America is in a literacy crisis. This is not new information. According to U.S.A. Reads, 21% of adults in the US are illiterate. Not only can many Americans not read at all, but of those who can, 62% of adults surveyed report they had “no opportunity in high school to reflect on how media affects our beliefs, feelings, or actions,” according to Media Literacy Now, which published a study in partnership with the Reboot Foundation.
If these statistics are not deeply concerning to you, you are not paying attention. The Whit staff believes that media literacy should be a required course for all college students.
At the beginning of 2026, PBS published a report stating that “sexually explicit deep fakes” are a growing problem regarding cyberbullying in high schools, and it doesn’t end there. With AI becoming more and more prominent and accessible to the masses, people are struggling to know what’s real and what’s not. People need to learn how to fact-check. They need to learn how to determine truth for themselves and to think for themselves.
We see this on social media “shop” ads every day. You can’t open TikTok without someone shoving a new lymphatic drainage drink down your throat. You can’t scroll without someone yelling about how their stomach has “never been flatter” after taking yet another unregulated pill. Usually, these products aren’t FDA-approved. Usually, the two ingredients that have peer reviews backing them up can be supplemented in other ways, or are not fully absorbed into your body in supplement form to begin with.
We need to learn how to evaluate claims. If it isn’t influencers telling you to buy things for hair growth, it’s thought leaders telling you exactly how to think and feel about current events. Getting your political beliefs from commentators on podcasts and TikTok will leave your analysis with holes and flaws. We need to source information ourselves. Instead, we are sitting back and letting them tell us how to think.
Media literacy skills are crucial in navigating our society and political environment. Technology is the future that we are all preparing to enter. The question remains: Are we adequately prepared for that future? The Whit Staff has provided a media literacy self-assessment test:
- Do you know how to locate where a source or media outlet gets its funding? Always follow the money; money influences everything.
- Can you trust a news source that links directly back to itself? This erodes credibility.
- Is a health claim trustworthy if it hasn’t been peer reviewed? Peer reviews are how the scientific communities verify not only the effectiveness but also the safety of what we put in our bodies.
- Is the organization directly contradicting itself? Is a spokesperson telling you one thing, when the actions or other members of the organization are telling you something else explicitly?
- Can you identify what context (if any) is missing for current events? This matters because external events may affect outcomes.
- Can you identify missing voices or missing sides to a story? Is everyone being heard? Are we hearing from all sides or just one or two? Give every side its day in court before forming an opinion.
- Can you accurately evaluate truth claims against verified information from trusted sources? Is what is being said true? Can the information be backed up? Is anyone else reporting the same thing, or are they reporting something different?
- Are you listening to what your gut is telling you about the information or opinion you’re being fed? Our gut is a powerful thing. If something doesn’t feel right, the chances that it isn’t are high. Your gut at least deserves further evaluation.
The journalism department has a Media Literacy course that The Whit Staff has found to be the most important course they have taken in their college careers. The course teaches students how to identify truth claims, how to tell if a source is credible, and how to test information for bias, among other crucial skills. But journalists are not the only individuals who consume media. Everyone consumes media. Everyone needs media literacy.
The time for expecting students to learn this skill on their own is gone. We are well beyond that point. As higher education institutions, your goal is to produce employable, high-functioning members of society, not gullible robots. The success rates of your graduates matter. So make media literacy a required course for all students, in all majors. It is on you. We are not in too deep. It is never too late to course correct and fully equip future generations with the skills they need. Do not continue to send students out into the world ill-prepared for reality.
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