Media LiteracyBrought to you direct by the letters A, B, C… and the Department of

Education (who’ll be testing you on this stuff!)

WHAT IS MEDIA LITERACY?

• It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms.

• It builds an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.

MEDIA LITERACY IS NOT. . .

• Media ‘bashing’ is NOT media literacy, however media literacy often involves criticizing the media.

• Simply looking for political agendas, stereotypes or misrepresentations is NOT media literacy; there should also be an exploration of the systems making them appear “normal.”

• Looking at a media message or experience from just one perspective is NOT media literacy because media should be examined from multiple positions.

• Media literacy does NOT mean “don’t watch;” it means “watch carefully, think critically.”

Source: Who is Communicating?

• The first element you should examine when reviewing media texts is the source from which the text has come. You should ask questions such as:

• From where does this text come?

• Who created it?

• Who owns it? How is this text distributed or sold to the public?

• Who profits?

Audience and Purpose: To whom is it communicated? What is the purpose of the communication?

• The next element to be examined will involve looking at for whom and why this message was created. This will involve answering questions such as:

• What is the purpose of this text? Entertainment? Information?

Persuasion?

• Who is the intended (target) audience?

• How and why might this text appeal to its intended audience?

• How does this text appeal to you?

• What things do you like and dislike.

Message: What is being communicated?

• Then you can move on to the message itself. What is it that they are trying to say. To determine this look at:

• What does this text appear to be saying on a surface level?

• What are the values and ideology behind this text?

• Does the text present the beliefs of one particular group?

• What stereotypes, if any, are presented? To what effect?

• To what extent do you share these beliefs?

Forms and Conventions: What medium is used? What are its conventions?

• Finally, you will look at how this message was delivered by examining questions such as:

• What medium was used?

• What techniques are used to reach and hold the audience?

• How was the text made?

• What production techniques were used?

• What rules and laws affect this text (e.g., running time, copyright)?

Overall Assessment

• Through your analysis of the previous questions you may begin to see a bigger picture emerging. With an analysis of all the elements combined you should ask yourself :

• How effective is the communication?

Production

• To bring this evaluation to another level, ask yourself:

• How was this text produced?

• How would you produce a similar text?

• What would you change?

Some other factors to consider:

• All media is created by someone – it is not a naturally occurring phenomena. As we are not part of that creative process we must work to deconstruct the thinking involved in creating the message

• Media has a way of grabbing our attention, often through its own “language” such as incorporating scary music, big headlines, or camera close-ups

• Remember that different people may not experience the media in the same way. We all have social, educational, gender, generational, cultural, religious, political, psychological backgrounds that affect our interpretation of a given text.

• Media has its own sub-culture and reasons for doing what they do. Each person involved in the creation of the media places his/her stamp on it as well as addresses the requirements of the client. The choices made of who/what to include often demonstrate bias: think of the all-white casts of the past, the stereotypical family dynamic, etcetera. When media chooses to deviate from a standard pattern there is a reason for it. Look at what they include and what they omit.

• There is always a reason why the media text has been created: to sell something, to persuade the audience, to gain power, etcetera. Look at what the potential gain is for the particular message.

• The more we know the less susceptible we are to falling victim to their tricks

Think about it…