Media Literacy

Why is Media Creation Critical to Media Literacy?

It is important that we break down this question into parts. What is media literacy exactly?

According to NAMLE The National Association for Media Literacy Education) it is simply “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication.”(Journalism 101, 2020) As simple as that answer is it takes a moment to fully digest exactly what all those words mean when put together like that. To be literate you need to be able to decipher what it is you are reading, listening, or watching.  You need to be able to fully digest and analyze the messages you are given. The world has changed so much from just having the radio and newspapers feeding us information. Through social media, blogs, digital news articles, videos, we are, every day, inundated with information.

Now, back to the question at hand. Why is Media Creation Critical to Media Literacy?  All I can tell you is my opinion.  The world and all its information as well as how that information reaches us is constantly evolving. Journalism is seen differently now than it was back in the days of paper newspapers.  There is, in my opinion, a stigma now that hands over the word perhaps brought upon by things such as blogs, The Daily Mail and news stations such as Fox News. It used to be that News was supposed to be unbiased and neutral while the Journalistic opinions came out loud and clear in editorial pieces.(Media Literacy defined, 2021) When you read those pieces, you knew exactly what you were reading.  But with the advent of the entire Trump debacle News and Editorials have mixed in several ways.  People who write blogs now do so for a living. Some bloggers are viewed to be more believable and have a larger following than well known News stations. Strange times.

While I know the question is Why is Media Creation Critical to Media Literacy, I challenge the order of the wording.  I think a better question might be Why is Media Literacy Critical to Media Creation? That is an easier question for me to answer. Media Literacy keeps things in check. Read/listen/watch what people are saying, blogs, news, videos, analyze it all.  Chew it up, pick out the bones and do your own research.  It doesn’t have to be a thesis worth, just check on key points and then, only when you truly understand what you have digested, then you can talk/write about it. Because honestly, we don’t need anymore opinion pieces out there that aren’t backed by critical thinking and research.  The world is already a place full of hate, protests, fights, lies and wars. Don’t stoke the flames. Because maybe, before you post something, if you practice Media Literacy and flex those muscles, you can do more good than harm.