Does Media Education Work?

The question of whether media education, or digital media literacy, “works” is a bit misplaced. There is no doubt that it works in the same sense that other areas of study “work,” in that students who’ve received media education know more about digital media literacy than those that haven’t – just as students who take history courses know more about history than those that don’t.

But knowing something doesn’t mean that you will act on it, or even connect it to your life outside of school. The real question, therefore, is whether media education is effective in producing critical, engaged and ethical users and consumers of media.

The short answer is mostly “yes”: digital media literacy interventions have been shown to be effective in addressing topics including:

  • advertising[1],[2],[3],[4],[5]
  • body image[6],[7],[8],[9],[10],[11]
  • civic engagement[12],[13]
  • evaluation of information[14],[15],[16],[17],[18]
  • nutrition[19]
  • racism[20]
  • science-related disinformation[21]
  • sexual health[22],[23],[24]
  • sexual content in media[25]
  • stereotyping[26],[27]
  • tobacco use[28],[29],[30]
  • the ability to discern between accurate and false news headlines[31] articles[32] and social network posts,[33] regardless of political orientation[34] and even when those align with your own beliefs,[35]
  • and violence.[36],[37],[38]

However, other studies have found media education interventions to be ineffective in identifying misinformation,[39],[40] adopting skeptical attitudes towards advertising,[41] nutrition[42],[43] and addressing self-esteem and body image.[44]

The question of effectiveness is more complicated than it first appears, however, because there are two distinct ways of thinking about it. One method is to look at changes in behaviour: did students act differently after a course, lesson or workshop than they did before? While this is relatively easy to measure, it assumes that changing behaviour is the goal of media education. But while very few media literacy educators or researchers still take this protectionist approach, instead aiming to provide students with critical thinking skills and empower them to make informed choices, it is still how many digital media literacy interventions are evaluated.[45] As well, some scholars have noted that the range of topics covered by digital media literacy makes it difficult to establish an overall sense of its effectiveness.[46] Nevertheless, enough evidence is available to allow us to conclude that media literacy education can be effective, and to draw some general conclusions about what does and doesn’t work.

 

[1] Bickham, D. S., & Slaby, R. G. (2012). Effects of a media literacy program in the US on children's critical evaluation of unhealthy media messages about violence, smoking, and food. Journal of Children and Media, 6(2), 255-271.

[2] Hobbs, R. (2004). Does media literacy work? An empirical study of learning how to analyze advertisements. Advertising & Society Review, 5(4).

[3] Powell, R. M., & Gross, T. (2018). Food for Thought: A novel media literacy intervention on food advertising targeting young children and their parents. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(3), 80-94.

[4] Stanley, S. L., & Lawson, C. A. (2018). Developing discerning consumers: an intervention to increase skepticism toward advertisements in 4-to 5-year-olds in the US. Journal of Children and Media, 12(2), 211-225.

[5] Wei, M. L., Fischer, E., & Main, K. J. (2008). An examination of the effects of activating persuasion knowledge on consumer response to brands engaging in covert marketing. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 27(1), 34-44.

[6] McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., & Wertheim, E. H. (2016). Does media literacy mitigate risk for reduced body satisfaction following exposure to thin-ideal media?. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45(8), 1678-1695.

[7] Halliwell, E., Easun, A., & Harcourt, D. (2011). Body dissatisfaction: Can a short media literacy message reduce negative media exposure effects amongst adolescent girls?. British journal of health psychology, 16(2), 396-403.

[8] McLean, S. A., Paxton, S. J., & Wertheim, E. H. (2016). Does media literacy mitigate risk for reduced body satisfaction following exposure to thin-ideal media?. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45(8), 1678-1695.

[9] Yager, Z., & O'Dea, J. A. (2008). Prevention programs for body image and eating disorders on University campuses: a review of large, controlled interventions. Health promotion international, 23(2), 173-189.

[10] Peck, K. E. (2015). The impact of media literacy and self-affirmation interventions on body dissatisfaction in women: an eye tracking study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Surrey).

[11] Ridolfi, D. R., & Vander Wal, J. S. (2008). Eating disorders awareness week: The effectiveness of a one-time body image dissatisfaction prevention session. Eating disorders, 16(5), 428-443.

[12] Kim, E. M., & Yang, S. (2016). Internet literacy and digital natives’ civic engagement: Internet skill literacy or Internet information literacy?. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(4), 438-456.

[13] Kahne, J., & Bowyer, B. (2019). Can media literacy education increase digital engagement in politics?. Learning, Media and Technology, 44(2), 211-224.

[14] Anderson, A. R. (2019). Teaching Critical Reading: Media Literacy in the High School Classroom.

[15] Ashley, S., Poepsel, M., & Willis, E. (2010). Media Literacy and News Credibility: Does knowledge of media ownership increase skepticism in news consumers?. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 2(1), 3.

[16] Hodgin, E., & Kahne, J. (2018). Misinformation in the information age: What teachers can do to support students. Social Education, 82(4), 208-212.

[17] Hwang, Y., Ryu, J. Y., & Jeong, S. H. (2021). Effects of Disinformation Using Deepfake: The Protective Effect of Media Literacy Education. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(3), 188-193.

