Yes, people should increase their media literacy skills and habits, but why? Increasing media literacy is important for several factors. One factor being that there is a lot of misinformation spread and published in todays world. Since the explosion and constant growth of the internet it is very easy for anybody to post or read false information or in other terms “FAKE News”. This is why people need to become media literate. With this issue somebody who is media literate that detects questionable information can take that evidence, research it further, and come to a conclusion whether that article or story is true or not.
According to niallmcnulty.com Media literacy is essential because it helps people understand the messages that are being communicated to them. With so many sources of information today, media literacy can help people identify reliable sources and filter through the noise to get at the truth. This brings us straight back to our first paragraph on why we should increase media literacy and shows a perfect example how important media literacy actually is.
In other words being media literate means to be able to critically think. The definition of critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. Somebody who is literate in the media may read in between the lines of an article and understand the journalist, reporter, or editor on a more understanding level over somebody who is not media literate.
Overall, we live in a completely saturated and media driven society where media is everywhere. From our computers, smart phones, televisions, tablets, news papers, posters, media is and will always be around and it’s not going anywhere. It will never hurt you to become media literate, in fact it will help benefit you in our world today.
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