I need help with my comm class about media

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2. Media Literacy: A Definition

The definition most often cited in the US is a succinct sentence hammered out by participants at the 1992 Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute:

… the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.

Definitions, however, evolve over time and a more robust definition is now needed to situate media literacy in the context of its importance for the education of students in a 21st century media culture. CML’s MediaLit Kit™ uses this expanded definition:

Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education.

It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a

variety of forms – from print to video to the Internet.

Media literacy 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.

What is important to understand is that media literacy is not about “protecting” kids from unwanted messages. Although some groups urge families to just turn the TV off, the fact is, media are so ingrained in our cultural milieu that even if you turn off the set, you still cannot escape today’s media culture. Media no longer just influence our culture. They are our culture. Media literacy, therefore, is about helping students become competent, critical and literate in all media forms so that they control the interpretation of what they see or hear rather than letting the interpretation control them. To become media literate is not to memorize facts or statistics about the media, but rather to learn to raise the right questions about what you are watching, reading or listening to. Len Masterman, the acclaimed author of Teaching the Media, calls it “critical autonomy” or the ability to think for oneself. Without this fundamental ability, an individual cannot have full dignity as a human person or exercise citizenship in a democratic society where to be a citizen is to both understand and contribute to the debates of the time.

ȱ What Media Literacy Is NOT

� Media ‘bashing’ is NOT media literacy, however media literacy often involves criticizing the media.

� Merely producing media is NOT media literacy, although media literacy should include media production activities and projects.

� Just bringing videos or CD-ROMs or other mediated content into the classroom is NOT media literacy; one must also explore the nature and influence of media and media messages in our culture.

� Simply looking for political agendas, stereotypes or misrepresentations is NOT media literacy; there should also be an exploration of the systems making them appear “normal.”

� Looking at a media message or experience from just one perspective is NOT media literacy because media should be examined from multiple positions.

� Media literacy does NOT mean “don't watch;” it means “watch carefully, think critically.”

– With thanks to Renee Hobbs, Chris Worsnop,

Neil Andersen, Jeff Share and Scott Sullivan.

5. Process Skills: Success for Life

In its report, Learning for the 21st Century, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a public-private organization of leaders and educators in business and education, outlined what it will take to be successful in the 21st century work and living environment:

“People need to know more than core subjects. They need to know how to use their knowledge and skills – by thinking critically, applying knowledge to new situations, analyzing information, communicating, collaborating, solving problems, making decisions.. (They) need to become lifelong learners, updating their knowledge and skills continually and independently.”

Using the CML MediaLit Kit™ as a framework, students not only gain knowledge about the content of contemporary media but perhaps more importantly, they learn and practice the skills needed to navigate one’s way in a global media culture. These skills include the ability to: Access . . . When people access messages, they are able to collect relevant and useful information and comprehend its meaning effectively. They can: � Recognize and understand a rich vocabulary of words, symbols and techniques of communication. � Develop strategies for locating information from a wide variety of sources. � Select an assortment of types of information relevant to the purpose of a task.

Analyze . . . When people analyze messages, they are able to examine the design of the message’s form, structure and sequence. They can make use of artistic, literary, social, political and economic concepts to understand the context in which the message occurs. For example, � Use prior knowledge and experiences to predict outcomes. � Interpret a message using concepts such as purpose, audience, point of view, format, genre, character,

plot, theme, mood, setting, context. � Use strategies including compare/contrast, fact/opinion, cause/effect, listing and sequencing.

For a sample exercise in analyzing a media message, see the following pages

on “How to Conduct a ‘Close Analysis’ of a Media Text.”

Evaluate . . . When people evaluate messages, they are able to relate messages to their own experience and make judgments about the veracity, quality and relevance of messages. This includes being able to: � Appreciate and take pleasure in interpreting messages in different genres and forms. � Evaluate the quality of a message based on its content and form. � Judge the value of a message based on one’s ethical, religious or democratic principles. � Respond orally, in print, or electronically to messages of varying complexity and content.

Create . . . When people create (or communicate) messages, they are able to “write” their ideas, using words, sounds and/or images effectively for a variety of purposes, and they are able to make use of various technologies of communication to create, edit and disseminate their message. � Make use of brainstorming, planning, composing and revising processes. � Use writing and oral language effectively with mastery of rules of language usage. � Create and select images effectively to achieve various goals. � Use technologies of communication in the construction of messages.

– With thanks to Renee Hobbs, Ed.D.

Key Question #1:

Who created this message?

Core Concept #1:

All media messages are ‘constructed.’

