What is Media Literacy?

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) defines media literacy as “the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication... Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators, and active citizens.”

Media Literacy Includes:

• The ability to access, analyze, create, and act using all forms of communication
• The ability to access, share, and create media across multiple formats and platforms while utilizing critical thinking skills to evaluate the purpose and potential impact of the material
• Understanding how various groups are represented in the media, including whose stories are highlighted and whose are marginalized
• Understanding media ownership structures and its impact on what we see

Why Does It Matter?

As communication, technology, AI, and the internet rapidly evolve in the digital era, we consume media, news, and information almost constantly. The ability to navigate within our complex and ever-changing media landscape depends on developing the skills and tools to know how to consume and evaluate information, ask critical questions, avoid manipulation, and engage safely and confidently. Media literacy skills enable us to evaluate the purpose and potential impact of the material, as well as to discern between facts, misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.

Misinformation & Disinformation

• Misinformation is when false information is shared, but no harm is meant.
• Disinformation is when false information is knowingly shared to cause harm.
• Malinformation is when genuine information is shared to cause harm, often by moving information designed to stay private into the public sphere.

Fact Checking Resources

FactCheck.org
This nonpartisan nonprofit is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of major U.S. political players as well as key news stories.

First Draft
First Draft is a nonpartisan coalition of organizations – journalists, academics and NGOs – with a mission to “protect communities from harmful misinformation.” Their global network of journalists investigate and verify emerging stories. They also share cutting-edge digital tools to help both content creators and the public determine the accuracy of information found online.

PolitiFact
PolitiFact is a nonpartisan fact-checking website to sort out the truth in American politics. PolitiFact was created by the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida newspaper, in 2007. In 2018, PolitiFact was acquired by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists.

Snopes
Started in 1994, Snopes is an independent publication of the Snopes Media Group and the oldest fact-checking site online.

Open Secrets
A nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to make government and politics more accountable and transparent. Its Web Integrity Project monitors changes to government websites — revealing shifts in public information and access to Web resources, as well as changes in stated policies and priorities.

USAFacts.org
Started in 2017, USAFacts.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides accessible data and reports on the United States population, its government's finances, and government's impact on society.

Trusted News Sources

ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the major U.S. television network owned by the Walt Disney Company.

BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a global public service broadcaster providing impartial public service broadcasting in the UK as a public corporation of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

NewsNation
NewsNation is an American cable news network owned by Nexstar Media Group that was formerly known as WGN America. It provides news programming with a focus on being unbiased and fact-based.

NPR
NPR  is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public, providing news, cultural programming, and in-depth reporting.

PBS News
PBS News is the primary daily, breaking, and special news producer for PBS, America's most prominent public, nonprofit, non-commercial television network.

ProPublica
ProPublica, legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. It is a newsroom that aims to produce investigative journalism in the public interest.

Reuters
Reuters is a global news agency that provides news on current events, politics, business, finance, and more to a worldwide audience. As one of the world's largest multimedia news providers, it's known for delivering news with integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. 

Additional Resources

AllSides Media Bias & Ratings
AllSides is a public benefit corporation that uses a patented bias rating system to classify news sources as left, center, or right-leaning, providing media bias ratings for for over 1,400 media outlets and writers.

Illinois General Assembly
Find information specific to Illinois’ laws and state lawmakers on this website by the state’s Legislative Information System.

Interactive Media Bias Chart
The Media Bias Chart, published by Ad Fontes Media, is a graphical representation that rates thousands of news sources based on two factors: reliability and political bias. It's an interactive and regularly updated chart that maps major media outlets to help consumers assess the sources they use. 

Media Literacy Now
The leading national advocacy organization pushing for media literacy education policy.

MediaWise Project
MediaWise is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of The Poynter Institute that empowers people of all ages to become more critical consumers of content online by developing the skills to identify misinformation through engaging, innovative media literacy education.

National Association for Media Literacy Education 
NAMLE is a professional nonprofit organization that promotes media literacy to help people develop critical thinking skills for analyzing and creating media.

Open States
Open States aggregates legislative information from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, allowing users to easily track bills, review upcoming legislation, and see how their local lawmakers are voting.