[18] Shen, C., Kasra, M., Pan, W., Bassett, G. A., Malloch, Y., & O’Brien, J. F. (2019). Fake images: The effects of source, intermediary, and digital media literacy on contextual assessment of image credibility online. New media & society, 21(2), 438-463.

[19] Powell, R. M., & Gross, T. (2018). Food for Thought: A novel media literacy intervention on food advertising targeting young children and their parents. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(3), 80-94.

[20] Manfra, M., & Holmes, C. (2020). Integrating media literacy in social studies teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 20(1), 121-141.

[21] Cook, J., Lewandowsky, S., & Ecker, U. K. (2017). Neutralizing misinformation through inoculation: Exposing misleading argumentation techniques reduces their influence. PloS one, 12(5), e0175799.

[22] Collins, R. L., Martino, S. C., & Shaw, R. (2011). Influence of new media on adolescent sexual health: Evidence and opportunities. RAND Corporation, 1-70.

[23] Pinkleton, B. E., Austin, E. W., Chen, Y. C. Y., & Cohen, M. (2012). The role of media literacy in shaping adolescents' understanding of and responses to sexual portrayals in mass media. Journal of Health Communication, 17(4), 460-476.

[24] Scull, T. M., Malik, C. V., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (2014). A media literacy education approach to teaching adolescents comprehensive sexual health education. The journal of media literacy education, 6(1), 1.

[25] Vandenbosch, L., & van Oosten, J. M. (2017). The relationship between online pornography and the sexual objectification of women: The attenuating role of porn literacy education. Journal of Communication, 67(6), 1015-1036.

[26] Anderson, A. R. (2019). Teaching Critical Reading: Media Literacy in the High School Classroom.

[27] Freisem, E. (2017). Developing media and gender literacy in the high school classroom. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 18(2), 152-191.

[28] Bickham, D. S., & Slaby, R. G. (2012). Effects of a media literacy program in the US on children's critical evaluation of unhealthy media messages about violence, smoking, and food. Journal of Children and Media, 6(2), 255-271.

[29] Primack, B. A., Douglas, E. L., Land, S. R., Miller, E., & Fine, M. J. (2014). Comparison of media literacy and usual education to prevent tobacco use: A cluster‐randomized trial. Journal of School Health, 84(2), 106-115.

[30] Phelps-Tschang, J. S., Miller, E., Rice, K. R., & Primack, B. A. (2015). Web-based media literacy to prevent tobacco use among high school students. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 7(3), 29-40.

[31] Guess, A. M., Lerner, M., Lyons, B., Montgomery, J. M., Nyhan, B., Reifler, J., & Sircar, N. (2020). A digital media literacy intervention increases discernment between mainstream and false news in the United States and India. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(27), 15536-15545.

[32] Kahne, J., & Bowyer, B. (2019). Can media literacy education increase digital engagement in politics?. Learning, Media and Technology, 44(2), 211-224.

[33] Hodgin, E., & Kahne, J. (2018). Misinformation in the information age: What teachers can do to support students. Social Education, 82(4), 208-212.

[34] Sirlin, N., Epstein, Z., Arechar, A. A., & Rand, D. (2021). Digital literacy and susceptibility to misinformation.

[35] Manfra, M., & Holmes, C. (2020). Integrating media literacy in social studies teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 20(1), 121-141.

[36] Bickham, D. S., & Slaby, R. G. (2012). Effects of a media literacy program in the US on children's critical evaluation of unhealthy media messages about violence, smoking, and food. Journal of Children and Media, 6(2), 255-271.

[37] Fingar, K. R., & Jolls, T. (2014). Evaluation of a school-based violence prevention media literacy curriculum. Injury prevention, 20(3), 183-190.

[38] Krahé, B., & Busching, R. (2015). Breaking the vicious cycle of media violence use and aggression: A test of intervention effects over 30 months. Psychology of Violence, 5(2), 217.

[39] Badrinathan, S. (2020). Educative Interventions to Combat Misinformation: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India. American Political Science Review, 1-17.

[40] Castellini da Silva, R. C. (2021). Media literacy and ICT in education treading together: exploring how new digital technologies can help promote media literacy in secondary students (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University).

[41] Bauwens, A. (2013) Advergames versus product placements: the impact of a media literacy training on (unintended) advertising effects among adolescents.

[42] Folkvord, F., Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F., Codagnone, C., Bogliacino, F., Veltri, G., & Gaskell, G. (2017). Does a ‘protective’message reduce the impact of an advergame promoting unhealthy foods to children? An experimental study in Spain and The Netherlands. Appetite, 112, 117-123.

[43] Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. J. (2006). Does advertising literacy mediate the effects of advertising on children? A critical examination of two linked research literatures in relation to obesity and food choice. Journal of communication, 56(3), 560-584.

[44] Tefo, P. A. (2019). Can Online Media-Literacy Education Mitigate the Effects of a Toxic Media? (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).

[45] Potter, W. J., & Thai, C. L. (2019). Reviewing media literacy intervention studies for validity. Review of Communication Research, 7, 38-66.

[46] Bulger, M., & Davison, P. (2018). The promises, challenges, and futures of media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(1), 1-21.