From traditional print news to social media, television to blogs—modern media operates in a complex and hyper-connected environment, and it plays a huge part in our lives every single day. Michelle Lipkin and Gavin Sundwall examine the many ways—positive and negative—that media consumption and digital citizenship affect our lives, and discuss how we can become more literate media users.

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin is the Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education and an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College in media criticism and media literacy. She launched the first ever Media Literacy Week in the U.S. in 2015 and has developed strategic partnerships with media companies including CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Al Jazeera English, Nickelodeon, and Twitter.

Gavin Sundwall has worked throughout his career to deliver the State Department's mission to new audiences in the U.S. and internationally. He has driven media coverage by publications including VICE News Tonight, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Daily Beast, and Vogue, and managed the first-ever documentary television series about the work of a U.S. ambassador and embassy. I am the Ambassador won the Danish equivalent of an “Emmy” in 2014 and became a Netflix and iTunes feature.