Introduction to Media Literacy

Media literacy is a set of skills that anyone can learn. Just as literacy is the ability to read and write, media literacy refers to the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media messages of all kinds.

These are essential skills in today's world. Today, many people get most of their information through complex combinations of text, images and sounds. We need to be able to navigate this complex media environment, to make sense of the media messages that bombard us every day, and to express ourselves using a variety of media tools and technologies.

Media literate youth and adults are better able to decipher the complex messages we receive from television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, signs, packaging, marketing materials, video games, recorded music, the Internet and other forms of media. They can understand how these media messages are constructed, and discover how they create meaning – usually in ways hidden beneath the surface. People who are media literate can also create their own media, becoming active participants in our media culture.

Media literacy skills can help children, youth and adults: • Understand how media messages create meaning • Identify who created a particular media message • Recognize what the media maker wants us to believe or do • Name the "tools of persuasion" used • Recognize bias, spin, misinformation and lies • Discover the part of the story that's not being told • Evaluate media messages based on our own experiences, beliefs and values • Create and distribute our own media messages • Become advocates for change in our media system

Media literacy education helps to develop critical thinking and active participation in our media culture. The goal is to give youth and adults greater freedom by empowering them to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media Literacy Assignment

In a group of two to four (2-4) people, please deconstruct two media examples with special attention paid to:

• Source • Audience • Text • Subtext • Persuasion techniques • Point of view

Your group will then present your deconstructions to the class. The presentations should be between five and ten (5-10) minutes long, and the media examples will be of your own choosing. Along with each presentation, each member will please submit a one to two (1-2) page paper that summarizes your deconstructions. I will return these to you with comments and a grade for your efforts. Please take these presentations.

Guidelines for Presentations

Equal Participation Each team member should contribute equally. Each member should speak for approximately one-and-a-half to three (1½ to 3) minutes. The presentation can reflect the diversity of viewpoints of the presenters. Designate one team member as the team leader. This person will be responsible for introducing the presentation as a whole, and each presenter. The team leader will also summarize the presentation at its conclusion.

Grading Since grading is based on the presentation as a whole, team members should notify the professor before the date of the presentation if any member does not do their share.

Format Many students elect to use PowerPoint or Prezi. This is not absolutely required, but provision of some visual aids is necessary.

Class Presentation Talk to us, don't read. You may use notes when you make your presentation, but you may not read from a fully written out text. Here is one way to make a successful presentation:

1. Do plenty of reading and research. Explore the topic as fully as possible. Make notes. 2. Read over your notes, and think over the results of your reading. 3. Discuss your results with your team members. Tentatively plan the presentation in its general outlines. 4. On your own again, and setting notes aside, brainstorm and write down all the interesting ideas that you have come up with. 5. Organize these ideas into a coherent sequence. Return to your notes and add any information relevant to your major ideas which will illustrate or explain them.. 6. Add an introduction, which tells what you will talk about, and a conclusion which sums up what you have discussed and learned. Cut out any irrelevant or uninteresting material. 7. Meet with your team members to organize and streamline the presentation. 8. Visualize yourself giving a talk to the class, going through all these ideas, in a comfortable and relaxed fashion. If you wish, practice talking about your subject to a mirror. 9. Using only brief notes, give your presentation to the class and have fun! 10.The team leader will also prepare a short general introduction to the presentation, lead-ins for each individual presenter, and a very brief possible conclusion, which may change according to how the presentations unfold.

Media Deconstruction Guided Questions

1. Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why? 2. Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What words, images or sounds suggest this? 3. What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.) 4. What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?) 5. What kind of lifestyle is presented? 6. What values are expressed? 7. What “tools of persuasion” are used? 8. What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented? 9. What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower? How does this serve the media maker's interests? 10. What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories?