MCC Library
Questions? To contact an MCC Librarian, click on
The library is temporarily closed for renovations and will reopen in the Fall. For library support, you can visit the table outside of A212 or the A234 office.
Regular Library Hours
Monday through Thursday
8:00am to 6:00pm
Friday
8:00am to 4:30pm
This guide contains information that will help you develop your media literacy skills.
"Proficiency in the evaluation, analysis, and understanding of mass media; esp. the ability to analyze critically any story or event presented in the media and to determine its accuracy or credibility."
Source: “Media Literacy, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5783886846.
With so much information in the world, being media literate will help us navigate it. It also makes us better consumers of information. Media literacy is about more than understanding information. It's asking us to think critically about the purpose of the information and how it impacts the world around us.
This guide goes into greater detail on the following media literacy topics:
In order to be media literate, it's important to understand a bit more about news sources. Styles of reporting (or journalism genres) vary widely, which means that the publication process of a news source may vary. This often depends on what kind of reporting is being done.
Much of the difference in the research that goes into a news story and how much review it had comes down to the purpose of the reporting. To help you understand a little more about news sources, here are some examples of reporting, or journalism genres.
Investigative Reporting: The purpose of investigative reporting is usually to expose wrongdoing, crimes, social injustice, political corruption, and the like. A reporter will spend months conducting interviews and researching people, court cases, police reports, public records, and more. An investigative reporter must corroborate information, verify all of their sources, and present their report in a truthful and fair way. Resulting works are reviewed thoroughly before being published and tend to be much lengthier than a typical short-form news piece covering some local or community event. Investigative journalism is sometimes also referred to as Watchdog Journalism.
Opinions and Editorials: Opinion pieces, sometimes called Op/Eds, are when the reporter includes their own thoughts or beliefs on a topic. This means the final product is subjective and biased. Quality pieces will support opinions with evidence and cite those sources. The purpose of opinion pieces is to persuade or manipulate. Sometimes this writing is labeled as an opinion or editorial, but not always. In some cases, opinions may be presented as facts. Look for language like is considered to be, it's likely that, suggests, possibly, etc.
Analysis: Sometimes confused with Op/Eds, analysis writing focuses on verifiable facts and the purpose is to clarify or further explain the facts. Analysis writing examines the "who, what, when, and where" to uncover the "why."
Feature Writing: This type of reporting may also involve lengthy research, but the purpose of feature writing is to capture audience interest or bring awareness to an issue. Some examples include human interest stories or personality profiles.
Breaking News: When something big happens, the first accounts of it will appear as breaking news stories. News outlets will send a reporter to the scene, who will have to quickly assess the situation in order to start reporting on it. Breaking news stories will often be identified as such and will usually tell readers that more information will become available as events unfold. The purpose is to get information out quickly, especially when public safety may be at stake. This also means that breaking news stories may not be reviewed as much before they are published. Because events might be unfolding quickly, sometimes facts can change as more details are uncovered. Quality reporting will make updates with any necessary corrections. Some breaking news stories will maintain the original piece and then provide date- and time-stamped updates, allowing the reader to see a timeline of updates to the original story.