While commercial media is created to generate profit, non-commercial media has many motivations – from influencing people how to vote or sharing ways to protect the environment to convincing us the world is flat or promoting racist beliefs. With so much information available today through media, students need to be able to recognize media messages that are motivated by power and persuasion in order to become independent and critical thinkers. First, students will search for and discuss media messages that have purposes other than just making money. Then group production projects will help students discover the power of propaganda for both positive and negative ends thus yielding greater understanding of the multiple (and at times ulterior) motivations in today's media landscape.

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NOTE: This lesson plan is one of 25 cornerstone lesson plans for media literacy education available in Five Key Questions that Can Change the World, published by the Center for Media Literacy. To access the full collection, click here