MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION STUDENTS: THE SAKARYA UNIVERSITY CASE

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Media literacy; while highlighting an active audience, also suggests that the audience should not only be able to control media content but also have an ability in controlling social roles and democratic rights. Nonetheless, the structure of changing media technologies does not allow the media literacy of the consumer or the student in particular to catch up wih this rapid change. As this study points out, the inactive use of the media by communication faculty students, who are supposed to have a powerful media literacy background, and their standardized approaches obstruct an effective media literacy culture to occur. In this regard, this study, based on the habits of media use of communication faculty students and through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, tries to find out if these habits influence their behaviors regarding the media content. 56 students from different departments (public relations, journalism, media and communication design) at Sakarya University Communication Faculty were interviewed. The conclusions of the study specify that communication faculty students pay attention to media literacy education as there is a need for a more informed audience. Furthermore, a media literacy education helps the users to be more conscious, to develop their understanding and provide them the ability to analyze the news media and have a critical approach. Another outcome demonstrates that the students, who participated in this study, mostly fallow daily news through the internet and social media.

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Media literacy education , university students , Turkey

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences

434

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences