Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks for the term that defines the skill of critically analyzing and evaluating the various media messages we encounter daily. These messages can be for information, entertainment, or commercial purposes.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Media effects refers to the theories about the ways in which mass media and media culture affect how their audiences think and behave. It is the outcome of media exposure, not the skill of analysis.
Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in a variety of forms. It empowers individuals to be critical thinkers and smart consumers of information, which directly matches the description in the question.
Media entertainment is a genre or category of media content, not a skill.
Media Culture refers to the cultural products and norms that are transmitted through mass media. It is the environment in which we consume media, not the analytical skill itself.
Step 4: Final Answer:
Based on the definitions, the ability to sift through and analyze media messages is correctly identified as Media literacy.