EDCI 338 Blog Post 4: 

The podcasts “Media Literacy with Julie Smith” and “Media Voices with Sophie Lui” both discuss media and media literacy, one from the perspective of someone who works in media and the other from someone who studies media. Both interviewees discuss how extremely different media is today compared to when they first began working and studying media. Julie Smith explains that with the media so rapidly changing every day, it is hard to figure out what information is accurate or true. You can validate your opinion on almost any topic, which is why it is so important for everyone to have media fluency and the ability to critically analyze information from different perspectives. Media literacy skills are described in 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times as the ability to “access, analyze, evaluate, and create messages in a variety of forms, build an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as [develop] the essential skills of inquiry and self-expression” (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). Media literacy is an important skill to possess. Politicians and other notable public figures can use media to “weaponize information” for their own gain (Hirst, 2019), which is why it is important to build a PLN you can rely on. Both interviewees also discussed how beneficial it is to include people in your PLN who you can learn and grow from, as well as trust to share valid information. Sophie Lui mentioned that when you are in the media there are always people commenting negatively about you and your opinions, but there are benefits too, including learning from others, sharing opinions, and supporting others’ ideas and opinions by bringing them to the forefront (MILLER, 2022).  

When curating social media that has a public audience, you must be aware that there will be opposing and negative thoughts and opinions on your content. If you choose to post your information and opinions in a public forum, you will always be opening yourself up to opposing opinions. Since everyone comes from such different backgrounds, you can validate almost every opinion, and with so much opposing information, it is important to be open-minded and consider opinions from all different perspectives (MILLER, 2021). If I was to create social media that allowed a public audience, I would do my best to be open-minded and avoid creating too much controversy by posting about topics that don’t cause polarizing opinions. I would also make sure that I used my media literacy skills to analyze the content I posted or shared, and that there was valid research and proof to back up my claim.  

There will always be positives and negatives associated with engaging with a public audience in a media space. As mentioned earlier, with media today, everyone has opinions, and everyone has ways to back up their claims. When you are a public figure, or in a position of trust, there is always a risk of backlash from your online posts. When someone is in a position of trust, they need to be extra careful when posting to a public audience because what they say, and the opinions they hold, affect others. As an educator, it is not your position to affect your students’ opinions on topics like politics. Your job is to teach about the government while remaining neutral, allowing students to make their own decisions about their political views. If you are an educator and you announce your political views to a public audience, your position of trust can be broken.  

If I received negative feedback on my views or values, I would make it clear that what I said is my personal view and that I am not trying to force these ideas on anyone else who might feel differently. I would also explain that I used my digital literacy skills to analyze the information that I provided and then drew my own conclusion from it.  

Open dialogue about media literacy and information always seems to create conflict and controversy. During the interview with Julia Smith, she explained that this may be due to fears of the unknown (MILLER, 2021). She mentioned that people find new things scary, so they often push them away. She also said that when she teaches media literacy, many parents ask her how to get their children off of social media. She said this is because these parents did not grow up surrounded by social media, it is scary to them, and their response is to reject it. 

The benefit of having a PLN that values media literacy is that the media, content, and information they are sharing has been critically analyzed before being sent to others to implement into their professional and personal lives. Having a PLN that benefits media literacy also allows people to question and analyze what others share in a positive, yet critical way without being rude. It allows people to grow, learn, and share content in a positive way.  

References: 

Hirst, M. (2019). The Political Economy of Fake News. In Navigating social journalism: A handbook for media literacy and citizen journalism (pp. 78–100). Routledge. 

MILLER. (2021, June, 6th). EDCI 338 – MEDIA LITERACY with JULIE SMITH [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/57r3-aEnci0

MILLER. (2022, June, 9th). Sophie Lui – EDCI 338 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=wfcXgKLzOVM 

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). Digital Literacy Skills. In 21st Century skills: Learning for life in our Times. Jossey-Bass.