We should not think of media texts (newspaper articles, TV shows, comic books to name just a few) as “natural” things. Media texts are built just as surely as buildings and highways are built. The building materials involved vary from one kind of text to another. In a magazine, for example, there are words in different sizes and typefonts, photographs, colors, layout and page location. TV and movies have hundreds of building blocks-- from camera angles and lighting to music and sound effects. What this means is that whether we are watching the nightly news or passing a billboard on the street, the media message we experience was written by someone (or probably several people), pictures were taken and a creative designer put it all together. But this is more than a physical process. What happens is that whatever is “constructed” by just a few people then becomes “normalized” for the rest of us; like the air we breathe, it gets taken for granted and usually goes unquestioned. But as the audience, we don't get to see or hear the words, pictures or arrangements that were rejected. We only see, hear or read what was accepted! The success of media texts depends upon their apparent naturalness; we turn off a production that looks “fake.” But the truth is, it’s all fake – even the news! That doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy a movie, watch TV or listen to music. The goal of this question is not to make us cynical but simply to expose the complexities of media’s “constructedness” and thus create the critical distance we need to be able to ask other important questions.

Keyword: Author / ‘Constructedness’

Guiding Questions:

x What kind of “text” is it?

x What are the various elements (building blocks) that make up the whole?

x How similar or different is it to others of the same genre?

x Which technologies are used in its creation?

x How would it be different in a different medium?

x What choices were made that might have been made differently?

x How many people did it take to create this message? What are their various jobs?

Key Question #2:

What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

Core Concept #2:

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

Each form of communication-- whether newspapers, TV game shows or horror movies-- has its own creative language: scary music heightens fear, camera close-ups convey intimacy, big headlines signal significance. Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor system of media language, especially the language of sounds and visuals which can reach beyond the rational to our deepest emotional core, increases our appreciation and enjoyment of media experiences as well as helps us to be less susceptible to manipulation. One of the best ways to understand how media are put together is to do just that-- make a video, create a website, develop an ad campaign about a community issue. The more real world the project is, the better. Digital cameras and computer authoring programs provide easy ways to integrate creative production projects in any subject area. In addition the four major arts disciplines-- music, dance, theatre and the visual arts-- can also provide a context through which one gains skills of analysis, interpretation and appreciation along with opportunities for self-expression and producing a message for an audience.

Keyword: Format

Guiding Questions:

x What do you notice. . . (about the way the message is constructed?) o Colors and shapes? o Sound effects? Music? Silence? Dialogue or Narration? o Props, sets, clothing? o Movement? Composition o Lighting?

x Where is the camera? What is the viewpoint?

x How is the story told? What are people doing?

x Are there any visual symbols or metaphors?

x What’s the emotional appeal? Persuasive devices?

x What makes it seem “real”?

Key Question #3:

How might different people understand this message differently from me?

Core Concept #3:

Different people experience the same media message differently.

Audiences play a role in interpreting media texts because each audience member brings to the media text a unique set of life experiences (age, gender, education, cultural upbringing, etc.) which, when applied to the text-- or combined with the text-- create unique interpretations. A World War II veteran, for example, brings a different set of experiences to a movie like Saving Private Ryan than any other audience member--resulting in a different reaction to the film as well as, perhaps, greater insight. Even parents and children watching TV together do not “see” the same program. This concept turns the tables on the idea of TV viewers as just passive “couch potatoes.” We may not be conscious of it but each of us, even toddlers, are constantly trying to “make sense” of what we see, hear or read. The more questions we can ask about what we are experiencing around us, the more alert we can be about accepting or rejecting messages. Research indicates that, over time, children of all ages can learn age-appropriate skills that give them a new set of glasses with which they can “read” and interpret their media culture.

Keyword: Audience

Guiding Questions:

x Have you ever experienced anything like this?

x How close does it come to what you experienced in real life?

x What did you learn from this media text? What did you learn about yourself from experiencing the media text?

x What did you learn from other people’s response—and their experience?

x How many other interpretations could there be? How could we hear about them?

x How can you explain the different responses?

x Are other viewpoints just as valid as mine?

Key Question #4:

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

Core Concept #4:

Media have embedded values and points of view.

Media, because they are constructed, carry a subtext of who and what is important -- at least to the person or persons creating the construction. Media are also storytellers (even commercials tell a quick and simple story) and stories require characters and settings and a plot that has a beginning, a middle and an end. The choice of a character's age, gender or race mixed in with the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors that are portrayed, the selection of a setting (urban? rural? affluent? poor?), and the actions and re-actions in the plot are just some of the ways that values become “embedded” in a TV show, a movie or an ad. It is important to learn how to “read” all kinds of media messages in order to discover the points of view that are embedded in them and how to assess them as part of the text rather than merely accepting them as “natural.” Only then can we judge whether to accept or reject a message. Being able to recognize and name missing perspectives is also a critical skill as we negotiate our way each day through our mediated environment.

