Empowering Minds: Media Literacy's Significant Role in the Modern World

Enhancing Critical Thinking for Lifelong Learners to Discern Truth in an Information-Driven Society

Don’t believe everything you read. Photo by Matthew Bamberg

Media literacy can help every lifelong learning adult and child in the United States to discern the truth by critically thinking about the characteristics of organizations, from corporations to non-profits, and influential individuals such as politicians, authors, journalists, and the media.

The value of integrating media literacy into various subjects and grade levels can't be underestimated. Researching sources is an activity that can start in the early grades by having students learn about authors' connections to stories that they have written. It can continue to graduate school by integrating media literacy and research methods into the curriculum of many subjects.

For example, a lesson in media literacy would include teaching the differences between fact and opinion, bias, and learning about the difference between primary and secondary sources. The rebellion of anti-media literacy proponents, now in its infancy, has surfa…