This guide was created by SCHS Librarian, Jennifer Easter. It has been revised and is currently maintained by SELS Librarian, Stephanie Power. If you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, contact Stephanie (email above).
Why does it matter?We live in a media landscape that is constantly evolving. Knowing where, how, why, and who created the content we're consuming is critical in understanding the broader social, political, and cultural issues that impact our lives.
Media products are created by individuals who make conscious and unconscious choices about what to include, what to leave out and how to present what is included. These decisions are based on the creators’ own point of view, which will have been shaped by their opinions, assumptions and biases – as well as media they have been exposed to. Even the most objective content creators have to decide what information to include and leave out, but we (i.e. media consumers) instinctively view media sources as objective representations of reality (via MediaSmarts).
When consuming news media, ask yourself:
To understand this and use these skills allows us to be media literate, that is, able to critically understand the nature, techniques and impacts of media messages and productions.
