The hottest Media Literacy Substack posts right now

Critical reading involves moving from reactive to reflective thinking.
Content consumption often leads to snap judgments based on past experiences.
Four core lenses - facts, filters, feelings, forecasts - are crucial for critical reading.

Ad hominem attacks insult a person's motive or character instead of addressing the content of an idea or argument.
Ad hominem attacks create distrust of the individual and divert attention away from the actual issue.
To combat bias from ad hominem attacks, focus on facts, recognize diversion tactics, and practice self-reflection.

Media often shapes the truth by what is said, not said, and how it's said.
Confirmation bias affects how we perceive and share information.
Misinformation about climate change often stems from groups with specific interests.

Peter Thiel's Palantir has taken over the federated data service for the NHS, impacting data sharing opt-outs for patients and raising concerns about private interests in public health data.
In the education sector, AI's influence, particularly in EdTech, raises issues around data governance, privacy regulations, and the challenge of regulating online platforms.
AI's expansion into various sectors, including recruitment, poses challenges such as potential bias, pricing out of students, and the use of AI for assessments, leading to a possible 'AI-driven race to the middle' in hiring practices.

Pop culture is being used as a coping mechanism in the face of fascism.
There is a shift towards valuing plot efficiency over art and depth in movies and media.
Debates about on-screen sex scenes involve discussions about consent, relevance to the plot, and the balance between moral complexity and protection in a neofascist era.

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The Gell-Mann Amnesia effect points out how we tend to doubt news within our expertise but believe information outside of it, showing inconsistencies in our media perception.
Cognitive biases like confirmation bias and the Dunning-Kruger effect play a role in why we selectively scrutinize information based on our expertise.
In the digital age, the internet and social media have intensified the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect, making it crucial for individuals to cultivate critical thinking and media literacy to navigate the vast sea of information.

The brain tends to take shortcuts in thinking to save time and energy.
Different types of NPCs exist, including conformists, contrarians, disciples, tribalists, and averagers.
To avoid being an NPC, prioritize and focus on forming informed opinions on primary issues, take the best shortcuts on secondary issues, and be silent on tertiary issues.