CMST A240: Media Literacy

Course Outline of Record
Item	Value
Eff Term	Fall 2026
Curriculum Committee Approval Date	02/11/2026
Top Code	061000 - Mass Communications (CTE)
Units	3 Total Units
Hours	54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours	108
Total Student Learning Hours	162
Course Credit Status	Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee	No
Basic Skills	Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable	No
Open Entry/Open Exit	No
Grading Policy	Standard Letter (S)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)	Area 1B Communication and Analytical Thinking (OA2)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)	Area 1B Communication and Analytical Thinking (OAS2)
California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth)	CSU A3 Critical Thinking (A3)

Course Description

An introduction to the critical consumption of media. Focuses on ability to access, analyze, & evaluate media messages, and to construct argumentative and analytical essays. Develop tools to evaluate credibility, truth & accuracy through critical examination of news, opinion, advertising, PR, entertainment, and social media. Explore political/ economic/social contexts of media production & consumption. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

Recognize and explain the differences between news and opinion, and between evidence and inference.
Critically evaluate the quality, credibility, and bias of information sources.
Apply inductive and deductive reasoning to assess and evaluate claims in media messages.
Structure and write an argumentative paper demonstrating persuasive reasoning, sound logic and argumentation, and appropriate use of evidence.

Course Objectives

1. Read, view, listen to, and understand different types of media messages.
2. Analyze personal barriers to critical thinking and strategies to overcome them.
3. Identify claims and arguments.
4. Identify evidence supporting claims.
5. Assess the credibility of information sources and explain and provide reasoned justifications.
6. Analyze media messages for logical fallacies, bias, and rhetorical strategies.
7. Apply communication theories to evaluate semiotic and symbolic claims in media messages.
8. Discuss the impacts of technology on media content, credibility, and accuracy.
9. Distinguish between different information neighborhoods.
10. Explain the influence of hegemony, ideology, and audience bias on media content.
11. Research, analyze, and construct written arguments that demonstrate persuasive reasoning and proper use of evidence.
12. Apply critical thinking skills to compose analyses of news, advertising, PR, entertainment, and social media content.
13. Provide ethical feedback to media creators, gatekeepers, and audiences.

Lecture Content

A. Introduction

1. Definition of terms and concepts
a. media
b. media literacy
c. news
d. social media
e. news literacy
f. reliability of information
g. hegemony
h. audience

2. History -- technologies' impacts on accuracy and credibility
a. Print
i.books, newspapers, magazines, scientific & academic journals
b. Radio
i.terrestrial radio, talk radio, satellite radio
c. Film
d. Television/Cable Networks
e. World Wide Web
i. news sites, search engines, social media

B. Critical thinking skills

1. Observing evidence

2. Developing context skills

3. Discerning relevant evaluation criteria

4. Determining appropriate methods to form judgments

5. Knowledge and application of appropriate theories

C. Issues in Media Literacy

1. Challenges for news consumers

2. Factors that determine news

3. Media Saturation

4. Balance, Fairness, Bias

5. Digital Competency

6. Metacommunicative competence

D. Identifying Fallacies in Media

1. Formal and informal fallacies.
a. Types of fallacies

2. Fallacy Hierarchies

3. Fallacies' impact on worldviews, framing, and circular reinforcement

4. Uses and Misuses of Statistics

E. Media Hegemony and Ideology

1. Narratives

2. Myths

3. Depictions of Gender, race/ethnicity, age, body type, religion, sexual orientation, cultures

F. Audience

1. Individual Perspective

2. Industry Perspectives on Audience

3. Children as Special Audience

4. Cognitive Dissonance and Media Consumption

G. Constructing Argumentative Essays on Media Topics

1. Identification of proposition types

2. Stock issues for fact, value, policy propositions

3. Outline and essay structure
a. thesis development and paragraph organization
b. integration of evidence from media sources
c. Developing persuasive reasoning and logical flow

4. Applying critical thinking to support claims in written analyses

H. Power of Information

1. News drivers

2. Evaluating what news matters

3. Taxonomy of Information Neighborhoods
a. promotion, propaganda, entertainment, raw information

4. Journalism vs. other media
a. journalistic principles: verification, independence, accountability

5. news vs. commentary

I. Semiotics/Analyzing Visual Aspects of Media

1. signs and codes

2. code subsets

3. Peirce's three-part sign model

4. sign modes: symbolic, indexical, iconic

5. Saussure's two-part model

6. structuralism

J. International Media

1. Social Media and political protest

2. Propaganda

3. Global media models
a. bipolar model, compass model, continuum model, change model, subsystem model

Method(s) of Instruction

Lecture (02)
DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
DE Online Lecture (02X)

Instructional Techniques

Instructors may make use of lectures, discussion, and oral and written feedback. Course instruction will include exposure to and discussion of current events and contemporary media topics, written feedback. Students will complete multiple shorter writing assignments to develop their analytical and composition skills. Students will receive written feedback and revise at least one extended argumentative paper based on instructor guidance.

Reading Assignments

Students will have regular reading assignments in a selected textbook. Students will spend approximately 2 hours per week.

Writing Assignments

Students will keep a media journal (minimum 750 words) Short-answer essays, articles, or speeches written during class demonstrating critical analysis (minimum 2000 words). Process draft(s) of research paper (minimum 750 words). Term-paper length argumentative research paper (minimum 1500 words). Students will spend approximately 3 hours per week.

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will be required to consume news/information media each week. Students will spend approximately 2 hours per week.

Study Non-Contact Hours Recommended

108

Methods of Student Evaluation

Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Short Quizzes
Written Assignments
Essay Examinations
Projects (Individual/Group)
Problem Solving Exercises
Oral Presentations

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Students will demonstrate the ability to assess credibility of news sources and articulate reasons for their assessment. Students will be able to discern between relevant and irrelevant information. Students will identify fallacious reasoning. Students will identify and explain instances of media bias and audience bias. Students will be able to identify a media problem and advocate and defend a policy solution.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Students will select entries from their ongoing media journals for evaluation and written feedback. Student research papers will receive written feedback. Students will create written or mediated feedback for media producers or gatekeepers, in which they will identify one or more ethical, factual, or policy problem(s) and support their viewpoint with logical examples.

Resources Subscreen

: . . ().
: . . ().
: . . ().

Eligible Discipline(s)

Communication studies (speech communication): Master’s degree in speech, speech broadcasting, telecommunications, rhetoric, communication, communication studies, speech communication, or organizational communication OR bachelor’s degree in any of the above AND master’s degree in drama/ theater arts, mass communication, or English OR the equivalent. Master's degree required.

Academic Catalogs