Media Skills: Crash Course Media Literacy #11
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Date: 2022-04-04
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Comments and reviews: 9
Jaime
I love these rules. I can't claim to use them all perfectly all the time, but it's definitely possible. Don't let moral/media relativism win just because it's overwhelming, folks. That's intellectual laziness. The Washington Post isn't a credible source because it conforms to certain arbitrary standards; it's a credible source because it has built up a tradition, environment, and reputation for heavily researched, clear-headed, and accurate analysis. They get it wrong sometimes, but when they fail, they don't fail like Fox News or Buzzfeed, and not nearly as often. If you just threw together an article from social media posts in a cool hour-and-a-half, you don't fail in the same way as the guy who went through several days of research, phone calls, conferences, and several drafts of editing. The end product might look superficially similar, but it's not the same. Not by a country mile.
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I love these rules. I can't claim to use them all perfectly all the time, but it's definitely possible. Don't let moral/media relativism win just because it's overwhelming, folks. That's intellectual laziness. The Washington Post isn't a credible source because it conforms to certain arbitrary standards; it's a credible source because it has built up a tradition, environment, and reputation for heavily researched, clear-headed, and accurate analysis. They get it wrong sometimes, but when they fail, they don't fail like Fox News or Buzzfeed, and not nearly as often. If you just threw together an article from social media posts in a cool hour-and-a-half, you don't fail in the same way as the guy who went through several days of research, phone calls, conferences, and several drafts of editing. The end product might look superficially similar, but it's not the same. Not by a country mile.
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SquiggsMitchell
But can't it be time consuming in itself just to look through several different sources and check each one to make sure they're reliable? I mean isn't it the job (ideally) of journalists to sort through the information and tell us what is true and what isn't? I guess since media outlets have chosen to go for profit rather than integrity & fake news is everywhere online, the responsibility of fact checking is placed on us. But does it have to be this way? Can there be a change within media companies to make news content that is relevant, accurate, minimally biased, and reliable?
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But can't it be time consuming in itself just to look through several different sources and check each one to make sure they're reliable? I mean isn't it the job (ideally) of journalists to sort through the information and tell us what is true and what isn't? I guess since media outlets have chosen to go for profit rather than integrity & fake news is everywhere online, the responsibility of fact checking is placed on us. But does it have to be this way? Can there be a change within media companies to make news content that is relevant, accurate, minimally biased, and reliable?
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Duffy
I want to point out that both WaPo and The Atlantic are left-of-center publications. They have biases, including in the area of Net Neutrality (where they both strongly benefit from ISPs offering their content on an equal platform to their competitors. Just because a source is biased does not mean that it is trading in outright lies or that it's not worth reading, but pretending like there isn't an overwhelming consensus view at these publications is a form of lying to yourself.
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I want to point out that both WaPo and The Atlantic are left-of-center publications. They have biases, including in the area of Net Neutrality (where they both strongly benefit from ISPs offering their content on an equal platform to their competitors. Just because a source is biased does not mean that it is trading in outright lies or that it's not worth reading, but pretending like there isn't an overwhelming consensus view at these publications is a form of lying to yourself.
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Julie
An important step that was not mentioned here. When an individual or organization is quoted (such as the data scientist in the WP article, look them up if you are not familiar with them! It is not uncommon for organizations to have reputable-sounding names that are really just fronts for one person or a very small group. Individuals may not be well-known to you, but may be very well-known among their peers for having opinions which are heavily biased on some issues.
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An important step that was not mentioned here. When an individual or organization is quoted (such as the data scientist in the WP article, look them up if you are not familiar with them! It is not uncommon for organizations to have reputable-sounding names that are really just fronts for one person or a very small group. Individuals may not be well-known to you, but may be very well-known among their peers for having opinions which are heavily biased on some issues.
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horizon241
I sincerely hope Media Literacy becomes a required course (or series of courses) in the public education system. As you said, as the world becomes more and more heavily reliant on digital technologies, an understanding and practical knowledge of media and the tools to navigate it will be all the more important.
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I sincerely hope Media Literacy becomes a required course (or series of courses) in the public education system. As you said, as the world becomes more and more heavily reliant on digital technologies, an understanding and practical knowledge of media and the tools to navigate it will be all the more important.
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ere109Tube
I'm glad to see this discussion being had, especially with the intention of education the public masses. I take for granted that I studied journalism, and these tenets have been second nature to me for decades. I've pondered the issue and worried about its effects with greater concern in recent years. SHARED.
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I'm glad to see this discussion being had, especially with the intention of education the public masses. I take for granted that I studied journalism, and these tenets have been second nature to me for decades. I've pondered the issue and worried about its effects with greater concern in recent years. SHARED.
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Ian
That last section where he asked whether we should let artificial intelligence choose what media we see and whether we should have smart home devices everywhere made me think of the Google I/O keynote yesterday. They talked about machine learning in connection to everything they announced.
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That last section where he asked whether we should let artificial intelligence choose what media we see and whether we should have smart home devices everywhere made me think of the Google I/O keynote yesterday. They talked about machine learning in connection to everything they announced.
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Constance
I love Crash Course & this is by far the serie I've found the most useful, informative & applicable. These are very important notions to educate people about & I'm glad I now have this tool I can refer people to, without needing to educate every one I meet one by one.
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I love Crash Course & this is by far the serie I've found the most useful, informative & applicable. These are very important notions to educate people about & I'm glad I now have this tool I can refer people to, without needing to educate every one I meet one by one.
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Thessarabian
Checking sources is good, but sometimes check the sources of the sources. There's been a couple of times when I've checked sources and found a circle of articles that all source each other, and are all found on internet-only -news- sites.
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Checking sources is good, but sometimes check the sources of the sources. There's been a couple of times when I've checked sources and found a circle of articles that all source each other, and are all found on internet-only -news- sites.
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