Hasan Piker and the Upheaval of My Grandparents’ Establishment Media

Before COVID, I’d visit my grandparents in Florida every March. These trips were comprised of swimming, fishing, beach visits, board games, cooking, shopping, movies… and a lot of cable news. My grandparents are of the TV generation. When they’re in the house, the TV is always on. Other than dinnertime, the flatscreen was always on, …

In My Life, Digital Communities Are Essential

When reading Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, I was struck by how outdated it felt to me. Many of its core ideas are evergreen, from its concept of social capital to the decay of a traditional social and cultural fabric. But, all of these ideas were contextualized within the year 2000. I was born that year, …

The New Forefront of Civic Education is… the Gaming Industry?

One of the many challenges impeding widespread media literacy is a lack of civil engagement. Without an understanding both of historical and contemporary civics issues and topics, conversations surrounding media literacy will be unproductive. Fortunately, I attended a college prep school from seventh grade until I graduated high school, and civic engagement was paramount to …

Media Literacy Needs Moms – An Interview With Michele Buehner

As we study media literacy at the college level, we run into a clear issue. Collegiate study of the subject comes far too late. Media literacy skills can and should be taught sooner, as evidenced by the Finish model that we studied earlier. Ideally, kids should be taught media literacy skills before their news habits …

An Editorial Introduction to Media Literacy

There is so much to love about the aesthetics of dystopian cyberpunk and so much to engage with thematically. It’s very interesting in the realm of the abstract. But, it doesn’t feel that abstract anymore, especially not in the context of Journalism 2.0, and our studies of the contemporary digital landscape. One of the many …

Is the Future of Journalism ACTUALLY Bleak?

The current journalistic climate has been drastically affected by the internet. The influence of advertising revenue, data mining, and social media has fundamentally altered the relationships between the writers, the audience, and the content itself. In the eyes of many, this is the dissolution of digital journalism. This shift is correlated with a devaluing of …