Cronkite School celebrates Media Literacy Week

This is media literacy week, an event put on by the National Association of Media Literacy Education that involves using news, social media, movies and music to better develop critical thinking skills. We learned more from Kristy Roschke, Managing Director of the News Co/Lab at ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism.

Media literacy is meant to give people an introduction into what media literacy is and how people can practice being media literate.

“The most standard definition is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act on media messages, when you think of it like that all the ways that information impacts us in kind of everything we do,” Roschke said.

This includes media of all types and not just the news, such as movies, music, books. The News Co/Lab focuses on the news media but media literacy encompasses a broader scope than that.

“All of these types of messages we consume every day, they have an impact on us and how we can critically react to them is very important,” Roschke said.

Roschke considers media literacy to be essential 21st-century literacy because of how media messages affect everyday life.

During media literacy week, many events are hosted by the Cronkite School to celebrate and teach media literacy. There are many educational tools to teach young children about media literacy as well.

The News/Co lab offers a free online introductory class regarding media literacy that anybody can take, where people can learn what makes a credible source and how to spot misinformation.