Why Media Literacy Matters for Democracy

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Reflect on the Characteristics of a Strong Democracy

Explain to students that in this lesson, they will learn about the connections between media literacy skills and democracy. For democracies to work effectively, people have to understand the decisions their representatives make and be able to communicate their thoughts and opinions to their representatives, both of which require consuming or creating media content.

Ask your students to answer the following question using the Think-Pair-Share teaching strategy:

• What are the elements of a strong democracy?

Then, place students into five groups and assign each group one of the following characteristics of a strong democracy. Let students know that there are other characteristics of a strong democracy, and they are focusing on just five in this lesson: 

1. Everyone, no matter their background, has a fair chance to have their voice heard.
2. People come together to discuss and solve problems in their community.
3. Local, city, and state governments listen to people and respond to their needs.
4. People can peacefully protest when they think a law or policy is unfair or needs to change.
5. The media and journalists are valued as a source of knowledge and information, and they hold leaders accountable.

Ask students to discuss the following questions in their groups:

• What is an example you have witnessed or learned about related to the characteristic of a strong democracy you were assigned?
• How do you think this characteristic can make a democracy stronger?

Activity 2: Consider the Connection Between Mass Media, Media Literacy, and Democracy

The following activity uses the Big Paper teaching strategy. Give each group a piece of poster paper with their characteristic of a strong democracy. Inform the class that this activity will be completed in silence. All communication should be done in writing. They should use the following questions to begin their silent conversation on their Big Paper:

• How can mass media content impact this characteristic of democracy?
• How might the media literacy skills of accessing and analyzing content be related to this characteristic?
• How might the media literacy skills of creating content and taking action be related to this characteristic?

Students can respond to each others’ comments and draw connections between comments. Give students around 15 minutes to complete this step.

Still working in silence, students should leave their groups and walk around reading the other Big Papers. Students should bring their marker or pen with them and can write comments or questions on other Big Papers.

When students return to their own Big Papers, they should look at any new comments written by others. Then, ask students to discuss the following questions as a class:

• What are the consequences for our democracy if people learn and apply media literacy skills?
• What are the consequences for our democracy if people don't learn and apply media literacy skills?

Activity 3: Reflect on the Importance of Media Literacy

Ask students to think back through what they have learned in this unit and to reflect in their journals:

• What does it look like to be a media-literate person? What skills does it involve?

Then, ask students to respond to the following prompts, based on Project Zero’s 3 Whys thinking routine, in their journals:

• Why does media literacy matter to me in my own life?
• Why does it matter to my community?
• Why does it matter to our democracy?