The expansion of digital media, social networks, artificial intelligence-based technologies, and the increasing complexity of cognitive influence strategies have highlighted the need to empower students to engage with the media environment in an informed, critical, and responsible manner. This study aimed to design a media resilience model for students in confronting cognitive warfare, with an emphasis on the role of the educational ecosystem. The study was applied in terms of purpose and employed a qualitative approach using reflexive thematic analysis. The participants included 14 experts in communication sciences, media management, educational sciences, curriculum studies, educational technology, educational psychology, and cognitive warfare, who were selected through purposive sampling using a maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed based on Braun and Clarke’s six-phase reflexive thematic analysis framework. The findings showed that, after coding, reviewing, and refining the data, 112 final codes were organized into 18 sub-themes and six main themes. The main themes included cognitive–media awareness and competencies, critical evaluation and detection of media manipulation, media self-regulation and self-care, identity and value-based resilience, responsible communicative agency, and a supportive educational ecosystem. The results indicated that students’ media resilience is a multidimensional capability that develops through the interaction between individual competencies and elements of the educational ecosystem, including family, school, teachers, and curriculum. The proposed model can provide a conceptual framework for designing educational programs aimed at enhancing students’ resilience capabilities in confronting cognitive threats and misinformation.