Media Literacy

1
Media Literacy

• adapted in part from
• Media Literacy Clearinghouse
• www.med.sc.edu/medialit

2
The Laws of Media

• Its
  like the fish in
  water we dont know
  who discovered the water,
  but we know it wasnt a fish. A
  pervasive medium is always beyond
  perception.
  Marshall McLuhan

3
What is media literacy?

• Take a few minutes and write your
• answer to these prompts
• What is media literacy?
• Why should we be media literate?

4
What media literacy is

• Set of skills, knowledge, abilities
• Awareness of personal media habits
• Understanding of how media works
• Appreciation of medias power/influence
• Ability to discern critically question/view
• How meaning is created in media
• Healthy skepticism
• Ability to produce create media

5
What media literacy is not

• Media bashing
• Protection against media
• Just about television
• Just TV production
• How to use AV equipment
• Teaching with media
• rather it is teaching about the media

6
Media Literacy definition

• Media literacy empowers people to be both
  critical thinkers and creative producers of an
  increasingly wide range of messages using image,
  language, and sound. It is the skillful
  application of literacy skills to media and
  technology messages. As communication
  technologies transform society, they impact our
  understanding of ourselves, our communities, and
  our diverse cultures, making media literacy an
  essential life skill for the 21st century.
  SOURCE Alliance for A Media Literate
  America, www.amlainfo.org

7
News Stories About Media

• Congress leaving Washington for a new Capitol?
  Only in The Onion (see next slide)
• Clear Channel fires Howard Stern
• Chinese Government Learning How to Spin Media
  after Riots
• Videogames Designed for Education?
• Kool brand targets black teens
• Controversy over Blige and fried chicken ad
• Meteorologists Argue With Climatologists About
  Global Warming

8
Check out The Onion

• Go to www.theonion.com
• Got earphones? Listen to this
• http//www.theonion.com/audio/general-mills-pulls-
  nitroglycerin-chex-from-store,27882/
• And heres the classic article
• http//www.theonion.com/articles/girl-moved-to-tea
  rs-by-of-mice-and-men-cliffs-note,2029/

9
What is bias?

• When a writers personal opinion comes
• through in a story or news report, he/she
• is revealing a bias
• Loaded words
• Stereotypes
• One sided arguments
• Facial expressions
• Body language

10
What is fact?

• Something that can be seen or proved
• Only facts can be proved
• Facts are indisputable
• Closely associated with questions of objectivity
  or truth

11
What is opinion?

• An opinion reveals what the writer believes or
  thinks about something
• Certain words can signal that a writer is
  starting an opinion
• think probably believe
  seems should

Fact vs. Opinion

• Most writing is a combination of the two

12
Core Concepts in Media Literacy

• All media are constructed
• Media use unique languages, with their own set of
  rules
• Media convey values and points-of-view
• Different people experience the same media
  messages differently
• Media are concerned with power, profit
• Source Center for Media Literacy,
  www.medialit.org

13
Critical Inquiry Key Questions

• Who produced the message?
• For what purpose was it produced?
• Who is the target audience?
• What techniques are used to attract attention,
  increase believability?
• Who or what is left out why?
• Who gains by the message being told in this way?

14
Resources

• Media Literacy Clearinghouse
• Center for Media LiteracyMedia Education
  Foundation
• Alliance for A Media Literate AmericaAction
  Coalition for Media Education
• National Telemedia Council
• (publishes TELEMEDIUM journal)

15
Subliminal Below Threshold

• The word subliminal literally means below
  threshold. To elaborate, it means that you are
  not aware of the message it is below the
  threshold of your conscious perception. However,
  you will still take the message in on some level
  as your subconscious mind processes it and stores
  this information. Subliminal messaging,
  therefore, refers to the action of sending a
  suggestion directly into the subconscious mind.

16
Subliminal Advertising

• James Vicary, an advertising expert, went into a
  1950s movie theater to test his devious new tool
  for persuading others Subliminal Advertising.
• During the movie he allegedly flashed the
  commands "EAT POPCORN" and "DRINK COKE" so fast
  that the unsuspecting audience couldn't
  consciously see the words. Vicary claimed Coke
  sales jumped 18.1 and popcorn sales leaped
  57.7.
• On that day, subliminal advertising was born.
• Today subliminal advertising is banned by most
  major countries. The FCC in America outlaws it by
  simply saying subliminal advertising is designed
  to deceive. For that reason alone it is forbidden
  to be used by any radio or television advertiser.
• Still, self-help tapes that claim to have
  subliminal messages hidden on them continue to
  sell to the tune of 50,000,000 a year.

17
Take a look at these images
See any subliminal messages?
18
What is subliminal about this photo?
19
OJ Simpson

• What message is given by Time magazine?

20
Parody

• What is the artist trying to convey with this
  image?

21
Examine this picture closely
22
Examine closely

• Notice the boys eyes? Why does he look there?
• Why is he looking at the mans hand?
• Does it suggest the boy doesnt want to be there?
• What about the man?
• Look at his left hand. What does it suggest?

23
Kramer vs. Kramer
The Rest of the Story

• Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work
  comes before his family. His wife, Joanna, cannot
  take this anymore, so she decides to leave him.
  Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping
  and taking care of himself and their young son,
  Billy. When he has learned to adjust his life to
  these new responsibilities, Joanna resurfaces and
  wants Billy back. Ted, however, refuses to give
  him up, so they go to court to fight for the
  custody of their son.

24
Can you identify the advertisers associated with
this alphabet?
25
How Is Media Manipulated?

• In public relations, spin is a form of
  propaganda, achieved through providing an
  interpretation of an event or campaign to
  persuade public opinion in favor or against a
  certain organization or public figure. While
  traditional public relations may also rely on
  creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often,
  though not always, implies disingenuous,
  deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics.

Or What Does It Mean to Polish the Truth?
26
Who Uses Spin?

• Politics has been around for ages, but
  surprisingly the term spin doctor is relatively
  recent. It arose during the 1984 US presidential
  election.
• Politicians are often accused by their opponents
  of claiming to be honest and seek the truth while
  using spin tactics to manipulate public opinion.

27
What tactics do they use?

• Selectively presenting facts and quotes that
  support one's position (cherry picking)
• Non-denial denial
• Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths
• Euphemisms to disguise or promote one's agenda
• Burying bad news announcing one popular thing at
  the same time as several unpopular things, hoping
  that the media will focus on the popular one.

28
Cherry Picking

• The act of pointing at individual cases or data
  that seem to confirm a particular position, while
  ignoring a significant portion of related cases
  or data that may contradict that position.
• Cherry picking can refer to the selection of data
  or data sets so a study or survey will give
  desired, predictable results which may be
  misleading or even completely contrary to
  actuality.

29
Examples of Cherry-Picking

• Car salesmen assisting only customers who
  appear well-to-do
• In sports, waiting close to the opponent's goal
  in hope of receiving the object in play (ball,
  puck, etc.) and redirecting it towards the goal

30
Clear Example
In fact, National Snow and Ice Data Center
records show conclusively that in April 2009,
Arctic sea ice extent had indeed returned to and
surpassed 1989 levels."
31
Non-Denial Denial

• Characterizing a statement as "ridiculous" or
  "absurd" without saying specifically that it is
  not true
• Saying "We are not going to dignify that with a
  response"
• Impugning the general reliability of a source
  (e.g. Mitchell, "The so-called sources of the
  Washington Post are a fountain of
  misinformation") without addressing the
  particular fact alleged by the source.
• Denying a more specific version of events than
  that which was actually alleged. For example, for
  an allegation of corruption, saying "I have never
  received any money from anyone in the party" when
  an exchange of goods took place

32
Euphemisms

• Euphemisms can be used by governments to rename
  statutes to use a less offensive expression. For
  example, in Ontario, Canada, the "Disabled Person
  Parking Permit" was renamed to the "Accessible
  Parking Permit" in 2007

33
Common Euphemisms

• ill-advised for very poor or bad
• peer homework help or comparing answers for
  cheating
• fee for fine
• alcohol-related, single-car crash for drunk
  driver
• to cut excesses (in a budget) for to fire
  employees

34
Do you re-define stupid?

• Lame duck
• Half a bubble off plumb
• Dorkus Maximus
• Lost your marbles
• Low brow
• Meat head
• Slow but sure
• Waste of space
• Lights are on but nobodys home

• The elevator doesnt go to the top floor
• Bottom feeder
• Brain dead
• Criminal stupidity
• Bird brained
• Act the fool
• Ask a silly question and youll get a silly
  answer

35
Have You Seen This One?

• http//www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-31-200
  9/new-euphemisms---redefinition-accomplished

36
Burying Bad News

• Announcing one popular thing at the same time as
  several unpopular things, hoping that the media
  will focus on the popular one.
• For example, guess when this ill-advised memo was
  released in England
• It's now a very good day to get out anything we
  want to bury. Councillors' expenses?

37
Fictional Spin Doctors

• Nick Naylor - Protagonist of Christopher
  Buckley's bestseller Thank You for Smoking.
• Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty in the American sitcom
  Spin City.
• Conrad Brean - hired to save a presidential
  election in Wag the Dog.

38
Real Life Spins

• Texas Spins History, Again
• http//www.prwatch.org/SpinasBigasTexas
• San Francisco's Toxic Sludge - It's Good for
  You!
• http//www.prwatch.org/node/8885

39
And try this one

• http//www.prwatch.org/node/8931
• http//www.sweetsurprise.com/news-and-press/advert
  ising
• Can you detect the spin?

40
And How Does Spin Differ from Disinformation?

• Disinformation is false or inaccurate information
  that is spread deliberately. It is synonymous
  with and sometimes called Black propaganda. It
  may include the distribution of forged documents,
  manuscripts, and photographs, or spreading
  malicious rumors and fabricated intelligence.
  Disinformation should not be confused with
  misinformation, information that is
  unintentionally false.