Chapter 31 Exercises: Media Literacy — Foundations and Frameworks

Section A: Conceptual Comprehension

Exercise 31.1 — Definitional Mapping

Create a visual concept map distinguishing the following terms. For each pair, write one sentence explaining the key distinction: - Media literacy vs. information literacy - News literacy vs. digital literacy - Protectionist media literacy vs. critical media literacy - Media literacy vs. media education

Then: which of these terms does your own prior education most resemble? What was missing?

Exercise 31.2 — The Five Competencies in Your Own Life

The NAMLE framework defines media literacy as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act. Rate yourself honestly on a 1–5 scale for each competency as it applies to your actual, everyday media behavior (not your aspirational behavior). Write three sentences explaining the lowest-rated competency and identifying one specific practice change that would improve it.

Exercise 31.3 — History of the Object

Media literacy education has existed since the 1930s, but its object — the media it teaches students to read — has changed dramatically. Create a timeline with at least five historical moments (from 1933 to present) showing how the object of media literacy shifted as media technologies changed. For each moment, identify one thing that became more important and one thing that became less important in media literacy education.

Section B: Framework Application

Exercise 31.4 — Five Core Questions: Apply and Assess

Select a piece of political media from your current information environment (a political advertisement, a campaign social media post, a politically slanted news headline — something real and current). Apply all five Core Questions from the CML framework. Write one substantive paragraph for each question. Then write a final paragraph assessing the limits of this exercise: what did the Five Core Questions not help you see?

Exercise 31.5 — SIFT in Practice

Find a claim that is currently circulating on social media — something a friend, family member, or public figure has posted that you are uncertain about. Apply the full SIFT procedure in real time:

1. Stop — describe your initial emotional reaction to the content before analysis
2. Investigate the Source — document exactly what you found by lateral reading (which tabs you opened, what you found)
3. Find Better Coverage — what independent coverage exists of this claim?
4. Trace the Claim — can you identify the primary source?

Write up your process and your conclusion. Did SIFT change your initial assessment? What would you have concluded if you had not used SIFT?

Exercise 31.6 — Lateral vs. Vertical Reading Comparison

Visit an unfamiliar website that makes strong claims in a policy area you care about. Spend five minutes evaluating the site using only what you can see on the site itself (vertical reading). Write down your evaluation. Then spend five minutes doing lateral reading — searching externally for information about the organization and its funding. Write down what you found. Compare your two evaluations. What did vertical reading miss? What did lateral reading reveal? What does this comparison tell you about the conditions under which each approach is appropriate?

Exercise 31.7 — Framework Comparison

You have encountered five media literacy frameworks in this chapter: Five Core Questions, SIFT, lateral reading, CRAAP test, and the News Literacy Project framework. Design a simple evaluation matrix. Rate each framework on the following criteria:

Write a 300-word analysis defending your most important ratings. Which framework would you prioritize for your target community and why?

Section C: Critical Analysis

Exercise 31.8 — The Scale Problem: Your Position

After reading Section 31.6 and the Debate Framework in Section 31.12, write a 500-word argumentative essay stating and defending your own position on whether media literacy can scale to democratic requirements. You must engage directly with at least one piece of evidence from the chapter that challenges your position.

Exercise 31.9 — Primary Source Analysis: The 1987 Statement

Review the eight key concepts from the 1987 Ontario Association for Media Literacy Statement as described in Section 31.11. Then answer the following:

a. Which concept would be most unfamiliar or surprising to a student in 1987 who had no prior media literacy education? Why?

b. Which concept is most important for analyzing propaganda specifically? Justify your choice with a concrete example.

c. Write a ninth concept that you would add to the framework to address a gap in the original statement. Explain your reasoning.

d. In 200 words, analyze what the 1987 statement reveals about the political context in which it was produced — what it was trying to do and what it was trying to avoid.

Exercise 31.10 — The Motivated Reasoning Problem

Section 31.5 identifies motivated reasoning as a significant limit on media literacy's effectiveness: people are most likely to apply critical thinking to messages that challenge their pre-existing beliefs and least likely to apply it to messages that affirm them.

a. Identify a topic on which you have strong pre-existing beliefs.

b. Find two pieces of media content on that topic — one that affirms your belief and one that challenges it. Apply the same media literacy framework (your choice) to both.

c. Honestly assess: was your analytical process truly equivalent? What emotional and cognitive pressures did you feel when analyzing the content that challenged your beliefs?

d. What does this experience imply for the effectiveness of media literacy education as a defense against propaganda specifically targeted at your in-group?

Section D: Research and Creative

Exercise 31.11 — Research Mini-Brief

Write a 400-word research brief summarizing the key findings of Wineburg, McGrew, Breakstone, and Ortega (2016) as described in Section 31.10. The brief should be written as if addressed to a school superintendent considering updating the district's media literacy curriculum. Include: (1) the study's most important finding, (2) its implication for how media literacy is currently taught, (3) one specific recommendation for curriculum change.

Exercise 31.12 — Designing for Your Community

Based on your Inoculation Campaign Community Media Literacy Capacity Audit (Section 31.14), design a one-page "media literacy intervention brief" for your target community. The brief should specify:

• Target competency (the specific skill gap you are addressing)
• Target audience (be precise — not "the community" but a specific demographic)
• Delivery method (how will you reach them?)
• Instructional content (what specifically will you teach?)
• Measurement approach (how will you know if it worked?)

The brief should be realistic about resource constraints and practically achievable.

Exercise 31.13 — The Protectionist/Critical Spectrum

Find two media literacy curricula, programs, or lesson plans available online (many are freely accessible through organizations like the News Literacy Project, Common Sense Media, or university extension programs). For each:

a. Identify where it falls on the protectionist–critical spectrum (primarily individual skill-building, primarily structural critique, or a combination)

b. Identify one specific element that reflects protectionist assumptions

c. Identify one specific element that reflects critical media literacy assumptions, or explain what structural analysis is absent

d. Write a 200-word assessment of which curriculum would be more effective for the specific propaganda challenge in your Inoculation Campaign community, and why.

Section E: Seminar Discussion Preparation

Exercise 31.14 — Discussion Preparation: Tariq's Challenge

Tariq Hassan argues that media literacy cannot meaningfully address the structural conditions that make propaganda effective — that it is, in Lippmann's spirit, a response that underestimates the problem. Sophia is more optimistic. Webb refuses to resolve the tension for them.

Prepare for a seminar discussion by writing out:

a. The strongest version of Tariq's argument (even if you disagree with it — a "steel-man" version)

b. The strongest evidence against Tariq's argument

c. A position that acknowledges the truth in Tariq's skepticism without abandoning the value of media literacy education

d. One question you would genuinely like to ask Tariq in discussion

Exercise 31.15 — Ingrid's Comparative Perspective

Ingrid Larsen's presence in the seminar introduces a comparative perspective: the Swedish (and Nordic more broadly) context for media literacy and information environment resilience. Research the following and come prepared to discuss:

a. What is the current state of media literacy education in either Sweden, Finland, or Norway? (Use lateral reading to find reliable sources)

b. What structural features of Nordic media environments (public broadcasting, press subsidies, trust in institutions) interact with media literacy education to produce different outcomes than in the United States?

c. What aspects of the Nordic model could be adapted to different political and cultural contexts, and what aspects are context-dependent?

All exercises should be submitted according to the course assignment schedule. Exercises 31.4, 31.8, and 31.14 are recommended for full seminar discussion. Exercise 31.12 is a component of the Progressive Project.