Media literacy, or the ability to access, critically evaluate and act on media messages, is critical in today’s society. However, many Americans today cannot identify when the information they consume is real or fabricated. When there is no ability to accurately benchmark the facts of the day, it is difficult for citizens to act or move with any clarity to impact the issues that are most important to them.

When then press secretary Sean Spicer, indicated that the audience numbers related to his inauguration were “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe” and delivered the doctored photos to “prove” it, right leaning media who enjoyed the narrative went with it.

This is concerning because we don’t always enjoy the facts of our world, but we must understand them nonetheless. And we must be able to trust the media outlets on which we rely for information. But more than that, those media outlets must search for the truth, whether they like that truth or not. There must be a basic commitment to the facts of life, of our world. Our interpretations of those facts may vary, but the basis for those interpretations must be consistent. When we question whether facts are facts, our democracy is at stake.

Early Americans moved to form our great nation based on facts that they all agreed upon: The King of England’s taxation was crippling. Something had to be done, and the people, together, determined that their colony should become an independent nation that was self ruled. And it was done. Could we imagine for a moment what would have happened if the founding fathers were somehow confused about those facts? Would their decisions and actions have been different because some believed that the King’s taxation was fair?

The media has always had an important role in the decisions made by the American people and our leaders. We must fight for their commitment to truth and implore them to deliver it on a daily basis – whether they like it or not.