Media Literacy & Radicalization

Renee HobbsProfessor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabHarrington School of Communication and MediaUniversity of Rhode Island USATWITTER: @reneehobbs

Mind Over Media: Analyzing Contemporary PropagandaBRUSSELS 10-11 March 16

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Media systems are expanding

Literacy is expanding

Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy

Listening+ SpeakingReading+WritingAnalyzing Media +Creating Media

Literacy is the sharing of meaning through symbols

Key Concepts of Media Literacy

What happens when people learn to critically analyze and create media?Research Evidence

Increases learner motivation & engagementResearch Evidence1

Promotes collaboration and creativityResearch Evidence2

These 6-year olds watched a YouTube video, then made their own video to ask questions to the author. After seeing the childrens video, the author responded, sending them back a YouTube video. The children gained confidence in asking questions and actively used the questioning process to learn.9

Develops language skillsResearch Evidence3

An initiative of the PBS News Hour, PBS Student Reporting Labs is a digital and media literacy program that reaches thousands of high school students across the United States. Students learn about their communities, the environment, law and politics, the economy and work collaboratively to create a video news segment, 10

Inspires confidence to ask questions & share ideasResearch Evidence4

These 6-year olds watched a YouTube video, then made their own video to ask questions to the author. After seeing the childrens video, the author responded, sending them back a YouTube video. The children gained confidence in asking questions and actively used the questioning process to learn.11

Improves content knowledgeacross the curriculumResearch Evidence5

An initiative of the PBS News Hour, PBS Student Reporting Labs is a digital and media literacy program that reaches thousands of high school students across the United States. Students learn about their communities, the environment, law and politics, the economy and work collaboratively to create a video news segment, 12

How Do How Attitudes towards News Media, Media Literacy and Video Production Contribute to Adolescent Civic Engagement?

Promotes intercultural communicationResearch Evidence6

Our research investigated learners who participated in the program: 544 students with 40% minority teens 13

Promotes reflective thinking about communication ethicsResearch Evidence7

Connects classroom and communityResearch Evidence8

Children in Grade 3 turned the teachers lesson upside down when they started asking questions during their teachers carefully planning fairy-tale lesson. They transformed the activity into learning about homelessness in their community why it occurs and what can be done about it.15

AUTHORSHIP

Creative skillsCollaboration skills Technical skills

MEDIA ANALYSIS SKILLS

Comprehension

Identify Purpose

RecognizePoint of View

ATTITUDES

Giving & Receiving Feedback

Intellectual Curiosity

CIVIC ENGAGEMENTSign an online petition

Express an opinion to news media

Blog about an issue

Write an opinion letterQUALITY OF MEDIA CHOICES

Increases civic engagementResearch Evidence9

Learning to make media increased creative, collaboration and technical skills, improved their ability to identify the authors purpose while watching a video, and contributed to advancing civic engagement being interested in using the power of communication to make a difference in the world.16

Prepares learners for an unknowable future1

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Digital and media literacy helps children and teens learn to use the power of communication as both creators and consumers. Media literacy is like drivers training for participating in the s1st century.17

Media Literacy as a Civic CompetencyMedia education is an essential step in the long march towards a truly participatory democracy, and the democratization of our institutions. Widespread media literacy is essential if all citizens are to wield power, make rational decisions, become effective change agents,and have an effective involvement with the media.

-Len Masterman, 1985

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Questioning All Forms of AuthorityMedia literacy, because it emphasizes a critique of textual authority, invites students to identify the cultural codes that structure an authors work, understand how these codes function as partof a social system, and disrupt the text through alternative interpretations. In learning to critically read media messages, citizens are developing the abilities togather accurate, relevant information about their society and to question authority (both textual and, by implication, institutional).

- Renee Hobbs, 1998

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Agents of Social ChangeWhen people have digital and media literacy competencies, they recognize personal, corporate and political agendas and are empowered to speak out on behalf of the missing voices and omitted perspectives in our communities. By identifying and attempting to solve problems, people use their powerful voices and their rights under law to improve the worldaround them.

-Renee Hobbs, 2010

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High levels of apathy and disengagement are accompanied by increased political polarization

www.mindovermedia.tv

Propaganda Has an Image Problem

Propagandas Original Meaning

Where is Propaganda Found?

