Media literacy’s role in civics education

With many students having a hard time distinguishing between newscasts and political ads, and too many falling prey to misinformation and propaganda, educators, lawyers and judges came together this week to call for the expansion of media literacy education in New York’s classrooms during a day-long conference in Albany.

Titled “Media Literacy Education: Safeguarding Democracy in a Digital World,” the event was sponsored by the New York State Bar Association.

“Today, media literacy is literacy. There’s no distinction,” said NYSUT President Melinda Person. “And so, I think it’s really important that it is taught across all subject areas, and that it’s not an add-on; it’s a foundation.”

Educators report that students are arriving in middle school without the skills to navigate the digital landscape and to separate fact from fiction, and that’s at least partially a result of the widespread elimination of elementary media specialists, Person said. NYSUT is advocating that every school have a media specialist because they teach students how to analyze information and think critically about media, she said.

No Child Left Behind, with its hyper-focus on testing at the expense of a broader approach to curriculum that includes social studies and civics, has also been a factor, Person said.

A 2023 Pew survey found that 68 percent of high school students don’t have confidence in their ability to evaluate the credibility of online information.

Deepfakes in the form of AI-generated photos, videos and audio recordings are now convincing a generation of unsuspecting students that everyone from celebrities to elected officials has said and done things that they never said or did.

“It used to be you told students don’t believe it till you see it, and now you can’t even believe what you see, right?” asked Person.

Person joined New York State Senator Shelley Mayer and New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa for a panel discussion designed to highlight the critical role of media literacy in civic readiness.

“Civic readiness is really preparing our kids to understand our government, to understand not just the branches of government, but civic duty, engagement and their responsibilities in terms of our citizenship,” said Rosa.

Rosa pointed to the success of the Seal of Civic Readiness and the state’s media literacy toolkit, two initiatives aimed at making sure students become informed and responsible citizens.

Piloted in 2021, the civics seal program is now available in 500 high schools across the state. The media literacy toolkit was released in 2025 and serves as a primer for educators, explaining key concepts like misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information so they are better positioned to incorporate them into their lessons.

Unfortunately, limited time and resources mean that not all districts can take advantage of these programs, Rosa acknowledged.

To help, NYSUT is creating a grant program for teachers to help them launch the civics seal program. NYSUT also provides training on media literacy for members through ELT, NYSUT’s professional development arm.

Mayer, who was a key supporter of NYSUT’s push to pass bell-to-bell cellphone restrictions in schools and also authored the bill that requires students to be part of school boards, said she plans to support legislation and initiatives that increase media literacy in schools.

“On media literacy, I think there are things we can encourage and ways we can work very cooperatively with SED to get additional resources for professional development for teachers,” said Mayer. “I think we can enhance what teachers do, what teachers know, and that’s the approach we’ve used.”

The conference also included a conversation with former U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, and a presentation by Hon. Joseph Bianco, co-chair of the Justice for All Courts and Community Initiative, which hosted 70 courthouse visits from schools last year.