A lot of people really fail to pick up media literacy skills, even if they’ve been to university. I think a lot of focus on STEM being the most important thing leads people to look down on and not engage with lit and media studies classes in a way.
I know it took me an embarrassing amount of time into my young adult life to start engaging with the media I consume lol.
My teachers tried, but I really think my media literacy was developed by brute force by polishing off a novel every week or so for several years.