Critical thinking

Being a critical consumer of messages is more important than ever in the increasingly mediated society that we live in. This means being able to analyze all messages for purpose, audience, intended message, and effectiveness. The skills learned from analyzing media messages can also be used in analyzing all messages – whether the messages are from the mass media, computer mediated communication (CMC), coworkers, our children, other family members, friends, or other sources. Therefore, you will need to analyze messages for purpose, audience and intended message.