Keyword: Message / Content

Guiding Questions:

x How is the human person characterized? What kinds of behaviors / consequences are depicted?

x What type of person is the reader / watcher / listener invited to identify with?

x What questions come to mind as you watch / read / listen?

x What ideas or values are being “sold” in this message?

x What political or economic ideas are communicated in the message?

x What judgments or statements are made about how we treat other people?

x What is the overall worldview?

x Are any ideas or perspectives left out? How would you find what’s missing?

Key Question #5:

Why is this message being sent?

Core Concept #5:

Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Much of the world’s media were developed as money-making enterprises and continue to operate today as commercial businesses. Newspapers and magazines lay out their pages with ads first; the space remaining is devoted to news. Likewise, commercials are part and parcel of most TV watching. What many people do not know is that what's really being sold through commercial media is not just the advertised products to the audience -- but also the audience to the advertisers! The real purpose of the programs on television, or the articles in a magazine, is to create an audience (and put them in a receptive mood) so that the network or publisher can sell time or space to sponsors to advertise products-- usually in a way that entices us to want what we really don’t need! Sponsors pay for the time based on the number of people the producers predict will be watching. And they get a refund if the number of actual viewers or readers turns out to be lower than promised. But the issue of message motivation has changed dramatically since the Internet became an international platform through which groups and organizations-- even individuals-- can attempt to persuade others to a particular point of view. The Internet provides numerous reasons for users of all ages to be able to interpret rhetorical devices, verify sources and distinguish legitimate online sources from bogus, hate or ‘hoax’ websites. And with democracy at stake almost everywhere around the world, citizens in every country need to be equipped with the ability to determine both economic and ideological “spin.”

Keyword: Purpose

Guiding Questions:

x Who’s in control of the creation and transmission of this message?

x Why are they sending it? How do you know?

x Who are they sending it to? How do you know?

x Who is served by, profits or benefits from the message? The public? Private interests? Individuals? Institutions?

x Who wins? Who loses? Who decides?

x What economic decisions may have influenced the construction or transmission of the message?

Handout 3

Expanded Questions for more sophisticated inquiry

As students become more skilled in media literacy, more complex analysis is possible. The following outline is only a sample of the kinds of Expanded Questions that can be asked in order to fully grasp the overall content, form, purpose and effects of any media message. The numbers at the end of each question indicate which Key Question it expands.

ȱ 1. Messages and Values-- exploring the content of a media message. These questions help us understand how the symbol system of a message influences its interpretation by different people; how the symbols that are selected for a message tap into our existing attitudes, knowledge and understanding of the world.

1 What makes this message seem realistic or unrealistic? (#2) 2 How does this message fit with your lived experience of the world? (#3) 3 How are various social groups represented? (#4) 4 What social or ideological messages are a part of the message’s subtext? (#4) 5 What kinds of behaviors and what kinds of consequences are depicted? (#4) 6 What type of person is the reader invited to identify with? (#4) 7 What is omitted from the message? (#4) 8 Whose point of view is presented? (#4)

ȱ 2. Codes and Conventions-- exploring the form of the message. The following kinds of questions help us appreciate the “constructedness” of messages, how ideas and concepts are created, expressed and “packaged” for specific audiences.

1 What is the message genre? ( #1) 2 What techniques are used to attract my attention? (#2) 3 What conventions of storytelling are used in this message? (#2) 4 What types of visual and/or verbal symbolism are used to construct the message? (#2) 5 What kinds of persuasive or emotional appeals are used in this message? (#2) 6 What technologies were used to construct this message? (#1) 7 How is this message similar and different from others with similar content? (#1)

ȱ 3. Producers and Consumers-- exploring the purpose and effects. These questions help us see the multiple decisions that are made from beginning to end as the message is created and distributed plus the multiple interpretations that are created in the audience as they watch, see or listen:

1 Who created this message? (#1) 2 What is the producer’s purpose? (#5) 3 Who is the target audience? (#5) 4 How have economic decisions influenced the construction of this message? (#5) 5 What reasons might an individual have for being interested in this message? (#3) 6 How do different individuals respond emotionally to this message? (#3) 7 How might different individuals interpret this message differently? (#3)

ȱ – With thanks to Cary Bazalgette and Renee Hobbs.

