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.
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 Concepts
The study and practice of media literacy is based on a number of fundamental concepts about media
messages, our media system, and the role of media literacy in bringing about change. Understanding
these concepts is an essential first step in media literacy education.
We’ve organized Media Literacy Concepts into three levels:
Basic, Intermediate and Advanced.
- Basic focus on how media affect us.
- Intermediate concepts examine more closely how we create meaning from media messages.
- Advanced concepts examine the interaction of media and society, and the role of media literacy in bringing about change.
Basic concepts
Media messages can be decoded.
By “deconstructing” media, we can figure out who created the message, and why. We can identify the techniques of persuasion being used and recognize how media makers are trying to influence us. We notice what parts of the story are not being told, and how we can become better informed.
Example
- Who is this advertisement targeting?
- What is the subtext of the ad?
- How is this ad attempting to persuade the consumer?.
- Is this a healthy and/or unhealthy media message?
- What related stories are NOT told by this media example?
Answer
- Who is this advertisement targeting? This ad is probably targeting men since an attractive woman is the focus. - What is the subtext (underlying meaning) of the ad? It
seems that the ad is trying to get men to see that there are attractive
women at the casino and that maybe they could meet some of those women. - How is this ad attempting to persuade the consumer? The
use of the “beautiful people” persuasion technique is in play. The
consumer is being persuaded to think that attractive women spend time at
casinos. - Is this a healthy and/or unhealthy media message? This is an unhealthy media message because they are using attractive young women to get men to go to the casino. - What related stories are NOT told by this media example? It is not showing the variety of people that may be at the casino or the possible consequences of gambling.
Intermediate concepts
Media convey ideological and value messages.
Ideology and values are usually conveyed in the subtext. Two examples include news reports (besides covering an issue or event, news reports often reinforce assumptions about power and authority) and advertisements (besides selling particular products, advertisements almost always promote the values of a consumer society).
Ideological and value message conveyed in subtext, such as moral value life value, essential value, etc.
In this video, show us that someone helping people without thinking his self, and in this video have moral value in subtext.
Advanced concepts
Most media are controlled by commercial interests.
In the United States, the marketplace largely determines what we see on television, what we hear on the radio, what we read in newspapers or magazines. As we use media, we should always be alert to the self-interest of corporate media makers. Are they concerned about your health? Do they care if you’re smart or wellinformed? Are they interested in creating active participants in our society and culture, or merely passive consumers of their products, services, and ideas?
Example
Most
media controlled by commercial interests. Pil KB andalan ad, show us
that have 2 kids better, and persuade to consume this regularly. Are
they concerned about your health, culture and society?
Basic persuasion techniques
Association
This persuasion technique tries to link a product, service, or idea with something already liked or desired by the target audience, such as fun, pleasure, beauty, security, intimacy, success, wealth, etc. The media message doesn’t make explicit claims that you’ll get these things; the association is implied. Association can be a very powerful technique. A good ad can create a strong emotional response and then associate that feeling with a brand (family = Coke, victory = Nike). This process is known as emotional transfer. Several of the persuasion techniques below, like Beautiful people, Warm & fuzzy, Symbols and Nostalgia, are specific types of association.
A good ad can create a strong emotional response and then asscociate that feeling with a brand.
In this ad show us, cigarette will make us feel freedom in our activities.
Intermediate persuasion techniques
Simple Solution
Life is complicated. People are complex. Problems often have many causes, and they’re not easy to solve. These realities create anxiety for many of us. Persuaders offer relief by ignoring complexity and proposing a Simple solution. Politicians claim one policy change (lower taxes, a new law, a government program) will solve big social problems. Advertisers take this strategy even further, suggesting that a deodorant, a car, or a brand of beer will make you beautiful, popular and successful.
For example, if your armpit gettin' bad smell, the ad offer you deodorant to fade your bad smell.
Slippery Slope
This technique combines Extrapolation and Fear. Instead of predicting a positive future, it warns against a negative outcome. It argues against an idea by claiming it’s just the first step down a “slippery slope” toward something the target audience opposes. ("If we let them ban smoking in restaurants because it’s unhealthy, eventually they’ll ban fast food, too." This argument ignores the merits of banning smoking in restaurants.) The Slippery slope technique is commonly used in political debate, because it’s easy to claim that a small step will lead to a result most people won’t like, even though small steps can lead in many directions.
Advertiser
use first sentences as a prefix that can make a big effect. For
example, fast food restaurant ban smoking in restaurant, eventually
they'll ban fast food too, because it's unhealthy.
Advanced persuasion techniques
Scapegoating
Extremely powerful and very common in political speech, Scapegoating blames a problem on one person, group, race, religion, etc. Some people, for example, claim that undocumented (“illegal”) immigrants are the main cause of unemployment in the United States, even though unemployment is a complex problem with many causes. Scapegoating is a particularly dangerous form of the Simple solution technique.
Another
example, Smoking is the biggest cause of lung damage, and blame it to
tobacco company, even though not all the lung damage caused by smoking.
