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Media LiteracyMedia Literacy
Why bother?Why bother?
If we’re not media If we’re not media literate, we can’t literate, we can’t
understand what the understand what the media are doing for media are doing for
us and to usus and to us
SENDER RECEIVER
SENDERRECEIVER
CHANNEL
CHANNEL
Animal HouseAnimal House
The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show
Media Literacy Media Literacy
Media literacy- ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and process media messages
US produces the most media content, yet we’re probably among the least media literate countries
Active RecipientsActive Recipients
Literacy is a continuum, not a category Low -----------------------High
High literacy ability contextualize and understand the message from multiple perspectives i.e., You don’t just accept the media
messageActive processing
Active RecipientsActive Recipients
Low literacy inability to contextualize media messages i.e., Don’t identify inaccuracies More likely to just accept media
message at face value Inactive processing
More knowledge gives us more control over interpretation Move from uncritical to critical Understand the ways media affect us
A critical thinking skill A critical thinking skill enabling audience enabling audience
members to develop members to develop independent judgments independent judgments
about media contentabout media content
Most people just veg out when Most people just veg out when interacting with the mediainteracting with the media Sit in front of tubeSit in front of tube Leaf through magazines and Leaf through magazines and
newspapersnewspapers Radio in the backgroundRadio in the background Surf the net at randomSurf the net at random Text and tweet ad nauseumText and tweet ad nauseum
Kate Moore – texting Kate Moore – texting champchamp
Sends an average Sends an average of 14,000 text of 14,000 text messages a monthmessages a month
““Let your kid text Let your kid text during dinner! Let during dinner! Let your kid text your kid text during school! It during school! It pays off!”pays off!”
A critical thinking A critical thinking skill enabling skill enabling
audience members audience members to develop to develop
independent independent judgments about judgments about
media contentmedia content
An understanding An understanding of the process of of the process of
mass mass communicationcommunication
An awareness of An awareness of the impact of the impact of media on the media on the individual and individual and
societysociety
So who’s affected? So who’s affected?
Do you think you’re affected by media messages?
What about other people around you?
Effects on me????? Effects on me????? Never!!!Never!!!
I have asked many people over the years: Do media messages have an effect on
you? Often respond with: No (i.e. I watched
lots of violence when I was a kid and I’m fine today)
Effects on others: Often imply that other people are affected by media
Third Person Effect
Perceptions of Media Perceptions of Media EffectsEffects
Third-person effect (Davison, 1983) perceptual component
Message desirability (pro- or antisocial)
overestimate of effects on othersOther people become more
aggressiveunderestimate of effects on self
Media doesn’t affect me
Social Distance CorollarySocial Distance Corollary
Studies find more general / socially distant “other” leads to larger perceived effects other WSU students, then other WA
residents, then public at large Lower class “others” more likely to be
affected
The importance of perceived exposure: differences across “other” groups NOT
based on perceptions of dissimilarity as assumed
“other” estimates due to perceived exposure
“self” estimates based on many factors, but NOT exposure
Linking 3rd-Person Linking 3rd-Person Perceptions to Support for Perceptions to Support for
CensorshipCensorship Studies of 3rd-person perceptions
and censorship of: pornography violent TV content violent and misogynic rap and death
metal lyrics People support censorship because
they assume people are being affected by this content
Strategies for Strategies for analyzing and analyzing and
discussing media discussing media messagesmessages
The ability to enjoy, The ability to enjoy, understand, and understand, and appreciate media appreciate media
contentcontent
Terry PratchettTerry Pratchett
The Daily Show w/ John The Daily Show w/ John StewartStewart
An understanding An understanding of the ethical and of the ethical and moral obligations moral obligations
of media of media practitionerspractitioners
Media Literacy Media Literacy SkillsSkills
Ability and Ability and willingness to make willingness to make
an effort to an effort to understand understand
content, to pay content, to pay attention, and to attention, and to filter out noisefilter out noise
An An understanding of understanding of and respect for and respect for
the power of the power of media messagesmedia messages
The ability to The ability to distinguish distinguish
emotional from emotional from reasoned reasoned
reactions and to reactions and to act accordinglyact accordingly
Develop a Develop a heightened heightened
expectation of expectation of media contentmedia content
Know genre Know genre conventions and conventions and
learn to learn to recognize when recognize when they’re being they’re being
mixedmixed
Think critically Think critically about media about media messages, no messages, no matter how matter how credible the credible the
sourcesource
An understanding An understanding of media content as of media content as a text that provides a text that provides
insight into our insight into our culture and our culture and our
liveslives