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How to Become More Media Literate

August 7, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

blueprint drawing man woman shaking hands and media literate

Regardless of your politics, we’ve all been exposed to the concept of “fake news”. It might have been someone who shared an announcement that a celebrity has died, only to find out that it’s either not true or it happened four years ago. Or the news agency that labels an act of violence as terrorism before all the facts are in. Bottom-line: as much as technology and social media have enriched our lives, those tools have also created challenges in being media literate.

So, each of us has been susceptible to misinformation on the internet. My guess is that it won’t be the last time. This isn’t something to be ashamed or embarrassed about. Even professional journalists have had it happen. And the answer isn’t to stop using the internet. It’s to get better about questioning what we read and see.

I recently learned about a digital literacy project called MediaWise. The goal of the project is to teach 1 million teenagers how to sort fact from fiction via a course called “Civic Online Reasoning”. Don’t let the goal of educating teens keep you from being interested in this project. That being said, I’m not going to talk about the “Civic Online Reasoning” course today.

Instead, I want to talk about another course that was actually mentioned casually in a promotional video for MediaWise. CrashCourse Media Literacy is a 12-series program that focuses on how to consume and evaluate the media to become more media literate. After watching the Crash Course Media Literacy program, I would strongly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn more about how the internet shapes our lives.

The episodes are educational, informative, and sometimes funny. None of the episodes are longer than 10-minutes. I’d like to think that we can afford to take 10-minutes a day to learn more about the internet. And I’m not just talking about fake news. The program does a good job of defining what media is and how we need to think of it as more than Facebook or Instagram. I had several takeaways from this series that I believe will help me be a better media user.

Media literacy isn’t just about what we share. Yes, it’s important that we share only legitimate news. But it’s also important that we don’t assume the all the news we receive is always 100% complete. It’s possible that we’re only hearing a small portion of the news or the facts. And it’s our obligation as a media consumer to research the whole story. We can’t make informed decisions with a fraction of the facts. Granted, there might be times when we don’t get all the facts and we’ll have to decide what to do with that scenario as well. But sometimes, we can find more information if we go looking for it.

You should know what happens with your data. I’m not anti-marketing. I think it’s fantastic that marketing companies have access to consumer data that helps them make good business decisions. That being said, as a consumer, you do need to know what data you’re sharing with companies and what they have permission to do with it. I must admit, I was surprised that CrashCourse included a section on user data, targeting ads, and terms of service agreements. It made me realize that part of my responsibility in being media literate is understanding what happens with my data.

Media consumers might find it helpful to understand the business of media. Another aspect of the program that I thought was interesting was the conversation about who owns what media and how media ownership can impact what information we see (or don’t see). The program also spent some time talking about which media entities are regulated by the government, which ones aren’t, and why we might want to know that information. Finally, it discussed about how media companies partner with the businesses that make our phones, computers, and televisions to form bundles and exclusive agreements, which may or may not benefit us the consumer.

The purpose of this article isn’t to scare anyone. It’s not to imply that anyone should close all their social media accounts. And it’s certainly not to say that marketing and media companies are doing anything wrong. The purpose of today’s article is to encourage people to become more aware about their relationship with media. The more aware we are about media, the more internet and media literate we can become.

I am so pleased that I went down the rabbit hole of the internet and found CrashCourse’s Media Literacy program. I spend a lot of time on the internet. We write content that other people consume. It’s important that we’re responsible media publishers. And as individuals, we must learn how to be responsible media consumers.

Image from the Sharlyn Lauby book Essential Meeting Blueprints for Managers

Make a Checklist of Your Wishes For Your Family

March 6, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

planning, checklist, wishes, family, EB White quote, list, money

For the last decade of my father-in-law’s life, every time we visited him, he would find an hour to chat with us about his final wishes. It was never on the first day or the last. It was never over dinner. But at some point, he would find a few moments to talk about what he wanted his final days to be like and how he wanted his matters handled by family when he was gone.

Keith and I came to expect these little chats every time we visited him.

Now that we’re getting older, we’re trying to figure out when we should start having those chats with people. First of all, it’s a great reminder that if you haven’t already thought about the executor of your estate…now’s a good time. And don’t let that term intimidate you. Whether you have $1 or $1M, somebody is going to have to handle your final affairs.

AARP Publishing has a book out titled, “Checklist for My Family” by Sally Balch Hurme, J.D.. This 250-page book outlines ten areas of our life that we might want to consider documenting. Some of them are very predictable like life insurance, investments, and real estate. Others are more surprising such as items to destroy, rewards programs, and pet care.

I’m sure for many, the task of handling a person’s final affairs is given to a child. Keith and I have an interesting dynamic to consider because we don’t have children. I found this book to be something that we could complete and leave it in a place for the executor of our estate to review. I love that everything is in a single book, so our executor only has to find one thing – the book. And we can keep the book in a safe place or mail it to our executor.

The book has two parts. The first part is my “to-do” list. This is where I need to review items, make decisions about how I would like things handled by family, etc. The second part is where I document those decisions. Looking back, my father-in-law was quite the planner and there were plenty of things he forgot to tell us. This book reminds me that while there are several major decisions to make, there are lots of smaller decisions to consider as well.

If I have one criticism about the book, it’s that the author doesn’t put enough emphasis on technology. The book does reference digital assets, but most of us have multiple social media accounts, emails, etc. and at some point, somebody will be given the task of deleting my digital life. In future editions, I could see technology being a separate chapter versus just a few pages.

At some point in time, we have to start making plans for our final days. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t want to rush those decisions. Having a checklist for family that I can pick up and put down at my leisure makes me feel in control. And isn’t that want we’re trying to do – be in control of how our affairs are handled.

Bookmark This! “How to Make a Difference” Edition

February 22, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Another regular feature we want to have on this blog is a round-up of resources you might find useful. I read a lot of blogs and over time I’ve really come to enjoy when other bloggers do this. But in an effort to put a different twist on the idea, I want to curate resources around a single topic. That way, you can “bookmark” it for future reference.

In the U.S., we recently had an election and now have a new President and Congress. Now I’m not here to talk about who and what to support. That’s your decision and I respect it. However, I think we can agree that we are seeing an overall increased level of activism in our political process. And maybe at some point in time, you’ll want to be a part of it – if you aren’t already.

I’m all for getting involved and making a difference and your thoughts known to your legislators. It’s the foundation of our political systems. However, I also know that reaching out to your congressional representatives can be a bit intimidating. And, as an HR professional, I’ve seen a lot of really good ideas never get implemented because of the way they were presented. So here are some resources to help you communicate with your elected officials:

Lifehacker published a couple of posts recently, written by a former congressional staffer, that focus on how to communicate with your government officials.

How to Effectively Lobby Your Congressperson

The Best Ways to Contact Your Congress People, From a Former Staffer

I just discovered an app that allows you to stay on top of issues and send videos to your representatives. It’s called Countable and is available for iOS and Android (FREE.)

Should you decide to take to the streets to show your support for an issue, this article on “How to Protest Safely and Legally” is a must-read.

When I was first starting my career, I got involved in the legislative affairs committee and made a difference for my profession. The woman who chaired the committee was loud and passionate about people voting and getting involved. One day, I asked her what made her so passionate and she said that she grew up in South Africa. She knew what it was like not to have the freedom to vote and contact her legislators. She basically said, “You Americans don’t know how good you have it.” From that moment on, I realized the importance of being involved and having my voice heard.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the Newseum in Washington, DC