Priority Focus in Media Literacy of Youth

The article is devoted to the study of media literacy skills of young people. On the one hand, theoretical studies of the issue are taken as a basis, and on the other hand, the practical understanding of media literacy that has developed among young people and is reflected here as a result of a sociological survey of schoolchildren aged 10-18 and students aged 18-29. In contemporary studies there is a certain lack of a single definition for media literacy and an integrated approach to this concept from the point of view of interdisciplinary research is in demand. Generally, media literacy include abilities to read and write; to distinguish fake from the truth and check facts; to distinguish opinions from facts; to recognize the emotional background of the message; to think critically; to evaluate the message in terms of the opposition «good – bad». This work results in establishing the following priority: for schoolchildren the ability to evaluate mass media content in terms of the opposition «good – bad» and for students the ability to think critically.