As citizens living in a 21st century world, we are constantly surrounded by media in its various forms. Whether this be social media, news feeds, or other methods of media consumption, media is able to penetrate almost every realm of society. But how do we know what media is reliable? How can we tell what is “fake news” and what is real? The answer to these questions is undeniably complicated but can be made easier through media literacy. So what is media literacy? At its root, media literacy is simply the process of applying critical thinking to the media a person consumes. What does this actually mean practically though? Well, let's begin with an example. Say you are scrolling through your social media feeds and come across a post saying that the President of the United States has just signed an executive order that will cost thousands of people their jobs. This piece of media, without applying media literacy, will be taken at face value and added to your vault of ideas and i