The Importance of Media Literacy

The 2020 census will be one for the record books, and not because a citizenship question might be added to the list. The 2020 census will be the first conducted by technology, moving away from paper for the first time since 1790. While filling out the census may seem convenient, it is also bringing to light many questions and concerns about false information infiltrating a system that could have major effects on society and politics for the next decade.

The number one concern about internet responses and technology being used for the census is hacking and the security of the electoral system. While officials are worried about malicious online interference, they are also worried that the American people aren't media literate enough to know if they are actually filling out the real census and not a fake one.

However, the issue of media literacy also has broader implications than just filling out the census. Commonsensemedia.org defines media literacy as "the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages they're sending." But before dismissing media literacy as oversimplistic, like this definition, consider how many media messages people consume a day. Do most take the time to carefully analyze each message that comes their way or do they mindlessly consume anything and everything thrown at them?

The answer for most people is no.

Media literacy is essential for many things, including voting. The United States saw this in 2016 when the Russians interfered in the presidential election. Their Facebook campaigns targeted Trump supporters and even got campaign officials, such as Kellyanne Conway, to share things the Russians had posted. If these officials, and voters, had been media literate, they would have been able to evaluate these posts before sharing them and realize they were not from credible sources.

It's hard to know what would have happened if these Russian disinformation campaigns had not been part of the election, including a possible different outcome, but there is a strong possibility that U.S. citizens would have at least been able to make more informed decisions at the ballot box.

Disinformation is so high and media literacy is so low that schools are now actively focusing on teaching their students on how to be more media literate, something they have never had to do before.

According to an NPR article titled "Students In Ukraine Learn How To Spot Fake Stories, Propaganda And Hate Speech," Ukrainian schools have already started implementing media literacy lessons into their curriculum and are seeing results.

According to the article, IREX, a global education organization, conducted a report that said, "students were twice as likely to detect hate speech and 18 percent better at identifying fake news than students who missed out on those lessons."

Interesting enough, the report further found that girls were more media literate.

"The girls did better at separating fact from opinions, on news media knowledge and on analysis skills," says Mehri Druckman, IREX's country representative in Ukraine.

Dr. Nancy Cheever, Chair of the Communications Department, said the whole communications program at California State University, Dominguez Hills involves teaching media literacy. "Everything that we do is geared toward media literacy and ensuring that students are well aware of how to practice media, how to evaluate it, how to synthesize it, and understanding all of the nuances that go on, not just the nuts and bolts," Dr. Cheever said.

"In a general way, what we provide the students with is a solid foundation in the areas of history, technology, forms, and stories that have been told in media," Dr. John Vanderhoef, Assistant Professor in the Communications Department, said.

Beginning with the course Media and Society, most COM majors are exposed to a revised curriculum of lower and upper division courses that help students develop their critical thinking skills for creating, interpreting, and analyzing media. This includes studying media creators, forms, messages, effects, and audiences. As Communications students progress through their respective degree programs, their courses also become more specialized and increasingly focus on media literacy.

For example, all Communications students are required to take the Digital Media Tool Kit course, which allows them to learn the basics for producing content using an array of digital media platforms and programs.

"It puts all the students on the same page," Dr. Vanderhoef said.

But that is only the beginning. In the FTVM degree program, students are required to take two media history classes. In the Journalism degree program, students are required to take a news and information literacy course. Journalism students then progress to working on the school newspaper, The Bulletin, where they learn firsthand how the messages they produce are interpreted by their peers.

In the Advertising and Public Relations degree program, students take a media analysis and research methods class, where they study the different effects media have on people. Students in the Film, Television, and Media degree program take a media and representation class, where they can learn the implications of media messages on society.

While all of these classes cover different subjects and are tailored to each degree program, they all involve media literacy.

"Teaching students how to read media critically," Vanderhoef said. "Teaching them the foundations of cultural media studies. To be able to look at any media text, from an advertisement to a picture to a film to a video game, etc., and sort of read it critically for the way dominant ideologies have been embedded in the text, either purposefully or not purposefully."

Dr. Cheever explains that media literacy is especially important now when there is such a large emphasis placed on fake news.

The implications of not being media literate are quite severe. Take the aforementioned 2020 census. If citizens fill out phony censuses, not only will the census be inaccurate, but those inaccuracies could cause reapportionment or redistricting. This translates into who and how many people are representing communities. It could be the difference between having your voice heard on local or national issues or being silenced.

Media literacy can also impact how informed people are about other significant issues facing society, including global warming, institutional racism, gender inequality, or even basic news stories. That is why having a strong focus on media literacy is so important to aspiring media professionals because it will be their responsibility to create media messages that are authentic, accurate, and ethical so that the rest of society can be adequately informed to make their most important decisions, whether they are filling out the census or filling out a ballot.