fbpx

How to critically consume news media and build media literacy

Fake news and misinformation is a worldwide concern, especially with the possibility that it can ‘influence political, economic and social wellbeing,’. Misinformation is a powerful tool to disinform someone; it allows powerful people to further their agendas and spread false and potentially harmful information as truth.

The most powerful ‘weapon’ against fake news and misinformation is education. Through education and media literacy we can have the tools ourselves to discern fact from fiction and decide for ourselves whether the news we consume is the truth.

Education is our most powerful weapon

Through Ezra Magazine I have published a short course on how to critically consume news and media. In an article published by The Guardian in 2018, ‘Australian media consumers more polarised than the global average,’ which is an incredibly concerning fact.

It’s not just concerning journalists and citizens alike. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd is engaging in a campaign to establish a Royal Commission into the Murdoch-owned company News Corp – a company that controls a high percentage of Australian print and TV media.

More than 500,000 Australians signed a petition calling on the federal parliament to establish a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire. Another former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull publicly supported the petition and regularly publicly speaks about the issue in the media.

The course aims to teach you three different strategies to fact-check the news and media you consume on a daily basis. The three strategies are simple yet effective and I hope it will encourage you to build a healthy habit of consuming news critically.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the course, head to the course landing page here: Tanysha Jane Education.

Comments

comments