The founders of the United States knew an educated public would be key to the strength of a democratic republic. The creation of the First Amendment ensured citizens would have access to the information needed to make good decisions about their representatives and policies. At Mormon Women for Ethical Government, all of our advocacy and education efforts flow from our Principles of Ethical Government, and this is also true of media literacy.
These principles include the idea that, “All individuals have a duty to educate themselves about the actions of government officials and current events in the world, taking care to ascertain facts from reliable sources of information.”
Knowing where to find reliable sources of information has become increasingly challenging, and the proliferation of misinformation has caused harm to government institutions and individuals. To help our members and the general public become wise consumers of news media, MWEG has created numerous articles, meme series, and YouTube videos. Below you will find resources on news consumption, misinformation, bias, conspiracy theories, propaganda, and more. We hope these will be valuable to all in their efforts to become peacemakers, principled citizens, and advocates for ethical government.
Media literacy philosophy
This resource provides discussion on why media literacy is important to ethical government, how it is linked to our religious beliefs, ways to improve media literacy, helpful resources, action items, and activities for families and children.
MWEG Principles of Ethical Government — Media Literacy (article and PDF)
Media literacy and peacemaking
We have been asked to be peacemakers and do our part to create systems that promote positive peace and justice within our society. But to do this, we must be informed about the needs of our communities and the challenges facing our democratic institutions. Media literacy teaches us how to find, interpret, analyze, and create media messages in an informed way. This means media literacy skills are also peacemaking skills. Learn more about this concept from our series on media literacy and peacemaking:
News consumption
The internet has provided a deluge of news websites, and new ones pop up all the time. As we seek to understand what’s happening in our world and how we can make it a more ethical place, it’s important to know how to distinguish which news sites are reputable and which viewpoints they represent. Here are some resources to help with that:
Evaluating news sources (article)
Misinformation
Misinformation impedes our ability to make well-informed judgments as citizens. MWEG is working hard to educate people about how to identify quality news sources; however, a more challenging aspect of media literacy is learning how to address and respond to friends and family members who share misinformation on social media or in conversation. Here are some resources to help you identify and address misinformation:
Bias
Propaganda
Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories — what’s driving them? (article) Understanding QAnon (article)
Censorship
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