Illinois now mandates media literacy education. Why does it matter? | The 21st Show

In an age of misinformation, rapidly changing technology, one major part of the cultural reckoning with that fact is media literacy. That’s the idea that people should be able to not just find and understand news, but also analyze its reliability, accuracy and credibility. It also looks at how we consume the media around us. An increasing number of states are requiring instruction of media literacy in some form. Illinois’ law went into effect starting this school year. It mandates a unit of instruction on the topic as part of public high school curriculums.

The 21st was joined by a panel of educators to discuss the new requirement and why media literacy education is important.

GUESTS:

Yonty Friesem

Associate Professor of Civic Media, Columbia College Chicago | Co-founder, Illinois Media Literacy Coalition | Helped to write Illinois’ media literacy education law

Elaine Maimon

Adviser, American Council on Education | Past President, Governors State University

Jamie Rhue

Library media specialist and teacher, Providence Englewood Charter School in the Chicago Public Schools System

Chris Johnson

Social Studies Teacher, Rochester Middle School

Prepared for web by Owen Henderson

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