Rutland Library, located on the Three Rivers College Poplar Bluff campus, is hosting Media Literacy Week this year, October 25 – 29. In addition to events on the Poplar Bluff campus, there will also be displays and activites at the TRC Sikeston Library, at TRC-Dexter, and live events via Zoom.
“We are constantly being bombarded with information. While information may not have a motive, the people who create it do,” said Dr. John LaDue, Director of Library Services at Three Rivers College. “Being media literate requires us to look beyond what is presented and ask why is it being presented, who benefits from what is being presented and how it is being presented, what underlying assumptions are being made, what is not being presented, etc.”
The events presented during Media Literacy Week at Three Rivers will help students and community members learn to look at media messages through a critical lens, help them think for themselves about the messages they consume, and question the authority of all media creators.
All TRC students and the community are invited to attend the following events:
Event 1: Protecting Your Privacy Online – Stop by the Rutland Library on October 25 or 26 for a free cookie from McAlister’s and information on how cookies track your every move online. Also available through Zoom (we also have cookie coupons for virtual attendees).
Event 2: The Media Is Framing Us: Headlines of Resistance – It’s your turn to write the headline. Watch footage of real world events and learn how framing impacts how a story is told. All week at the Rutland Library (Poplar Bluff).
Event 3: Spot the S.E.E.D. of Propaganda – Visit the Propaganda Walls at the Rutland Library (Poplar Bluff), the Dexter Foyer, and the Sikeston Library to learn how to identify propaganda before it takes root. All week.
Event 4: Q & A with an Independent Media Creator – Special Guest Kei Pritsker from Breakthrough News out of New York City will be joining us live over Zoom at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 29 to give his perspective on news media This event will be held in the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center, room 108, and virtually via Zoom.
In addition to this event, Three Rivers College offers a wide range of courses to help students learn information literacy skills. One of the most important classes for students to consider taking is Mass Communication & Society.
“In this class, students are asked to select media they regularly consume and analyze it using a process that helps them think more critically before making decisions to accept or reject media messages,” said Margaret Orlando, Associate Professor of Communications at Three Rivers College. “I’m currently teaching this class, and love hearing from my students about what they have uncovered about media they regularly consume. They are becoming more media literate right before my eyes.”
Orlando continued, “Media literacy skills are a crucial component of information literacy that we hope our learners pick up here at Three Rivers College.”
For more information about Media Literacy Week in the United States, visit https://medialiteracyweek.us/.
Three Rivers College is committed to contributing to the quality of life in Southeast Missouri with quality, affordable higher education opportunities and community services that support and encourage the economic, civic, and cultural vitality of the region. For more information about college and workforce programs and upcoming events, visit trcc.edu.
