Eighth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

We live in a media-saturated environment where avoiding disinformation is impossible and the marketplace of ideas is flooded with opinion disguised as fact. This session provides participants strategies to employ to determine the credibility of media information. Citizens in a democracy need accurate and reliable information to function in a free society. Media literacy as a field dates to the 1970s and was designed to give citizens the tools needed to access, understand, analyze, evaluate and create mediated communication. Media literacy employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the veracity of media messages. The session offers participants the opportunity to apply media literacy tools and strategies to evaluate real-world media messages. Engaging with a selection of tools will give participants a framework to use in their classrooms, workplaces and personal lives. A media literacy mindset is essential for citizens to make informed decisions about their lives, communities, societies and government.