What Color Is Your Submarine Baby: The Intersection of Media

and Information Literacy Kael Moffat

kmoff64@gmail.com

Emporia State University

(soon to be at St. Martin’s University)

“

”

I'm on a submarine mission for you babyI feel the way you were going

I picked you up on my TV screenI feel your undercurrent flowing

Submission going down, downDragging me down, submissionI can't tell ya what I've found

“Submission” by

•What is the color of death?

•What is the color of purity/cleanliness/goodness?

•What is the color of sadness?

•What is the color of evil?

•What is the color of cowardice/fear?

Sure, info lit, but media lit, too?

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Teachers

“Media and information literacy (MIL) equips citizens with competencies needed to seek and enjoy the full benefits of this fundamental human right” (p. 16).

UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Teachers 2

“[MIL] imparts crucial knowledge about the functions of media and information channels in democratic societies, reasonable understanding about the conditions needed to perform those functions effectively and basic skills necessary to evaluate the performance of media and information providers in light of the expected functions” (p. 20).

One More…

With the emergence of mobile information technology, “we can see that the electronic environment is not just part of our life, it is our life” (William Badke, p. 47)

So, what is in formation literacy?Quick functional definition: “…the process of identifying a research problem, determining the best sources of information to address those problems, using skills to acquire relevant information, evaluating that information, and then using it to address the research problem” (Badke, p. 48)

And what is media literacy?Quick functional definition: “…a set of perspectives that we actively use to expose ourselves to the media to interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter” (James Potter as quoted in Belinha S. de Abreu, p. 6).

“…a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate using 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” (Center for Media Literacy, p. 42)

And what is media literacy? 2

Media=plural form of medium, a means through which something is transferred

Literacy=from Latin literatus, “educated, learned,” literally, “one who knows the letters” (from www.etymonline.com)

What do we mean by “media”?

“Yup…it’s all over the friggin’ place ain’t it?”

All information is transmitted through a

medium!

Core Concepts 1…

All media are constructed.

Who created this message? (Authorship)

from Center for Media Literacy (p. 30-32)

Core Concepts 2…

Media messages are constructed using creative language with its own rules.

What creative techniques are used to attract my/our attention? (Format/Conventions)

Core Concepts 3…

Different people experience the same media message differently.

How might different people understand this message differently? (Audience)

Core Concepts 4…

Media have embedded values and points of view.

What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? (Content)

Core Concepts 4 (2)…

Ralf Arnheim: “…every picture is a statement. The picture does not present the object itself but a set of propositions about the object; or if you prefer, it presents the object as a set of propositions” (as quoted in Lamb & Callison, p. ix)

(For example…)

from: https://img.4plebs.org/boards/pol/image/1391/22/1391221295495.jpg

Core Concepts 5…

Most media messages are [created] to gain profit and/or power.

Why is this message being sent? (Purpose)

Some teaching points…

• In 2010, the media industry generated $443, 000,000, 000 (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/u-s-media-industry-revenue-rose-3-1-in-2010-for-first-gain-since-2007.html)

• If you earned $1 million per year, how long would it take to earn that much?

Some math…

• Let’s assume 500 media messages per day:

• If you were awake for 16 hours per day, how many would that be per hour? [31.25]

• How many would you see in a week? [3,500]

• How many in a month? [15,000]

• How many in a year? [182,500]

• How many in 20 years? [3,650,000]

•What is the effect of all this input?

The communication triangle

A

B C

D

Sender

Receiver Message

Universe

Each sender and receiver has a unique and incomplete portion of the universe.

No sender and no receiver has a complete portion of the universe.

People that share culture often share significant pieces of the universe.

One-Way Communication

Communication flows only from sender to

receiver.

This makes the sender the most powerful

member of the relationship.

A

B C

D

Sender

Receiver Message

Universe

Two-Way Communication

Communication flows back and forth between sender and receiver…kind of.Receiver has power to “comment” on the message and can (sometimes)influence changes in either the message or (rarely) the sender.

A

B C

D

Sender

Receiver Message

Universe

Relationship

• All media messages set up relationships with us

• Example: http://youtu.be/HYjbWHbbjjg

•We’re often unaware of how we’re being influenced

• Tools of influence:

• Line

• Shape

• Size/proportion

• Color

Color

• One of the most powerful tools of influence

• Culturally, not individually determined

• Effects us subconsciously

• Can be used to influence/manipulate our feelings/thoughts

• http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm & http://www.sensationalcolor.com/category/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology#.UjovVD-Psze & http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01276/colorsanddesign/ colorinadvertising.html#

Quick color cheat sheet…

•Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

•Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

• Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy

Now on your own…

• Find three information sources on the web—this works best with professional or academic sources of information.

•Determine the dominant color(s).

•Using the color handout, try to get a sense of how the makers of the message are trying to influence you.

•Write a paragraph on each source.

Sources

• Unesco, “MIL Curriculum for Teachers” (2011?), http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001929/192971e.pdf

• William Badke, “Media, ICT, and Information Literacy” (Sept/Oct 2009), Online, p. 47-49

• Belinha S. de Abreu, Teaching Media Literacy (2007), Neal-Schuman

• Center for Media Literacy, Literacy for the 21st Century [Part I: Theory CML MediaLit Kit] (2008)

• Annette Lamb & Daniel Callison, Graphic Inquiry (2012), Libraries Unlimited