How to Conduct a ‘Close Analysis’ of a Media ‘Text’

While getting “caught up” in a storytelling experience has been the essence of entertainment since our ancestors told tales around the fire, the relentless pace of entertainment media today requires that at least once in awhile, we should stop and look, really look, at how a media message is put together and the many interpretations that can derive from it. The method for this is called “close analysis.” To learn to conduct this basic media literacy exercise, try it first yourself; then introduce it to a group or class using tips at the end of this article. Any media message can be used for a close analysis but commercials are often good choices because they are short and tightly packed with powerful words and images, music and sounds. Find a commercial to analyze by recording, not the programs but just the commercials, during an hour or two of TV watching. Play the tape and look for a commercial that seems to have a lot of layers-- interesting visuals and sound track, memorable words or taglines, multiple messages that call out for exploration. Replay your selection several times as you go through the following steps:

1. Visuals. After the first viewing, write down everything you can remember about the visuals-- lighting, camera angles, how the pictures are edited together. Describe any people-- what do they look like? what are they doing? wearing? What scenes or images do you remember clearly? Focus only on what is actually on the screen, not your interpretation of what you saw on the screen. (See the following sample exercise, What Do You Notice? ) If necessary, play it again but with the sound off. Keep adding to your list of visuals. 2. Sounds. Replay again with the picture off. Listen to the sound track. Write down all the words that are spoken. Who says them? What kind of music is used? Does it change in the course of the commercial? How? Are there other sounds? What is their purpose? Who is being spoken to-- directly or indirectly? (That is, who is the audience addressed by the commercial?) 3. Apply Key Questions. With the third viewing, begin to apply the Five Key Questions and the Guiding Questions that lead to them. Identify the author(s) and how the specific “construction” techniques you identified in steps 1 and 2 influence what the commercial is “saying”-- values expressed and unexpressed; lifestyles endorsed or rejected; points of view proposed or assumed. Explore what's left out of the message and how different people might react differently to it. What is the message “selling”? Is it the same as the product being advertised? Continue to show the text over and over; it’s like peeling back the layers of an onion. 4. Review Your Insights. Summarize how the text is constructed and how various elements of the construction trigger our own unique response-- which may be very different than how others interpret the text. Try this exercise with other kinds of messages-- a story from a newscast, a key scene from a movie, a print advertisement, a website. Are different questions important for different kinds of messages?

Doing a close analysis with a class or group can be exhilirating, with insights coming fast and furiously. After the first showing, start the group exercise with the simple question: “What did you notice?” Different people will remember different things so accept all answers and keep asking, “What else did you notice?” If the group is having a hard time, show the clip again and invite them to look for something that stands out for them. Continue the brainstorming until you have at least 15 or 20 answers to the question: “What did you notice?” Challenge any attempt to assign interpretation too early. Keep the group focused on identifying only

what was actually on screen or heard on the soundtrack. The key to success with this exercise is for the teacher/leader to keep asking questions. Refrain from contributing too many answers yourself. While no one has the time to subject every media message to this kind of analysis, it takes only two or three experiences with close analysis to give us the insight to “see” through other media messages as we encounter them. It's like having a new set of glasses that brings the whole media world into focus.

Teaching Tip:

When you find a text that is useful for a close analysis, put it on a videotape six or eight times with 5 seconds of black between. This makes it easier to show it several times without having to stop and rewind.

What did you notice? A sample inquiry into visual language. Media Text: A :60 commercial showing an attractive middle-aged woman driving on a dark, lonely road when her car breaks down. She tries in vain to restart the car. . .a truck passes going the other way but does not stop. (Turns out to be a commercial for a cell phone.)

Teacher/Leader: What did you notice about this text? First, what did you actually see on the screen? Group Responses: driving on a lonely road. . . it's night / dark . . . woman alone . . . car breaks down . . . she's afraid. . . T/L: Oh?, you saw fear?! How did you see fear? Fear is an abstract concept . . . what did you actually see (that led you to conclude : fear)? (You might want to chart the following typical responses in two columns which can later clarify: denotation / connotation) GR: Closeup of woman turning key in ignition with sound of car grinding but not starting . . . close-up of foot on gas pedal. . . close-up of engine light. . . close-up of her fingers drumming on the steering wheel. . . closeup of her looking out the window to see if anyone around. . . no . . . on the sound track, the music is in a minor key, kind of eerie. T/L: Okay! After the establishing shot which put her on a dark country road, there were four quick cuts showing her trying to start the car. Put those together with the eerie music and we viewers jump to the conclusion that she's afraid-- or that she should be afraid. . .

Further exploration reveals that each shot of the commercial, plus the editing which goes faster and faster like a racing heartbeat, is carefully constructed to build the case that the woman is in danger and afraid. If we, as viewers, buy into it and begin to identify with a feeling of fear, we've been “hooked” by the commercial's premise, whether we ever buy a cell phone or not. This is the power of visual language and why we need to help our students learn to “read” it.