This study aims to reconsider the civic educational significance of media use in social studies education and to explore practical instructional strategies in response to the expansion of the digital media environment and the changes reflected in the 2022 revised social studies curriculum. To achieve this purpose, the study analyzed previous research to examine the civic educational implications of media in social studies and conceptualized media project-based learning as an instructional approach. In addition, a quasi-experimental design was employed to implement media project-based learning with sixth-grade elementary school students. The results indicated that media project-based learning produced statistically significant effects on the domain of critical thinking, particularly in enhancing students’ abilities to distinguish facts from opinions. In contrast, although both groups showed improvement in the pursuit of democratic values, no statistically significant difference was found between them. Regarding intention for social participation, the experimental group demonstrated partially positive outcomes. These findings suggest that media project-based learning can contribute not only to the inquiry of public issues but also to the development of learners’ critical thinking skills, civic values, and participatory intentions through the processes of media message production and sharing. This study is meaningful in that it emphasizes the necessity of media education in social studies, provides empirical evidence supporting media project-based learning as an effective approach to citizenship education, and offers implications for future research and instructional practices.