What is Media Literacy?

Media literacy is the ability to process and question the value of the information and the entertainment delivered by the mass media. Media literacy is often viewed as a defense mechanism against negative media consumption. When people educate themselves in media literacy they are less susceptible to becoming consumed by the harmful effects of the mass media.

Ball State University reports that 68.8% of our waking hours are crammed with an overwhelming amount of mass media messages. The ability to process the content distributed by the mass media is one of the main components to media literacy. Experienced media consumers are able to sort through the mass media and decipher what is there to educate us, to entertain us and to advertise products/ideas to us. Media literacy also means that we, the media consumers, must have the ability to question the mass media. “It's the instinct to question what lies behind media productions— the motives, the money, the values and the ownership— and to be aware of how these factors influence content.” (Jane Tallim, www.media-awareness.com)