The Role of Media Literacy
Image by iStock/axel2001 What is Media Literacy? Media literacy is a term that describes a set of skills needed in order for individuals to access, understand, and decode media messages. This involves critical thinking skills, as well as having an understanding of how messages shape who we are and how information bias works. Media literacy does not just involve the consumption of media but the creation of it as well, which comes in a variety of forms and often combines text, images, video, or sound. Why is Media Literacy Important? These skills are more important now than ever before in the 21st Century. It is estimated that the average person consumes over 7.5 hours of media in a day. What we know about the creators of media is that very few companies are in charge of a large percentage of the media we consume daily. According to Tech Startups 37 years ago 50 companies controlled American media but today 6 "media giants" control 90% of our media - what we watch, listen to,...