What word or phrase relates to 'being able to see through manipulation?'
Depending on the slant of the article, maybe something about "Resisting Media Misdirection" or something. "Media Misdirection" has a nice ring, and has the connotation of dishonest trick, if that is the line of argument you are pursuing.
In a broader sense, you can use the idiom separate the wheat from the chaff (consider only what is of value to us in the advertisement and discard the unnecessary stuff which the advertiser seeks to manipulate us towards seeking/buying).
'How to Separate the Wheat from the Chaff in Advertising'
TFD(idioms):
separate the wheat from the chaff
To separate the good or valuable from that which is inferior.With so many manuscripts arriving daily, it's a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff and spot the really exceptional ones.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
It sounds like you're looking for a combination of skeptical and perceptive. On its own, I think "perceptive" gets the job done conveying the qualities a person with great insight and awareness, but "skeptical" has stronger connotations for doubt and questioning narratives. A skeptical person is not necessarily very perceptive though, and perceptive people are not always skeptical. Hence why I see it as a combination of the two.
From your comment:
'How to See Through Subliminal Manipulation in Advertising' is the topic I have right now. I just want a concise way to put it.
How about:
Detecting Subliminal Manipulation in Advertising
Decoding Subliminal Manipulation in Advertising
to pierce TFD
- To succeed in penetrating (something) with the eyes or the intellect:
As in your sample:
'How to Pierce the Subliminal Manipulation in Advertising'
Pierce in this sense is seen in 'pierce the veil', 'pierce the darkness' and 'pierce the corporate shield'. There are many other uses of pierce in this sense.