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Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Civic engagement

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

News Media Literacy And Political Engagement: What’S The Connection?, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Stephanie Craft Jan 2017

News Media Literacy And Political Engagement: What’S The Connection?, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Stephanie Craft

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

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 …


Developing A News Media Literacy Scale, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Stephanie Craft Mar 2013

Developing A News Media Literacy Scale, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Stephanie Craft

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a framework previously applied to other areas of media literacy, this study developed and assessed a measurement scale focused specifically on critical news media literacy. Our scale appears to successfully measure news media literacy as we have conceptualized it based on previous research, demonstrated through assessments of content, construct and predictive validity. Among our college student sample, a separate media system knowledge index also was a significant predictor of knowledge about topics in the news, which suggests the need for a broader framework. Implications for future work in defining and assessing news media literacy are discussed.