Glossary of Key Terms
Use this page as a reference throughout the course. Terms are listed in the order they appear in the curriculum so you can look up the current week quickly. Each term also appears in the Key Vocabulary section of the weekly lesson where it is introduced.
Unit 1 — The Anatomy of a Message (Weeks 1–4)
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| Media | Anything created by someone to share a message, a feeling, or information with other people. Books, signs, videos, websites, and songs are all media. (Example: a YouTube video, a cereal box, a billboard, a song) |
| Audience | The people a piece of media is made for. A cereal box targets shoppers; a cartoon targets kids. |
| Creator | The person or team that designs, writes, films, or produces a piece of media. |
| Constructed | Built on purpose. All media is constructed — someone chose every word, image, color, and sound. |
| Purpose | The reason a piece of media exists. Common purposes: inform, entertain, persuade, sell. |
| Inform | To share facts or teach something. |
| Persuade | To try to change what someone thinks, feels, or does. |
| Framing | The way a creator presents information — which details to include, which to leave out, and how to arrange them — to create a particular feeling or point of view. |
| Tone | The overall mood or feeling of a piece of media (serious, funny, scary, cheerful). Tone is shaped by choices like music, color, and word selection. |
| Construction choices | The specific decisions a creator makes: camera angle, color palette, word choice, music, layout, and more. |
| Re-edit | Taking the same raw material and arranging it in a different way to tell a different story. |
Unit 2 — The Attention Economy (Weeks 5–8)
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| Attention economy | The idea that human attention is valuable and limited, and many companies compete to capture as much of it as possible. |
| Business model | How a company makes money. Free apps and websites often make money by showing ads. |
| Advertiser | A company or person who pays to put a message (usually about a product or service) in front of an audience. |
| Sponsored content | Media that looks like regular content but is actually paid for by an advertiser. (Example: a social media post that looks like a personal recommendation but is actually paid for by a company) |
| Clickbait | A headline or thumbnail designed to make you click by triggering curiosity, shock, or strong emotion — often exaggerating or leaving out key information. (Example: "You Won't BELIEVE What Happened Next!" — designed to make you click) |
| Thumbnail | The small preview image shown before you click on a video or article. Thumbnails are designed to grab attention. |
| Incentive | What the creator gets out of making the content. If the incentive is ad revenue, the creator is motivated to keep you watching as long as possible. An incentive is a clue that helps you ask better questions — but having an incentive does not automatically make someone dishonest. |
| Persuasion technique | A specific method used to influence what you think, feel, or do — such as emotional appeals, celebrity endorsements, or urgency ("limited time!"). |
| Product placement | When a product appears inside other media (like a character drinking a specific brand of soda in a movie) as a form of hidden advertising. |
| Emotional selling | Using feelings — like fear, excitement, nostalgia, or outrage — to persuade someone, rather than using facts. Not all emotion in media is manipulation — honest media can make you feel things too. The key question is whether the emotion is proportional to the facts and used honestly. |
| Propaganda | Media that is designed to promote a particular point of view, often using emotional techniques and leaving out information that doesn't support the message. Propaganda ranges from wartime posters to modern social media campaigns. |
Unit 3 — Verification & Debugging (Weeks 9–11)
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| Misinformation | False or inaccurate information shared by someone who doesn't realize it's wrong. They made a mistake. (Example: sharing a photo from 2019 labeled as "breaking news" from today — the person sharing it may not know it's old) |
| Disinformation | False information created or shared on purpose to deceive people. |
| Satire | Content created as humor or commentary that imitates real news or media. Sometimes people share satire thinking it's real. |
| Verification | The process of checking whether a piece of information is accurate and trustworthy. |
| Source | Where a piece of information comes from — the author, publication, or organization behind it. |
| Lateral reading | Instead of reading deeply on one website, opening new tabs to check what other sources say about the same claim. |
| Reverse image search | Uploading an image to a search engine (like Google Images or TinEye) to find out where it originally appeared and whether it's been used in different contexts. (Example: uploading a photo to Google Images to see where it originally appeared and whether the caption is accurate) |
| Out-of-context media | A real photo, video, or quote used in a misleading way — placed alongside a different event, date, or story than the one it actually belongs to. |
| Manipulated image | A photo or image that has been altered (cropped, edited, or combined with other images) to change its meaning. |
| Fact-check | To investigate whether a specific claim is supported by reliable evidence. |
| Trust rating | A judgment about how reliable a piece of information seems, based on checking the source, date, and other sources. |
| News reporting | Writing or media that presents facts about events — who, what, when, where, and how. News reporting aims to describe what happened, not to argue for a particular opinion. |
