Media Literacy Concepts in the Education and Professional Practice of Journalism and Media Students

Background/purpose. This study aimed to identify the concept of media literacy among students of media faculties and its application in journalism and media, in light of the efforts exerted to enhance media culture in Jordanian universities, as a result of exposure to a vast amount of information through the media and social media platforms, in addition to the popularity of misleading or fabricated news. The inability of students to understand the concept of media literacy and how to apply it in their daily lives leads to their inability to critically analyze and evaluate the content of the media, which leads to possible negative consequences on their personal and academic lives.

Materials/methods. This study employed a cross-sectional survey approach. The study population included 1926 students enrolled in the 2022/2023 academic year. A total of 385 students, representing 20% of the population, were selected through simple random sampling from the Faculties of Media at Yarmouk University and the Middle East University. This sample was chosen to ensure proportional representation from both universities. Data were collected via an electronic questionnaire containing six questions designed to measure the opinions of media students towards their knowledge of the meaning of the term media literacy.

Results. The majority of media students know the meaning of the term media literacy, and they heard about it for the first time at the university, where the most prominent concept they have was associated with verifying information, photos, videos, and fake news and distinguishing information from opinion in media materials. Despite their need for training, the students did not receive specialized training in media literacy. The hypotheses proved that the ability of media students to define the concept is positively related to the teachers' introduction of media literacy terms in their explanation of some courses, which was reflected in their ability to identify the most prominent concept of media literacy.

Conclusion. The need to raise awareness of the importance of media and information literacy in universities through holding training courses with the aim of enhancing students' skills in understanding, analyzing, and using media and social media.

Keywords: Media literacy, media faculties, verify information, fake news, social media

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