Media literacy is crucial in the misinformation and Fake
news world that we live in. However, we should also focus on
information literacy. "Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze,
create, and participate in various forms of media, such as print, broadcast,
digital, and social media." "Information
Literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, use, and communicate information
effectively and ethically for a specific purpose." As a person who works
in a library, my goal when helping patrons with their research is to enhance
their media and information literacy skills. By enhancing both skills, patrons
will be informed citizens who impact their communities and governments more.
Hobb's five competencies, access, analysis, creation, reflection,
and acting, fit media and information literacy. Just because you can access the
information/media doesn't mean it is correct or outdated. I have repeatedly seen
people citing information from books or something seen in the media, which is entirely
incorrect. Two such "facts" are constantly repeated in pop culture
and by politicians. First, we only use 10% of our brains at a time. This is
incorrect, as fMRI scans
have found that no area of the brain is completely silent or inactive. The
second is that we don't have mature
brains until age 25. This is also incorrect. At the time of the first study,
MRIs were a new technology and costly, so scientists had to limit the number of
participants in their study. They decided to follow children aged four to 18 to
20. The scientists decided to cut the age off to 25. They did not continue the
study with the same participants years later. The study only focused on one
part of the brain as well.
All the competencies other than creation are essential
to students. As lifelong learners, we should have the skills to understand
media or information and not take what is given to us as "facts." I
do not believe that creating is an essential competency as it seems connected
to the recent mentality that we must always be "creating" things for
others' consumption, aka side businesses or hussle culture, and not just learning or experiencing
something for personal enjoyment.
The competency that relates significantly to McLuhan's "the
medium is the message" the best is the analysis competency. Throughout
Elementary, High School, and even College, we are given reading in our
English/Literature class and told to analyze the author's intent. The language
of the author matters, the tone of the language matters, and the author's
background matters. Nothing is created in a bubble; everything is influenced by
something else. This intent doesn't matter if it was created 200 years ago or
uploaded barely three seconds ago.
The form of the media that the author used is essential as
well. Why did the author choose the form in which the media is produced? Some
mediums add or subtract meaning from their message to the audience.
When asked if a source a patron finds is credible, I have
them look up a few things. First, is the piece in question an opinion piece or
factual data? Next, when was the information published? Next, who is the author,
and what are their credentials? Next, who is the publisher, and where is it
published? Do they have "political" biases? Is the publisher a satire
site? Is any information like scientific facts the same as on other websites?
The sites I use for this task are Snopes and Allsides.com.
