The 7 Best Media Literacy Books

Whether you're studying the topic, teaching it, or are simply curious about it, having a good book about media literacy can go a long way toward helping you be an informed citizen. The techniques covered by the publications on this list include critical thinking skills, ways to responsibly use social media, and several forms of analyzing everything from movies to newspapers. Let's take a look at the seven best media literacy books.

The 7 Best Media Literacy Books

1. Media Literacy: An exhaustive textbook on the subject
2. Master the Media: Conversational and easy-to-understand
3. Mass Communication: How culture interacts with the media
4. Digital Literacy: Focuses specifically on digital communication
5. The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy: How to teach the subject
6. Approaches to Media Literacy: Five different types of analysis
7. Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom: Techniques for all ages

Who Should Learn Media Literacy?

Teaching the subject to students is important, because their minds are more likely to absorb the techniques so they can fully incorporate them into their thought process. But it's not too late for adults of any age to learn and adopt critical thinking skills. Being media literate can prevent you from being manipulated by advertising and it can also make you better informed on issues that appear on the ballot during an election. Since everyone interacts with some form of media, everyone can benefit from these skills.

How Can Teachers Make Media Literacy Interesting?

• Have students analyze real news stories
• Show them the money-making motives of social media sites
• Look at how the media have affected history
• Uncover the hidden messages in advertisements
• Ask students to make a video project about what they've learned

Why Teaching Media Literacy Is Important

More Information

Media literacy is an important skill, especially in the modern age of digital information. Facebook posts, online articles, and traditional news media can all be persuasive, even when they're not accurate. Being able to think critically is the best way to avoid being misinformed. Here are some of the best books that cover this topic.

#1: Media Literacy, by W. James Potter. This textbook is over 500 pages long and provides students with a thorough understanding of how media affects people and techniques that can be used to counteract these effects. Potter is well aware of the scope of the problems that can be caused by a lack of understanding in this field. The preface states that you can't truly gain control over the information you take in, "until you become aware of how much your beliefs have been formed by media influence."

The book's 15 core chapters are meant to give readers a way to structure the way they think about the content that they take in through television, the Internet, and more. This section is then followed by explanations of six different issues, including advertising, piracy, and ownership.

#2: Master the Media, by Julie Smith. Meant for a wider audience than just those in academia, this work is a great way for someone without experience in the topic to learn its basic principles. Each chapter begins with a few "Facts to remember." These short bullet points are easy-to-digest bits of information that are helpful to keep in mind while reading.

#3: Introduction to Mass Communication, by Stanley J. Baran. This text asks students to be active participants in the world, rather than just sitting by as passive consumers. It uses examples from throughout history to see how mass communication evolved into its current form. Readers are encouraged to think critically about information they come across and understand the role that media plays in both reflecting and influencing culture.

#4: Digital Literacy, by Susan Wiesinger. While it doesn't cover things like television, film, or newspapers, this option does dive deep into how the Internet has affected everything from family to business to democracy. It looks at its subject matter through three distinct lenses. The first is cultural, exploring how societal norms are constructed and influenced. Then there's historical, understanding how past events got us to where we are today. Finally, the critical lens shows readers how to closely examine these messages and social changes.

The writing style is conversational and the book is organized in an intuitive way. So this is a good option for people of all levels who want to know more about how information functions in the digital age.

#5: The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy, by Cyndy Scheibe and Faith Rogow. Just because you understand a concept doesn't mean you know the best ways to teach it to others. That's where this helpful manual comes in handy. It contains a number of ideas for how to integrate media literacy education into the classroom at all grade levels and across different subjects. There are plenty of tips for how to make the material engaging so that students retain the helpful knowledge and make use of it in their everyday lives.

#6: Approaches to Media Literacy: A Handbook, by Art Silverblatt, Jane Ferry, and Barbara Finan. In this work, the authors explain five different kinds of analysis that can be used to examine all types of mass communication. These include ideological, nonverbal, and autobiographical. This provides the reader with multiple tools that they can use to gain a deeper understanding of any information they encounter in their day-to-day lives.

#7: Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom by Frank W. Baker. Written by an experienced educator, this book shows teachers the importance of media literacy education and gives them several ways of incorporating it into their lessons. Baker focuses on the problems that arise when people have access to limitless information, but don't analyze what they consume. He believes that students need to be taught to interpret advertising messages, call out stereotypes, and always check for bias.

Whether you're a student, a teacher, or just a person with Internet access, having a strong understanding of media literacy can help you navigate the world. It can be hard to stay truly informed in a time when unqualified people have access to a number of public forums. But as long as you know how to think critically, you can avoid being sucked in by manipulative advertising and false information.