The Role and Influence of Mass Media

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Define Mass Media

Share the following definition of mass media with your students, which can also be found on the handout The Benefits and Risks of Modern Mass Media:

Mass media refers to all of the methods used to communicate information to large numbers of people. This includes (among other methods):

• social media
• websites
• videos
• TV series
• movies
• newspapers
• books
• podcasts

Ask students to write down in their journals examples of content they have consumed recently for as many of the methods listed in the definition as possible. For example, for “social media,” they could list a video they saw on a social media platform. Then, ask them to respond to the following prompts in their journals:

Which mass media methods do you use most? Which do you use least? Why do you think this is the case?

When students have finished, ask for a few volunteers to share aspects of their reflection with the class.

Then, tell students that in this unit they will be learning about how mass media and media content can influence people, and the role media literacy skills play in individuals’ lives and our democracy. Part of understanding how mass media influences people is considering the different purposes content can serve. In the next activity, students will use the list they just generated to consider the purposes media content serves in their own lives.

Activity 2: Consider the Purposes and Influence of Mass Media

Share the following with your students, which can also be found on the handout The Benefits and Risks of Modern Mass Media:

Mass media can serve the following purposes:

• Entertainment: People consume content to relax, have fun, or as a form of escapism.
• Learning: People consume content to gain knowledge and learn about the world, as well as create and share media to raise awareness.
• Building relationships: People consume or share content to build relationships with fictional characters or build community with other people.
• Expressing or shaping personal identity: People consume or share content to express who they are. The choices people make about what content to consume also influences how they see themselves and the world.

Ask students to read back through their lists of content and mark what purpose(s) they think each of their examples serve. Then, ask them to discuss the following questions in small groups of 3–4:

• Are there any other purposes you would add to this list, and if so, why?
• For each of you, what was your most common purpose? Do you think some of these purposes are more important than others? Why or why not?
• How might the types of media content people consume be influenced by their age, geographical location, or interests? 
• What impact can the media content people consume have on their views and how they see themselves? What impact can it have on how they see other people and the world?

When students have finished, ask for volunteers to share ideas from their group’s discussion with the class.

Activity 3: Explore Challenges in Limiting Media Consumption

In this activity, students will listen to and read an excerpt from a podcast episode that features Jiore Craig, who is an expert on mitigating harm online and safeguarding democracy. Media content is easier to produce, share, and consume today than it has been in the past. This presents opportunities for people but also challenges, because there is more content for young people to sift through to find the content that meets their purposes. In addition, media companies profit from the amount of time we spend on their apps or looking at their content, because they sell advertising space and user data. Because content is designed to be attention-grabbing, people often spend much more time consuming content than they intend to, taking their time away from other pursuits and relationships.

Distribute the handout Transcript of Excerpt from Podcast Episode “Control Your Scroll with Jiore Craig" to your students. Ask your students to read the transcript as they listen to the excerpt from the podcast episode. Play the 4:10-minute excerpt of the episode “Control Your Scroll with Jiore Craig.” (Note: The start time of the excerpt varies between devices. On most devices, it will begin between 45 and 50 minutes in. We recommend you listen ahead of time and cue the correct time stamp for the transcript. The excerpt begins with “We have screen time counters on our phone…”).

Then, ask your students to read the transcript again, and this time:

• Underline ideas that are new to you or make you think about something in a different light.
• Put a question mark (?) next to any ideas you would want to learn more about or that you are not sure you agree with.
• Put an exclamation point (!) next to any ideas you find surprising or troubling.

Place students in small groups of 2–3. Ask them to share their annotations with their groups. Then, ask them to discuss the following questions:

• Jiore Craig describes her mixed feelings about her social media consumption. How are your own feelings about using social media similar to or different than hers? When do you think social media is beneficial emotionally for people and when is it not?
• To what extent do you agree with the idea that all media content should have to “earn” your attention?
• What responsibility do you think media companies have in moderating content or preventing people from consuming more content than they intend to?

When students have finished discussing in small groups, ask for some volunteers to share what they talked about with the full class.

Activity 4: Reflect on the Benefits and Risks of Mass Media

Ask students to read the following paragraph, which appears in the handout The Benefits and Risks of Modern Mass Media once on their own: 

In the present day, people have constant access to mass media content. They can access it on phones, TVs, radios, computers, and printed media. In the case of advertising, they can see it in the street. The evolution of technology has made it much easier for different people, including young people, to share their thoughts and opinions widely. This has given people a voice and challenged a previous pattern where the power to create and share media content was concentrated into the hands of a few. However, the shift has also created an overwhelming amount of information for people to sift through. Mass media content that is not factual or is highly biased can be shared widely and quickly. False content can now easily “go viral.” The changes in mass media mean that now, more than ever, people need to develop the skills to engage with content they encounter and become media literate.

Then, ask students to read it again, this time underlining the benefits it describes related to mass media in one color and underlining the risks it describes related to mass media in another color.

Then, ask students to work in pairs to fill in the “Benefits” and “Risks” table on their The Benefits and Risks of Modern Mass Media handout, using the information in the paragraph and adding any other ideas they have as well. Once they have filled in the table, they should discuss the reflection questions in their pairs:

• What are the greatest benefits related to mass media content that you see in your own life?
• What are the greatest risks related to mass media content that you see in your own life?

Ask students to share any strategies that they added to their lists from their own experiences with the whole class.