Modern Media Literacy: Generative AI, Social Media, and the News (Paperback)

In an era defined by digital transformation, modern media literacy evolves to address generative AI, social media, and the news. As AI-driven tools shape the creation and dissemination of information, traditional boundaries blur, challenging individuals to critically assess sources, motives, and authenticity. Social media platforms increase these dynamics, accelerating the spread of both credible journalism and misleading content generated by algorithms. In this context, media literacy navigates a system where human and machine-produced content coexist. Understanding how generative AI influences media narratives may foster more informed, responsible, and resilient digital citizens. Modern Media Literacy: Generative AI, Social Media, and the News explores the evolving landscape of media consumption and critical analysis in the digital age. It examines how digital media literacy can be assessed in higher education, emphasizing the need for valid and reliable tools to measure the critical skills students need to navigate today's complex media environment. This book covers topics such as critical thinking, digital technology, and social media, and is a useful resource for media and communications professionals, sociologists, computer engineers, educators, academicians, researchers, and scientists.

Tom Hallaq is a media literacy researcher and documentary filmmaker. He is the creator of the Digital Online Media Literacy Assessment (DOMLA), a self-assessment tool employed globally to gauge media literacy among students from middle school to university levels. He currently serves as an associate professor on the faculty of the A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication at Kansas State University. Dr. Hallaq's professional background includes extensive experience in live television production and direction. He began his career as a key member of the startup news team for KSTU Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, UT. Additionally, he has worked as a News Operations Manager for WDEF-TV, CBS, in Chattanooga, TN, and for KNDU-TV, NBC, in Kennewick, WA. As an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Dr. Hallaq focuses on issues affecting Kansans. His 2016 documentary, Slow & Low: The story of the Kansas ag. pilot, highlights the lives of agricultural pilots, formerly known as crop dusters, and received multiple awards, including a Telly Award and an Aegis Award. In 2021, he collaborated with the late Dr. Ian Punnett to produce , a documentary that explores food access challenges in rural Kansas and celebrates community-driven solutions. This work earned a Silver Telly Award. Dr. Hallaq holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Communications from Brigham Young University, a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Instructional Media and Technology from Eastern Washington University and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership with a focus on Instructional Methods and Design from Idaho State University where he was also on the faculty as an Assistant Professor. Theoretically speaking, Dr. Hallaq is a constructivist, promoting the idea that learning is most effective when concepts are applied to real-life situations to build new knowledge. His research and creative interests encompass media literacy, media accessibility, and documentary storytelling.

Jacob Groshek has a long list of research, teaching, and industry appointments, which currently include Executive Director of the newly-formed Institute for Representation in Society and Media, the Chair of Emerging Media at Kansas State University, and as President of Metro Boston NFL Flag Football. He is also affiliated faculty with the Department of Communication and Arts at Roskilde University (Denmark) and served as Associate Director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Boston University. In addition, he has also been a leading Digital Experience Management consultant at the International Data Corporation and member of the faculty at Boston University (tenured), the Toulouse School of Economics (France), the University of Melbourne (Australia), and Erasmus University (The Netherlands). He earned his Ph.D. in media research at Indiana University Bloomington, where he specialized in applied analytics for international, political, and health communication networks and advanced econometric methods. Topically, his areas of expertise now address online and mobile media technologies as their use may relate to sociopolitical and behavioral health change at the macro (i.e., national) and micro (as in individual) levels. His work also includes analyses of sports and media marketing content along with user influence in social media campaigns that drive engagement, participation, and revenue. Put simply, He puts his academic research to the test everyday with media marketing analytics efforts that build programs and drive millions in ongoing, annual revenue across industry verticals. His research makes it easy deploy and engage a blend of interpretive as well as relatively advanced AI-driven statistical tools for network analysis, forecasting, and explaining where and how the use of media has shaped public opinion and global events, in particular as it relates to political and health decision making.