In the 21st century, humanity lives in a media saturated social space: posters, screens, messages, advertising, games, etc. A space where media is not just a means of disseminating information, but also forms public opinion, influences behavior, decisions, worldview and preferences of people:

"A media culture has been formed where images, sounds and scenes help to create the texture of everyday life, prevail in entertainment, form political views and social behavior, as well as provide materials for people to build their own identity."

In such a media environment, the border between news and entertainment, on the one hand and between news and propaganda on the other hand becomes more blurred, and the media is no longer just a medium for the dissemination of information. Therefore, the correct interpretation of media messages should be one of the most important skills of modern man. That is why, in a media saturated world, media literacy becomes relevant -the ability to choose, analyze and correctly evaluate any information.

Media literacy is based on a model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see or read. It allows consumers to analyze media messages so that they can distinguish between propaganda, censorship or one-sidedness in news and public programs, as well as understand who the owner of the media is, which model and which source of funding they use, as all this actually affects the nature of the information․ The task of media literacy is to make media consumers more active and critical, helping people better understand where manipulations are, how to apply and verify the information received, and help people be independent of the reality of the media. To assess media literacy , the following indicators are distinguished։

Media literacy components are:

• Ability to search information
• Level of media information security  
• Ability to verify information reliability
• Level of misinformation
• Ability to use and disseminate information appropriately

Within the frameworks of this topic a sociological research conducted aims at evaluating the manifestations of media consumption and the level of their misinformation among Armenian citizens aged 18 and older․

The research study examined the main sources of information for the population, and their trust in them. There was a separate focus on how people use the information received from the television, radio, newspapers, the Internet (including social networks and online media), to what extent they trust it, and how people disseminate and check the information they receive. Moreover, all these data were considered not only by social, sex and age and other groups but also by people’s political views in order to understand whether media literacy has any relation to political views.

The study was conducted by the quantitative method of sociological research, made it possible to observe the problem under study in the context of the whole republic, to bring out tendencies and patterns. The main purpose of the study is to find out the manifestations of media consumption in the Republic of Armenia and the level of disinformation of the population (among citizens aged 18 and older). The issues of the study revealed to the level of media literacy of the population, sensitivity to disinformation, as well as the main sources of information and manifestations of its consumption. Description of the method of obtaining information: To collect information, the method of quantitative interviews was used, which allowed to obtain the opinion of all social groups of the population on this issue. Due to representative sample, the received information can be fully distributed to various localities, find out the prevalence and distribution of opinions, and identify patterns. Direct interviews were conducted with the respondent interviewer. A standardized questionnaire consisting of closed and semi-closed questions, including those from among the respondents, was used as a research tool. The results of the research were analyzed using SPSS statistical program. The study was conducted in June-September 2021 among the population aged 18 years and older living in regions of Armenia and in the city of Yerevan. With the accuracy of the survey data within ± 2.8%, selective consolidation in the 95% confidence interval is calculated for 1200 people.

Summarizing, it’s worth to note that in modern reality, media not only creates a sense of reality, but also represents reality by framing events and situations. In this context, media literacy skills become relevant, which help media literates develop a critical position, recognize persuasion methods used in media messages, distinguish propaganda from objective information and, finally, avoid negative media influence. Summing up the results, we note the main conclusions: * The main sources of interesting information in Armenia are television and the Internet. The preferred language for receiving information is naturally Armenian, then Russian, and in relatively fewer cases English. • Respondents use the information obtained differently. The users were conventionally divided into passive and active users based on the nature of use. People are more prone to passive consumption of information than active. Moreover, the higher the level of activity, the less likely is its application. Active use of information is more typical of women than men, more for middle-aged people, and for people leaving in urban settlements. • The highest rated media are: oTV channels - Armenia TV, Shant, Public Television, RTR and ORT: oRadio channels – Public Radio of Armenia, Liberty / Radio Yerevan, Aurora, Van, Radio Hay; oNewspapers - Haykakan Zhamanak, Aravot, Hraparak, Iravunk, Eter; o Social networks– Facebook, Instagram, Odnoklassniki: o Online media- Azatutyun.am, News.am, 1in.am, 168.am, Tert.am: •The source of information has a certain influence on the respondents' opinion about the events taking place in the country. Thus, respondents who mention mass media as the main source of information are more optimistic about the future of the country, and respondents who receive information through daily communication (family members, friends, colleagues) are more pessimistic. • The respondents who think that Armenia should join the EU are more prone to think that the state of the country is getting better.

information society, information and communication technologies (ICT), e-government, virtual communities, information sphere, Media Literracy, fake newsd, posth-truth society