Theme: Analyze

What is Analyze?

In media literacy, ANALYZING media content is the process of asking questions about a piece of media in order to identify authorship, credibility, purpose, technique, context, and economics. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Understanding who created a piece of media/information by identifying:
  • The author(s),
  • Whether the author(s) are credible/knowledgeable about the topic,
  • What their intent might be by creating this piece of media–what they want people to think, know, or do in response to this media, 
  • What biases the author(s) has and how that bias is reflected in the content they created. 
• Understanding how the media is constructed by identifying:
  • Techniques used to gain/keep attention,
  • Techniques used to make one think/feel a certain way,
  • Examining the language of the content,
  • Identifying how economics might impact the decisions made when creating a piece of media.
• Examine the content by:
  • Fact checking the information across multiple sources,
  • Looking for evidence-based information,
  • Identifying issues of representation.

Key Questions to ask when ANALYZING media messages:

• Who made this?
• When was it made?
• Who paid for this?
• What does this tell me about [insert topic]?
• What are the sources of information?
• What is left out that might be important to know?
• What techniques are used and why?
• How do the techniques communicate the message?

Additional Learning

ACT Awareness and Critical Thinking Activities for Teaching About Misinformation in Grades K-5
Project Look Sharp

Constructivist Media Decoding
Project Look Sharp

Curriculum
Civic Online Reasoning

Key Questions for Analyzing Media
National Association for Media Literacy Education

Navigating Digital Information (Playlist)
Crash Course

Activities/Lessons

Analyzing Persuasive Techniques in Historical Media Messages
Library of Congress

Analyzing Primary Source Media
PBS Learning
Grades 6-12

Commercials:  Part 1 | Part 2 Project Look Sharp Grades PK-2

Decoding Media Bias
PBS News Hour
Grades 7-12

Evidence: Do the Facts Hold Up?
NewseumEd
Grades 6-12

First Contact: Who’s Telling the Story
Project Look Sharp
Grades 6-12

Source: Can I trust the creator?
NewseumEd
Grades 6-12

Weed Out Propaganda
NewseumEd
Grades 6-12+

Questions?

Email us: medialiteracyweek@namle.org!