Suchergebnisse

Scholars and educators have long hoped that media education is positively related to pro-social goals such as political and civic engagement. With a focus on measuring news media literacy with emphasis on media knowledge, need for cognition and media locus of control, this study surveyed 537 college students and found positive relationships between news media literacy and two political engagement measures: current events knowledge and internal political efficacy. Findings show that news media literacy is not associated with political activity, although some dimensions of news media literacy are associated with lower levels of political trust. Results help to define significant components of news media literacy and suggest that these components help foster positive relationships with civic and political life.

Scholars and educators have long hoped that media education is positively related to pro-social goals such as political and civic engagement. With a focus on measuring news media literacy with emphasis on media knowledge, need for cognition and media locus of control, this study surveyed 537 college students and found positive relationships between news media literacy and two political engagement measures: current events knowledge and internal political efficacy. Findings show that news media literacy is not associated with political activity, although some dimensions of news media literacy are associated with lower levels of political trust. Results help to define significant components of news media literacy and suggest that these components help foster positive relationships with civic and political life.

Research on the Willingness to Self-Censor (WTSC) scale posits that the desire to withhold one's opinion is an intrinsic, as opposed to situational, trait. This study of high school media advisers (N=563) revealed that advisers who rated high on WTSC were more likely to state lower levels of comfort with the coverage of five controversial topic areas in their student media. These findings held even when accounting for key demographics, fear of reprisal for running the stories, job enjoyment, and the advisers' perception of their principal's comfort level with the topic.