- Decoding media messages.
- Recognizing fake news.
- Algorithms and social media.
- Media literacy advocacy.
Interview with: Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director, National Association for Media Literacy Education; Tim Borchers, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Peru State College
Resources: Media Literacy, by James Potter (book);
How Fantasy Becomes Reality, by Karen Dill (book);
Persuasion in the Media Age, by Timothy Borchers (book);
NAMLE.net, website for the National Association for Media Literacy Education + affiliated media organizations;
medialiteracynow.org, website for Media Literacy Now, current media literacy legislation by state;
factcheck.org, A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center;
Freepress.net, getting citizens involved in media decisions;
Snopes.com, a fact checking website;
Eff.org, nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation;
TED.com, TED Talks about algorithms and social media;
Key Questions to ask when analyzing media messages:
Audience & Authorship-
- Who paid for this?
- Who made this message?
- Why was this made?
- Who is the target audience and how do you know?
- Who might benefit from this message?
- Who might be harmed by it?
- Why might this message matter to me?
- What kinds of actions might I take in response to this message?
Messages & Meanings-
- What is this about and what makes you think that?
- What ideas, values, information and/or points of view are overt? Implied?
- What is left out of this message that might be important to know?
- What messaging techniques are used?
- Why were those techniques used?
- How do they communicate the message?
- How might different people understand the message differently?
Representations & Reality-
- When was this made?
- Where or how was it shared with the public?
- Is this fact, opinion, or something else?
- How credible is this and what makes you think that?
- What are the sources of information, ideas, or assertions?