Well, I was right proud of myself for getting this assignment done until Carol aptly pointed out that I had read the wrong article (thanks for catching me on that one!). I didn’t follow the link in the homework, so I wound up reading a nice article, but the wrong one. So now, for some thoughts on the correct one.
In “Literacy for the 21st Century,” I found much information on how this organization approaches media literacy that was useful, but a good bit of it was like a commercial (were they testing us?). The article mentions that “we must learn “how to ‘read’ the multiple layers of image-based communication.” I wonder, however, if advertisers and some news organizations use these layers on purpose to obfuscate their real motives and message. Actually, I’m sure that they do. Our job is to peel back the onion layers and get at the real message by analyzing what we experience in media.
Len Masterman points out that ”in a global media culture, people need two skills in order to be engaged citizens of a democracy: critical thinking and self-expression.” I would add to that that they need to form a set of bedrock values. Thinking and expressing without having a well-defined, albeit morphing, set of values leaves us little better than the apes. Values are incredibly important if those in a democracy would be informed participants and not simply reactors to the sensational ads that are all too common during political campaigns.
The five key questions are simple but the answers can yield quite an in depth understanding of what is actually going on with any type of media, from an advertisement to a sitcom. I appreciate that the article points out that you must question those lifestyles, values, and points of view that are OMITTED from the message. Sometimes the main message they don’t want us to hear/see is in the omissions, like in this video ad.
Finally, I believe the summary of the entire piece is in this phrase: “Media literacy…is about helping students…control the interpretation of what they see or hear rather than letting the interpretation control them.” This is the best expression I have seen yet as to the goal of media literacy. As Len Masterman points out, we want to teach students to have “critical autonomy,” or put in layman’s terms, “the ability to think for oneself.” Well said.
Glad I could be of assistance in adding to your already crazy schedule. I appreciated and agreed with what you said about the article. I, too, commented on the advertizing nature of much of it. Oh well. I skipped over much of that and it made reading 50 pages go faster. I totally agree with your take on the video you added. Nice touch.
By: vchuntington on June 23, 2009
at 12:44 am