Media literacy

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Media literacy is the process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating messages in a wide variety of forms. It uses an inquiry-based instructional model that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see and read. Media literacy education is one means of developing media literacy. It provides tools to help consumers critically analyze messages to detect propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for such), and to understand how structural features -- such as media ownership, or its funding model[1] -- affect the information presented. Media literacy aims to enable people to be skillful creators and producers of media messages, both to facilitate an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium, as well as to create independent media. Media literacy's purpose is to transform the process of media consumption into an active and critical process, helping people gain greater awareness of the potential for misrepresentation and manipulation (especially through commercials and public relations techniques), and to help people understand the role of mass media and participatory media in constructing views of reality. [2][3]

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[edit] History and dispersal

Media education is developing in Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, with a growing interest in the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Austria, and Switzerland among many other nations.

Media literacy was originally established as an educational tool protecting citizens from what some perceive to be media's ill effects and trends. The earliest country known to use this inoculative paradigm was Great Britain in the 1930’s. In the 1960’s, the switch in media literacy was not to dicriminate against the media, but to discriminate within the media and work within popular culture. This was known as the popular arts paradigm. In the 80’s, there came a recognition that the ideological power of the media was tied to the naturalness of the image. Constucted messages were being passed off as natural ones. The concern in media literacy also evolved into the consumption of images and representations, also known as the representational paradigm.[4] In the United Kingdom and Australia media literacy is a stand alone credit course, as well as part of the Language Arts curricula.

In other areas of Europe, media education has seen many different forms. Media education was introduced into the Finnish elementary curriculum in 1970 and into high schools in 1977. But the media education we know today did not evolve in Finland until the 1990s. Media education has been compulsory in Sweden since 1980 and in Denmark since 1970. In both Nordic countries, media education evolved in the 1980s and 1990s as media education gradually moved away from moralizing attitudes towards an approach that is more searching and pupil-centred. In 1994, the Danish education bill gave recognition to media education but it is still not an integrated part of the school. The focus in Denmark seems to be on information technology. France has taught film from the inception of the medium, but it has only been recently that conferences and media courses for teachers have been organised with the inclusion of media production. Germany saw theoretical publications on media literacy in the 1970’s and 80’s, with a growing interest for media education inside and outside the educational system in the 80’s and 90’s.

In North America, the concept of media literacy as a topic of education first arose in 1978 with the formation of the Ontario Association for Media Literacy (AML). Canada is the foremost country to require media literacy in North America. Every province has mandated media education in its curriculum. The launching of media education came about for two reasons. One reason was the concern about the pervasiveness of American popular culture and the other was the education system-driven necessity of contexts for new educational paradigms. Media education is less widespread in formal schooling in the United States, in large part because of the size of the country, with 70 million children now in public or private schools. While there is no central authority making nationwide curriculum recommendations, each of the fifty states has numerous school districts, each of which operates with a great degree of independence from one another. However, an increasing number of school districts have begun to develop school-wide programs, elective courses, and other after-school opportunities for media analysis and production. Nearly all 50 states have language that supports media literacy in state curriculum frameworks. Leading universities such as Columbia University, New York University, the University of Texas-Austin, and Temple University offer courses and summer institutes in media literacy for pre-service teachers and graduate students.

In South Africa, the increasing demand for Media Education has evolved from the dismantling of apartheid and the 1994 democratic elections. The first national Media Education conference in South Africa was acutally held in 1990 and the new national curriculum has been in the writing stages since 1997. Since this curriculum strives to reflect the values and prinicples of a democratic society there seems to be an opportunity for critical literacy and Media Education in Languages and Culture courses.

[edit] Proponents of media literacy

  • Neil Andersen [2][3] -A leading Canadian educator and author in Media Literacy Education
  • Frank W. Baker- American media educator and workshop presenter for K-12 schools and conferences.
  • Jean Baudrillard - a French sociologist and philosopher known for his writings about media, virtuality, and the Gulf War.
  • David Buckingham - British scholar and theorist on media literacy education.
  • Noam Chomsky - an American linguist and political analyst most famous for his observations about corporate media's role in propaganda, which he describes as the 'manufacturing of consent'.
  • Barry Duncan -A Canadian author and pioneer in media education.
  • David Gauntlett - contemporary theorist from the United Kingdom whose 'new creative methods' offer new ways of exploring media literacy.
  • Renee Hobbs - a leading authority on media education in the United States.
  • Sut Jhally - communications professor and executive director of an American foundation - Media Education Foundation - that produces educational videos and supporting study guides on the role of media in health, democracy and happiness.
  • Tessa Jolls - President and CEO, Center for Media Literacy, American consultant, publisher and media educator.
  • Naomi Klein -A Canadian journalist, author, blog writer, and activist.
  • Len Masterman - A renowned media educator from the United Kingdom.
  • Bob McCannon One of the United States' leading proponents of media literacy.
  • Robert W. McChesney - Research Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, author of several important books, host of the Media Matters radio show, co-founder of Free Press
  • Marshall McLuhan - an early Canadian theorist into the nature of media.
  • Neil Postman (1931-2003) - an American media ecologist and author of numerous popular press books, including Amusing Ourselves to Death.
  • Art Silverblatt - Professor of Communications and Journalism at Webster University, St. Louis, MO; author of several books including Media Literacy: Keys to Interpreting Media Messages
  • Midori Suzuki - A Japanese media educator who introduced UK and Canadian style Media Literacy to Japan in the 1980s.
  • Elizabeth Thoman Founder/Chair/Chief Program Officer, Center for Media Literacy - leading American proponent of media literacy education, co-founder of Alliance for a Media Literate America
  • Brigitte Tufte -Danish author of Global Trends in Media Education.
  • Graeme Turner - key Australian cultural studies theorist whose research has significantly influenced Australian Media Educators.


[edit] References

  1. ^ See Corporate media and Public service broadcasting
  2. ^ e.g., Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997
  3. ^ e.g., http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/Standards/ContStds-Media%20Lit.pdf
  4. ^ Buckingham, David, [1]

[edit] External links

  • [4] Teachingmedialiteracy.com: a site with extensive links, resources, and readings on teaching media literacy.
  • Media Literacy Research Institute in Japan - a key resource for citizens-based media literacy workshops, teaching materials and research in Japan (mostly Japanese)
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