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Media Literacy Is Not a Fact-Checking Trick

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EXPLAINER @jorgebscomm for @empowervmedia Photo: Plann via Pexels · Pexels License Media literacy helps us judge questionable information, but it does not begin or end with detecting falsehoods. It also concerns how we gain access, evaluate what we encounter, use it responsibly, create our own content and communicate with others. A suspicious headline appears in a social feed. Checking the source, opening the article and looking for evidence are useful media-literacy moves. But what happened before that moment? Could the person access better information? What will they do with what they learn? What happens if they repost, remix or explain it to someone else? Those questions widen the frame. UNESCO describes media and information literacy (MIL) as a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that includes access, evaluation or assessment, use, production and communication . The Australian ...

The Architecture of Spectacle: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Psychology, Sociology, and Ontological Impact of Reality Television

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Produced for @empowervmedia Edited & fact-checked by @jorgebscomm O ur enduring fascination with reality television is a sophisticated interaction between media stimuli and the human cognitive architecture. At the heart of this engagement lies Cognitive Appraisal Theory , which suggests that our emotional responses to media are governed by how we evaluate the content in relation to our personal well-being. When a viewer engages with a reality show, they undergo a primary appraisal to determine if the on-screen drama is a threat or a benefit to their emotional state, followed by a secondary appraisal where they assess their own resources for coping with those emotions.  This internal evaluation process explains why some viewers find the high-stakes conflict of competition shows exhilarating while others experience it as a significant psychological stressor. Recent empirical research indicates that frequent viewers often report heightened anxiety and affective dysregulation, part...