In the modern age, competencies for media education have become an integral feature of a successful teacher. Nevertheless, the topic of media literacy of teachers in our area has not yet been thoroughly researched. For this reason, the aim of the research was to examine media literacy and teacher competencies for media education. The research used a five - level scale of assessment of Teacher Competence for Media Education (KNMO) consisting of 31 items. The first segment of the assessment scale referred to the examination of teachers’ competencies for the use of media, the second segment referred to the purpose of using the media and the third to the readiness of teachers to improve their own competencies for media education. The research involved 152 teachers (in the area of Nis, Dimitrovgrad, Zajecar, Merošina and Oblačina) whose attitudes were analyzed in relation to the subject area (natural / technical and social sciences), age, (up to 35 and more than 35) , years of work experience (up to 10; from 10 to 20 and more than 20) and professional training in the field of media education. The results of the research showed that 75% of the respondents consider themselves a media - competent person and that teachers most positively assess their own competencies for the use of e - mail, Word, internet sites; computers; media devices such as camera, camcorder, radio and television and Power point presentation. Teachers expressed a lower level of confidence in their own competencies for the use of media resources when it came to the use of Excel and social networks such as Facebook and Instagram. The results of the research also showed that teachers in our area most often face difficulties in the tendency to create a blog about their own educational work and the application of educational software in working with students. When it comes to the purpose of use, the results of the research showed that teachers most often use media in order to find teaching materials and prepare activities to be implemented in working with students, and least often to communicate with parents of students. The results of the research show that on the one hand the respondents believe that more attention should be paid to media education of teachers, and on the other hand they do not follow the news in the field of information and communication technologies, they do not frequently get acquainted with internet sites useful for media literacy, they rarely follow blogs created by other teachers for the purpose of media education or read professional literature that can contribute to their competence to apply the media in teaching. Also, the results of the research show that teachers believe that the exchange of experiences with colleagues contributes the most to the development of competencies for the application of media technologies. When it comes to the independent variable - subject area, the results show that teachers of natural / technical sciences assess their own media competencies more positively and that they follow the news in the field of information and communication technologies more often than teachers of social sciences and humanities. Also, the research shows a tendency that with the increase in the years of work experience of teachers, the degree of positive assessment of one’s own competencies for the use of media resources and the degree of readiness for acquiring media education decreases. When it comes to the independent variable related to professional development in the field of media education, the results of the research showed that teachers who have been professionally trained in the field of media application assess their own media competencies more positively and show a higher degree of readiness for further professional development in relation to teachers who have not been educated in the media through seminars, workshops and courses.