Learn media literacy

Friday’s article by Trudy Rubin (“U.S. media’s future threatened by outright lies,” May 7) points out the reality of how irresponsible media is shaping our world and our culture. What we have seen in the last few years is clear deception.

Rubin is right that the current media landscape is a threat to democracy. That is why the Northwest Alliance for Media Literacy (formerly the Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media) is crucial now more than ever. For 20 years, we have strived to create a thriving media culture by empowering youth and adults to be critical media consumers and encourage media practices that create a more conscientious environment for us all. We are a diverse group that encourages members of our community to use the power media holds responsibly, conscientiously, deliberately, and inclusively. Through workshops, presentations, and community forums, we engage our community in topics such as cyberbullying and fake news. We offer teacher training life-long learning to critically assess our changing media world.

When it comes to media literacy, unfortunately we are like a Third World country, which is why we advocate for integrating media literacy into our public school curriculum.

If you’d like to learn more about our work, learn to be better at catching lies and deceit in media messages, fight cyberbullying, or interested in joining our organization you can find us at nwaresponsiblemedia.org or on Facebook. We have lots of learning tools available for free.

John S. Caputo, Ph.D., Executive Director

Carolyn Cunningham, Ph.D., Director