Media literacy education invites a slew of nonprofit organizations and consultancies into the public school system, many of whom may have their own political agendas.
When Aaliya Weheliye started taking journalism classes at Evanston Township High School, she learned the basics of media literacy, including how to interpret news articles and websites with a critical lens. She continued to grow her media literacy skills as photo editor and opinion writer for The Evanstonian, ETHS’s school newspaper — but noticed media.
Whitney Young’s Anne-Michele Boyle was ahead of the game when a first-of-its-kind law requiring Illinois high schools to teach media literacy went into effect last fall.