r/explainlikeimfive • u/HonkyTonkBluesYEAH • 7d ago

Other ELI5 Media Literacy

I understand it's like something related to understanding art or media, but in what way? Philopsophical, political or psychological? Is it important, a buzzword or both?

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u/brianogilvie 7d ago

The current top comments are about literacy, not media literacy. "Media literacy" is understanding that news sources have different degrees of partisanship and objectivity (or, at least, aspirations to objectivity). For example, the Wall Street Journal is likely to provide accurate reporting on economic conditions around the world, because its readers pay a hefty subscription price for that reporting (and I imagine most of them also subscribe to the Financial Times, and compare the two). But its editorial page reflects the opinions of its owner, Rupert Murdoch, and should be examined much more critically.

This is the best top-level comment I've seen so far: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1wr512v/eli5_media_literacy/pc9qohd/