Journalism & Public Relations

Advertising

Government

Education

Entertainment

Advocacy

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda appears in a variety of formsPropaganda is strategic and intentionalPropaganda aims to influence attitudes, opinions and behaviorsPropaganda can be beneficial or harmfulPropaganda may use truth, half-truths or liesTo be successful, propaganda taps into our deepest values, fears, hopes and dreams Propaganda uses any means to accomplish its goal

www.mindovermedia.tv

Rate Examples

Explain Your Reasoning

Crowdsourced Content

Custom Classroom Gallerieshttp://propaganda.mediaeducationlab.com/browse/terrorism

1. Defining Propaganda. Students examine different definitions of propaganda and explore how to find propaganda in news, advertising, public relations, entertainment, advocacy and education.2. Propaganda Techniques. Students identify four different techniques of propaganda found in advocacy and entertainment by analyzing the KONY 2012 and The Interview films. 3. Propaganda in Context. Students learn about Voice of Americas global video news releases and use role-playing and research activities to explore the importance of context in critically analyzing contemporary propaganda. 4. Understanding Viral Media. Students learn about viral media and marketing and consider how audiences participate in the marketing process by deciding what to share through social media. 5. Sponsored Content as Propaganda. Students learn about sponsored content to consider conditions under which it may be fair or unfair.6. The Ethics of Propaganda. Students analyze case studies of controversial advertising and Hollywood entertainment, considering the potential short and long-term consequences from the point of view of creators, audiences, and society.

Active Interpretation

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Point of View

Propaganda can be BeneficialActivists create propaganda to raise awareness, evoke strong emotions, and inspire people to action.

Propaganda can be HarmfulBy activating strong emotion, activists can simplify complex issues in ways that encourage people to act without critical thinking.

Techniques of Propaganda ACTIVATE STRONG EMOTIONS ATTACK OPPONENTS SIMPLIFY INFORMATION & IDEAS RESPOND TO AUDIENCE NEEDS

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Techniques of Propaganda ACTIVATE STRONG EMOTIONS ATTACK OPPONENTS SIMPLIFY INFORMATION & IDEAS RESPOND TO AUDIENCE NEEDS

In Considering Whether Propaganda is Beneficial or Harmful, Consider:

Message: What is the nature of the information and ideas being expressed?Point of View: Whose perspectives do we value in assessing benefits, risks or harms?

Techniques: What symbols and rhetorical strategies are used to attract attention and activate emotional response? What makes them effective?

Means of Communication & Format: How did the message reach people and what form does it take?

Environment: Where, when and how may people have encountered the message? Audience Receptivity: How may people think and feel about the message and how free they are to accept or reject it?

CONTEXT

Digital Media Literacy Smartphone

REFLECTION

Why is it important for everyone to learn about contemporary propaganda?

What new forms of propaganda have emerged in your lifetime?

How did you learn about propaganda when you were in school?

What factors have contributed to the decline of teaching and learning about propaganda?

Q?QQQQQQ???????

HYPOTHESIS 1: Analyzing contemporary propaganda cultivates intellectual curiosity

HYPOTHESIS 2: Cross cultural dialogue about contemporary propaganda deepens students understanding of how context shapes meaning

Strong FeelingsTaking Action

Strong FeelingsTaking ActionTHINKING& REASONING

High levels of apathy and disengagement are accompanied by increased political polarization

High levels of engagement, critical thinking and empathyinspire collaborative and creative efforts to reduce inequalities

We are all stakeholders in digital and media literacy

Get Involved

Become a Member Its free! www.namle.net

Save the Date October 31st November 4thwww.medialiteracy.us

Share Knowledgewww.jmle.org

Summer Institute in Digital LiteracyJuly 24 29, 2016Providence RI

www.MediaEducationLab.com

www.MediaEducationLab.com

CONTACT INFORMATION:Renee Hobbs Professor of Communication StudiesDirector, Media Education LabHarrington School of Communication & MediaUniversity of Rhode Island USAEmail: hobbs@uri.eduTwitter: @reneehobbs

LEARN MOREWeb: www.mediaeducationlab.com

REFERENCES

Hobbs, R. & McGee, S. (2014). Teaching about propaganda: An examination of the historical roots of media literacy.Journal of Media Literacy Education 6(2), 56 - 67.

Hobbs, R. (2013).The blurring of art, journalism and advocacy: Confronting 21stcentury propaganda in a world of online journalism.I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society 8(3), 625 - 638.