| Opinion/editorial | Writing that argues for a specific point of view about an event or topic. Labeled as "opinion," "editorial," "commentary," or "column." An opinion piece is not the same as news reporting — it's one person's argument, and it's meant to be recognized as such. |
| Coverage | How a news outlet reports on an event — including what they include, what they leave out, who they interview, and what tone they use. Different outlets can cover the same event differently because of the choices they make. |
| Sourcing | Where information in a news story comes from — named people, documents, data, or organizations. Strong sourcing means the information can be traced and verified. Weak or anonymous sourcing means you should look for additional confirmation. |
Unit 4 — The Algorithmic Echo (Weeks 12–14)
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| Algorithm | A set of rules or instructions that a computer follows. On media platforms, algorithms decide which content to show each user. Algorithms are tools — they aren't magic, and they aren't automatically "bad." But understanding how they work helps you make more intentional choices about what you consume. (Example: the system that decides which videos appear on your YouTube home page based on what you've watched before) |
| Recommendation system | A specific type of algorithm that suggests content based on what a user has watched, liked, or searched for in the past. |
| Engagement | Any interaction with content — watching, liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking. Platforms measure engagement to decide what to promote. |
| Personalization | When a platform tailors what it shows you based on your past behavior, location, or profile. |
| Filter bubble | The limited, personalized view of information that forms when algorithms keep showing you content similar to what you've already engaged with — while filtering out other perspectives. (Example: if you only watch funny cat videos, the algorithm shows you more cats and fewer other topics — your view of the internet gradually narrows) |
| Echo chamber | A situation where you mostly encounter opinions and information that agree with what you already believe, reinforcing those beliefs and making it harder to see other viewpoints. (Example: if everyone in your friend group agrees on something and you never hear a different opinion, you might start thinking everyone agrees) |
| Confirmation bias | The natural human tendency to pay more attention to information that supports what we already believe and to dismiss information that challenges it. Everyone has confirmation bias — including you. Recognizing it is the first step to managing it. (Example: if you already think dogs are better than cats, you'll tend to notice and remember information that supports that belief) |
| Feed | The stream of content a platform shows you (your YouTube home page, your social media timeline, your "For You" page). Your feed is curated by the algorithm. |
| Engagement signal | An action (like watching a full video, liking, commenting, or sharing) that tells the algorithm you're interested in that type of content. |
Unit 5 — Intentional Production (Weeks 15–18)
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| Spec sheet | A planning document that defines what you're creating, who it's for, what it should accomplish, and what choices you'll make. |
| Key message | The single most important idea you want your audience to take away from your media. |
| Pre-production | The planning and preparation phase before you start building your project. |
| Draft | A first version of your project. Drafts are meant to be improved, not perfect. |
| Peer review | Having another person look at your work and give honest, constructive feedback. |
| Revision | Improving your work based on feedback, fact-checking, and your own critical review. |
| Ethics checklist | A set of questions to help you make sure your media is honest, fair, accurate, and responsible. |
| Signal vs. noise | Signal is the valuable, accurate, meaningful content in your media. Noise is anything that distracts, misleads, or adds nothing useful. |
Extension Terms
| Term | Simple Definition |
|---|---|
| AI-generated content | Images, text, audio, or video created by an artificial intelligence system rather than directly by a human. |
| Deepfake | AI-generated video or audio that makes it look or sound like a real person said or did something they didn't. (Example: a video that makes it look like a famous person said something they never actually said) |
| Hallucination (AI) | When an AI system generates information that sounds confident but is factually incorrect — it makes things up without knowing it. |
| Artifact (AI image) | A visual glitch in an AI-generated image, such as distorted hands, garbled text, or impossible geometry. |
| Synthetic media | Any media created or substantially modified using artificial intelligence or automated tools. |
| Editorial independence | When a newsroom makes decisions about what to cover and how to cover it without being controlled by advertisers, owners, or outside pressure. |
| Credibility | How trustworthy and reliable a source of information is, based on its track record, transparency, and methods. |
| Credibility framework | A personal set of criteria for evaluating whether a specific article or outlet deserves your trust — based on evidence, not memorized lists. |
| Newsroom | The team of reporters, editors, and producers who create a news outlet's content. |
| Correction / Retraction | When a news outlet publicly fixes or withdraws an error — a sign of accountability, not weakness. |
How to Use This Glossary
- Students: Look up a word whenever you're not sure what it means during a lesson.
- Caregivers: Use this page to preview vocabulary before teaching a week, or to refresh your own understanding.
- Everyone: Don't try to memorize the whole list. Learn each term when it comes up naturally in the curriculum.