With the 2025-2026 class registration around the corner, considering Media Literacy as one of your electives could be an amazing decision for yourself.
Do you have a passion for writing, information, television, or even social media? If so, Media Literacy, previously known as Journalism, is the class for you. You learn about every day life media topics such as bias, misinformation, conspiratorial thinking, branded content, and many more.
Media Literacy can help improve your writing skills or even help you find a love for journalism and public media.
Looking back on her time in Media Literacy, Finley Harris, a current photo editor for The Blue & Gold, concluded that her experiences with Media Literacy have improved her writing. “I definitely think Media Literacy has improved my writing skills and my ability to share people’s stories clearly and with intention. Seeing each edition of The Blue & Gold publication has motivated me to apply these storytelling skills into my writing and improve one story at a time,” Finley said.
You do not necessarily have to be into journalism to have a good experience in Media Literacy. Many people develop a love for journalism as they take the class.
Looking back on her time with Media Literacy, Finley Harris feels that the class has helped her to foster a love for writing. “I discovered a strong love for writing, and I’ve realized just how powerful it is to be able to write and share people’s stories. It is something I would love to pursue in my future studies,” she said.
Kate Owens, a former Media Literacy student and current media editor of The Blue and Gold, highlights why one should take this class if they are interested or even curious about the journalism field. “I believe that Media Literacy is a class worth taking because it allows students to collaborate together in a small-group setting and have an experience comparable to that of a real-life journalist,” Owens said.
I am a current Media Literacy student, and there are only three people in my class, including myself. If more people were aware of this class and were willing to give it a try, I guarantee you will enjoy it or at least find some practical use about the topics being learned in class and how they apply to the real world. The usefulness of the topics learned in this class can be something that you carry with yourself for the rest of your life.
Mr. O’Connor, the Media Literacy teacher of four years, describes one of the many benefits of Media Literacy. “One benefit of taking Media Literacy is learning about concepts students might be unfamiliar with. Branded content is a great example of such a concept, information that is presented as news but, in reality, is a form of marketing,” he said.
Branded content is also a form of media that will be applicable in day to day life. Therefore, if one were to take Media Literacy, it would bestow you with an immense understanding of prevalent and important topics such as branded content.
Mr. O’Connor is also an AP Language teacher who thinks Media Literacy can greatly benefit ones writing skills. “Learning to write news stories can improve a person’s composition skills and their confidence when writing. Writing news stories specifically encourages students to gather the important and relevant facts and to report them in such a way that informs the reader,” O’Connor said.
If you want to improve your composition skills, this class is for you.
Through Media Literacy, Kate Owens stated how her time in this class helped her to succeed in other classes at Marist. “Learning from how other students approach their stories helped me to strengthen my writing skills and discover new creative ways to cover a story. I also feel more prepared now when I am writing papers in other classes or situations in life,” she said.
Writing is one of the most important skills anyone can have for the rest of their lives; it can open up many opportunities and teach you a lot.
From watching movies about media, to having a guest journalist from a prominent news outlet come to class to speak about his awesome experiences, this class makes learning about media something to look forward to each and every day.
I highly recommend that you take this class, and I bet if you asked anyone about their experience with this class, they would say the exact same thing.
