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Media Literacy in Democracy: Women’s Suffrage in Australia

Citizens of today need to be well informed and skilled in being critically literate across all information sources. Understanding the power of persuasion, the impact of bias and understanding the influence of modern news and social media is vital in strengthening and supporting our democracy.

This unit aims to explore critical media literacy and the importance of investigating where information comes from online. It does this through exploring a particular historical issue: Women’s suffrage in Australia.

For teachers: Media Literacy in Democracy resource

Access the full resource, including teacher guide, curriculum links, critical analysis worksheets and templates as a pdf document online.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this unit students will be able to:

• Critically analyse information from various media sources
• Recognise persuasive techniques used in the media
• Recognise importance of verifying information about political issues/issues of democracy
• Understand and demonstrate skills for verifying online information

For students:

Online news sources:

Examine both of the fictional online news sources:

Then answer the questions on the online news critical analysis sheet.

Facebook

Examine each of the fictional Facebook pages:

Then answer the questions on the Facebook critical analysis question sheet.

Twitter

Examine the fictional Twitter feed #WomensSuffrage

Then answer the questions on the Twitter feed critical analysis sheet.

Resources

Persuasive techniques