Media & Information Literacy week is a dedicated time hosted by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). The week’s goal is to promote and encourage Media literacy in education.

This year’s event was held October 25 through October 30, 2020. On a national level, the NAMLE brought together hundreds of partners for events and activities with the goal of bringing more awareness to critically analyzing the media we consume. The theme this year continued to amplify the voices of media literate advocates. Throughout the week, participants and partners examined the five components of media literacy. UT Libraries shared social media posts to explain and provide resources to encourage the responsible consumption of media every day.

This year’s Media Literacy Week at UT Libraries was organized by data science librarian Brianne Dosch and media literacy librarian Paris Whalon. In both of their respective roles, Dosch and Whalon interact with media and data from an educational perspective daily. With an infodemic running rampant, they viewed Media Literacy Week as an opportunity to remind both our campus and digital community to tackle new information with a critical lens. They also stressed the importance of understanding data outside of mass media.  

We are all experiencing a current influx of information due to COVID-19 and it being an election year. It is more important than ever to understand and exercise media literacy skills. This means following the five components of media literacy, which are: access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act. It also means speaking up against misinformation, disinformation and malinformation. We want to encourage everyone to use the resources within the library, such as our databases, librarians, and media center to research, create and share accurate content. We believe in equitable access to information and media literacy plays a key role in our mission.

For more information – and to catch a glimpse at next year’s event, please visit: https://medialiteracyweek.us/. In case you missed it, be sure to check out some of the resources shared across the UT Libraries Facebook and Twitter channels.