Media consumption: Critical reading

Critical reading is a fundamental skill in media literacy that involves analyzing and evaluating written or visual content with a discerning and questioning mindset. It goes beyond simply absorbing information; instead, it involves actively engaging with the material, considering the author's perspective, and assessing the reliability and credibility of the source.

Critical readers ask multiple questions, carefully examine the evidence presented, and try to understand the content's underlying assumptions and potential biases. This skill is vital in media literacy as individuals equipped with it can better navigate the vast and often complex landscape of information available. It enables students to differentiate between reliable, well-sourced information and content that may be misleading, biased, or even false. Critical reading also fosters an awareness of the broader societal and cultural contexts in which media is created and consumed, promoting a more informed, discerning, and responsible media consumer.

Critical reading can be challenging and time-consuming for students. The following five steps will give them a framework for critically reading and examining a news article. They are not exhaustive, but they represent a solid foundation to build one’s critical reading skills on:

Preview the article:

Identify the author and source:

Analyze the content:

Question the assumptions and arguments:

Reflect and formulate your own opinion:

• • After thoroughly reading and analyzing the article, take a moment to reflect on what you've learned. Consider whether you find the information convincing and whether it aligns with other reputable sources you've encountered. Formulate your own opinion based on your critical assessment of the content.

• 15 minutes: Give the students the first article and allow them some time to read it. They should read the article independently and then go through the 5 steps of critical reading.
• 10 minutes: The class discusses the answers to the five questions listed above and tries to answer the teacher’s question: Does this article take a stance?

Stakeholders are actors (social groups, organizations) that are impacted by a particular decision/stance. For example, when labor laws are discussed, the stakeholders are employees and employers, as they are both impacted by the changes in labor legislation.

Stakeholder analysis analyzes motives, constraints, and impacts on stakeholders.

• Motives: What incentives drive the stakeholders’ behavior? For example, most employers are motivated to maximize their profit.
• Constraints: Is the pursuit of their motives limited by any external factors? For example, laws and norms regulating labor relations constrain employees and employers.
• Impacts: What can the actor gain or lose? Which choices are preferable to them? In short, this evaluates which option is more costly for an actor to undertake.

Stakeholder analysis and media positioning

Stakeholder analysis is useful for understanding why media operates as it does.

First of all, it helps us think about the motives. Like other private companies, most media operate under the profit incentive (entirely publicly funded media, such as the BBC, being the exception). In the media landscape, this is expressed in the desire of media outlets to increase their audience - the greater the audience, the greater the profit.

Secondly, it directs us to think about constraints. Media ownership matters, as owners (public or private) can exercise significant control over editorial policies (traditional media) or rules of conduct (social media).

Finally, it instructs us to consider the impact. Taking certain stances can damage the media, as it could alienate the readership (undermining the profit incentive) or provoke a backlash from owners. Additionally, media responds to external demands and constraints and shapes them through the narratives it promotes and the context to which it responds.

• 15 minutes: The students are given the second article and read it. Considering everything they learned about stakeholder analysis, they analyze the effect of motives, constraints, and impacts of its stance.
• 5 minutes: The students pick a presenter to speak for their group and collect all their thoughts and findings. They should also prepare at least 2 questions for other groups - this could be something they disagreed about in their own group discussions or something that they feel passionate about in this article.

1. Why is critical reading important in the digital age?
2. How can critical reading skills help individuals identify misinformation and disinformation?
3. What role does confirmation bias play in critical reading, and how can it be mitigated? (only use this question if you’ve covered any lessons mentioning confirmation bias OR if your students are familiar with the concept.)
4. How can critical reading skills benefit society as a whole?
5. What are the ethical responsibilities of media creators in facilitating critical reading?