Media literacy and critical thinking

Abstract

The ability to develop a critical distance from the messages being conveyed through the channels of mass communication is of vital importance. However, the value of Media Literacy education extends beyond media analysis, furnishing critical thinking skills for people who are in danger of losing the ability to come to independent conclusions based on the systematic assessment of evidence. According to Renee Hobbs and Richard Frost, media literacy education enhances critical thinking across a broad range of disciplines: The first large scale empirical study measuring the acquisition of media literacy skills in the United States concluded that incorporating media message analysis into secondary level English language arts curriculum … improved students’ reading, viewing and listening comprehension of print, audio and video texts, message analysis and interpretation, and writing skills. In addition, it should be emphasized that that the discipline of Media Literacy is essentially apolitical. Media Literacy educators teach people how to think, not what to think. What determines the validity of an analysis is the following: 1) the systematic application media literacy methodologies; and 2) the contentions must be supported with concrete examples (e.g., television episodes, films, and social media threads). Instead, the discipline of Media Literacy furnishes individuals with the skills to develop an independence of thought so necessary to the survival of democracy.