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.
These concepts include:
Media construct our culture.
Media messages affect our thoughts, attitudes and actions.
No one tells the whole story.
Media messages contain “texts” and “subtexts.”
Individuals construct their own meanings from media.
Media literate youth and adults are active consumers of media.
Media are most powerful when they operate on an emotional level.
Media convey ideological and value messages.
We all create media.
Our media system reflects the power dynamics in our society.
Media literate youth and adults are media activists.
> Download a free kit on Media Literacy Concepts & Skills
The Language of Persuasion
The goal of most media messages is to persuade the audience to believe or do something. Hollywood movies use expensive special effects to make us believe that what we’re seeing is real. News stories use several techniques – such as direct quotation of identified sources – to make us believe that the story is accurate.
The media messages most concerned with persuading us are found in advertising, public relations and advocacy. Commercial advertising tries to persuade us to buy a product or service. Public relations (PR) "sells" us a positive image of a corporation, government or organization. Politicians and advocacy groups (groups that support a particular belief, point of view, policy, or action) try to persuade us to vote for or support them, using ads, speeches, newsletters, websites, and other means.
These "persuaders" use a variety of techniques to grab our attention, to establish credibility and trust, to stimulate desire for the product or policy, and to motivate us to act (buy, vote, give money, etc.)
We call these techniques the "language of persuasion.” They’re not new; Aristotle wrote about persuasion techniques more than 2000 years ago, and they’ve been used by speakers, writers, and media makers for even longer than that.
Learning the language of persuasion is an important media literacy skill. Once you know how media messages try to persuade you to believe or do something, you’ll be better able to make your own decisions.
See these kits to learn more:
> Media Literacy Concepts & Skills Free!
> Language of Persuasion – Intro Free!
> Language of Persuasion – Beginning
How to Deconstruct Media Messages
All media messages – TV shows, newspapers, movies, advertisements, etc. – are made or constructed by people. One of the most important media literacy skills is deconstruction – closely examining and “taking apart” media messages to understand how they work.
Deconstructing a media message can help us understand who created the message, and who is intended to receive it. It can reveal how the media maker put together the message using words, images, sounds, design, and other elements. It can expose the point of view of media makers, their values, and their biases. It can also uncover hidden meanings – intended or unintended.
See these kits to learn more:
> Media Literacy Concepts & Skills Free!
> How to Deconstruct Media Messages
Looking Beyond the Frame
True media literacy requires “looking beyond the frame” of the media message – the individual TV commercial, news story or website, for example – to examine its context. This involves four interrelated concepts and skill sets:
Deconstructing our media system to examine issues of media ownership, power and control, and to recognize how these issues influence media content.
Understanding the idea of media justice, and working to create a media system that serves everyone, particularly communities that have been historically under-represented and misrepresented in the mainstream media.
Learning how to express oneself in a variety of media. Just as literacy is the ability both to read and write, media literacy involves both understanding media messages and creating media.
Becoming an active agent for change in our media culture. Media literate youth and adults change the way they use media, challenge media messages and media institutions, support independent media, and work for media justice and media reform.
> Download a free kit on Media Literacy Concepts & Skills
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