This paper highlights how typical high school media literacy curricula rely too heavily on simplified, logical listicles or commercial checklists (such as CARS or CRAAP tests). I argue these models fail when students face emotionally-charged, hyper-targeted digital algorithms.

"When misinformation is designed to play directly into identity and group-belonging, simple static fact-checking is insufficient. We need to teach media epistemology—empowering students to analyze how consensus is reached, whose political power is being reinforced, and how digital algorithms shape our beliefs."

The study provides a theoretical framework for building **epistemic cognition skills** inside the English classroom, moving the focus from "checking websites" to investigating the "Constitution of Knowledge."

In this empirical research study, we design-tested an inquiry-based Critical Media Literacy (CML) curriculum within an 11th-grade rural English classroom. Focusing on climate change and environmental consumption narratives, we analyzed the digital media habits of rural youth.

"We discovered that students readily accepted commercial online content if it utilized a familiar, local community frame. By guiding them to analyze the environmental impacts of single-use plastics through a critical lens, they began questioning the power dynamics behind localized misinformation networks."

The findings illustrate the critical importance of localized practitioner collaborations in building critical thinking frameworks that respect, rather than alienate, rural cultural identities.