SNAPSHOT 2024: The State of Media Literacy Education in the U.S.

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

National Association for Media Literacy Education

ABOUT THIS SNAPSHOT
NAMLE’s Snapshot 2024: Media Literacy Education in the United States measures media literacy content, standards, and perceptions from a variety of educators. In 2019, we framed the findings of our first survey as a “snapshot”—an informed perspective on media literacy education that was intended to provide context and update understanding in the field. Just as in 2019, this report is also a snapshot of a moment in time, a window into the world of media literacy, and is not a representative research study. We know that progress in media literacy education is happening in places and through spaces in addition to those captured by this survey.

The survey window was open from July 2023 through September 2023. Invitations to complete the survey were distributed through NAMLE’s membership database, organizational newsletters, and through social media. NAMLE also utilized the teacher organizations in the National Media Literacy Alliance to publicize the survey. The survey comprised 22 questions, which included a mix of yes/no, multiple choice, rank answer, select all that apply, and open-ended response. A total of 310 respondents completed the survey.

The survey sample is nationally distributed, representing participating members of the media literacy community located throughout the United States. Since our initial 2019 Snapshot, much has changed in the cultural, political, educational, media, and technological landscapes. Collectively, we experienced the onset of an ongoing global pandemic that accelerated the use of digital technologies in remote education but also revealed digital divides across communities. We weathered a presidential election framed through false narratives and amplified by networked technologies, including bots, trolls, and bad-faith actors. We have seen the continuing decline of journalism and local news along with a rise in news deserts. The education system in the United States is experiencing the highest teacher turnover in recent history (Diliberti & Schwartz, 2023). These realities shape not only our survey findings, but undoubtedly the experiences of media literacy educators everywhere. MORE