Theme: Act

What is Act?

Act(ion) is the culmination of accessing, analyzing, and evaluating media messages.

• We act by engaging civically as the result of thoughtful access, analysis, and evaluation of media messages we receive.
• We act as a way to do something that challenges the status quo (often in opposition to mainstream media).
• We act in response to breaking down thoughts, feelings, and ideas related to media.

How can you Act?

• Empower others by advocating for media literacy education in schools and classroom instruction with teachers, school administrators, school boards, or local politicians,
• Share reliable content online
• Promote positive change by supporting social justice issues
• Engage civically through demonstrations, voting, canvassing, etc.
• Create counter-narratives with media that add your unique voice to the media landscape
• Report or fight misinformation online
• Educate others about media literacy by modeling good media literacy practices online
• Ask your family, friends and peers critical questions to start conversations while engaging with media
• Promote media literacy resources and efforts of those doing work in the media literacy community

Key Questions to ask when Acting on media messages:

• What actions might I take in response to this message?
• How might I participate productively?
• What do I do with this information? 
• How do I get other people to act based on what I created?

Additional Reading

Digital Literacy and Youth Civic Engagement
Teaching Tolerance

KQED Youth Media Challenge
KQED Teach

Study Finds Sizable Impact of Civic Media Literacy Education on Democratic Engagement
Connected Learning Alliance

Lessons/Activities

Can Students Use Social Media to Make Positive Change?
PBS NewsHour
Grades 7-12

Is This Story Share-Worthy?
NewseumEd
Grades 6-12

Making Change
Critical Media Project
Grades 7-12

Social Media for Social Action
Teaching Tolerance
Grades 6-12

Questions?

Contact us: medialiteracyweek@namle.org