A film blog for students of my classes at Santa Clara University. Use this blog to discuss the films we are studying, classic films, current releases or production issues you encounter while making your own films.
Tuesday, January 05, 2016
Media Literacy - for Comm 138A
Are you media literate? What does media literacy mean to you?
28 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Media Literacy is a very interesting topic to discuss. We encounter many different forms of media in our daily life. In the context of this class, I do happen to watch television everyday (I need my t.v.). While I do watch a lot of television programs and encounter a wide variety of commercials and advertisements throughout these programs, I do not believe that I am toally media literate. I watch most of my programs for entertainment purposes. This is my way to escape daily life and assume the life of Nick Miller or Michael Bluth. But, I do not analyze the social message or impact that these programs may have on me or society. I analyze their content and evaluate how entertaining the program was, but that is only one facet of media literacy. Media literacy involves being aware of messages, understanding why those messages are present and under what kind of constraints and context that these messages are produced. In order to become more media literate, I need to start understanding my programs at a deeper level instead of just being an audience member on the textual level. Media literacy involves having a more contextual approach as stated by Lewis and Jhally.
Media literacy is a term that’s clearly not only complicated to define but also equally difficult to achieve. I find media literacy to be an interesting concept because it is an educational process that so many people are constantly a part of without being aware of it. In such shows as Milton Burle’s Buick Hour, we can see how in the past, there were fewer sponsors and the sponsorship was a lot more obvious. Nowadays, brands work hard to incorporate their name or logo into media such as television shows without being too obvious, while at the same time having to differentiate themselves in a field of multiple sponsors. I think that this example shows an understood change in the audience media literacy: sponsors at one point aimed to solely get their name out in public and earn brand recognition, though as the public grew and saw this strategy more and more often, brands have had to adapt their marketing strategies because of a more aware and conscious audience.
I like to consider myself pretty media literate, though, classes at SCU I’ve taken in journalism, film production, and other media-focused classes, have shown me terms and concepts I had never considered or been able to put a name to before. I’ve learned that media is a rapidly changing field and our understanding of it needs to adapt as well in order to consider ourselves media literate.
To me, being media literate means being able to critically understand media as well as challenge it. Rather than simply understanding the message being sent, media literacy requires an understanding of the entire context of the message. Media literacy gives people the important power to interpret messages for themselves, rather than blindly accept what is being shown to them.
Up until the first class on Tuesday, I would probably have said that I was very media literate. I am always critical of the message being sent in popular shows, and I realize when media is reinforcing stereotypes/trying to sell me something. Yet after reading about the full extent of media literacy from Meyrowitz and Lewis & Jhally, I think I have much more work to do in order to be able to fully understand why certain messages are conveyed by media, rather than simply understanding what those messages are. Media literacy, according to both articles, requires knowledge of social context and social impact, as well as knowledge of media from the past--and I don't think I am used to reading media in such a critical way yet.
I would say that I am media literate in regards to a certain amount of media I consume. Being able to understand and interpret certain messages portrayed throughout media is important, especially as our society becomes more and more globalized. The things that are needed to be media literate include having access to media, whether its TV, movies, YouTube, etc, being able comprehend certain messages from media, and finally being able to analyze those messages and where they came from. However, not everyone can be media literate in every sense of the term. The articles address the ideas of media grammar and understanding the unique way each medium portrays its messages, as well as the setting or environment than influences communication within a certain medium. Media literacy also lies behind what we actually consume on the screen. The mix of production variables are different in every medium, making it unique to its audience.
In my time at Santa Clara, the Communication and English departments have taught me to try and be more media literate. Classes in journalism taught me to look for more than one source and question articles that aren't on reputable news sites (and even to question some articles that are on reputable websites). Film classes taught me not to confuse my audience by breaking the 180 rule (unless it's done well and purposefully) and to match the eye lines of characters. Creative writing classes have taught me how to write characters that make people laugh and how to write parts of those characters that make the audience see them as more than just a funny character. In this way, I believe Santa Clara has taught me the basic foundations of media literacy, combining the different definitions of Meyrowitz, Lewis, and Jhally. These classes taught the content and consumer portions of Meyrowitz, who outlines three different types of literacy: media content literacy, media grammar literacy, and medium literacy. They also include Lewis and Jhally's citizen (not just consumer) literacy that focuses more on context than content. I am on my way to becoming more media literate, but I am not sure that it's a concept you can fully arrive at. Some day, there will be new media that I have to learn how to interpret and understand, just like people before me had to learn how to use the telephone or the video camera to communicate. I recently took COMM 30, which taught me ways of looking at video that I had not considered. I am content with my current media literacy, though the media literacy that I possess may look completely different for people who live in India or China who deem themselves media literate. In that way, I am content with my media literacy, but am looking to become more media literate, especially as a soon to be graduate who will be set off into the world, left to interpret media by herself.
Media literacy, in the most general term, means to me the understanding of various forms of media and their content. I think that there are different levels and depths to media literacy and I fall somewhere in the middle. I believe I am media literate in terms of some specific types of media and less media literate for others. I also think that media literacy is a generational knowledge in that millennials would obviously be more media literate that the baby boomer generation. Different, new media has been developed and we are much more literate in terms of understanding and interpreting the types of media as well as the messages/content being presented. The more in tune a person is with understanding and interpreting not only messages but why certain messages are communicated in the way that they are allows a person to be media literate. In terms of movies, I am always critical of the lines an actor says or the style that the movie or scene is shot in. When watching television shows sometimes it's hard to not think about the writers behind the scenes and why they chose the storyline, characters and specific messages for the show. Furthermore, being a communication major has allowed me to critique various media messages in the news and especially on social media and how these have an impact on society. All of these components, in my opinion, contribute to being media literate.
I am media literate, to a certain extent. Media literacy is an inherently unattainable status because to me, media literacy is not only the intake of a vast variety of media, but also the conscious awareness and analyzation of the content and how it infiltrates our daily lives. I consider myself somewhat media literate because although I think critically about some of the things I consume, it would be impossible to intake and analyze everything out there. I do, though, have a more conscious awareness than most people when it comes to the stories and information I am exposed to. Thanks to classes I've taken and people I've met, my perspective has changed throughout the past few years and I see more than meets the eye now.
Before reading these two articles, I had a completely different understanding of what media literacy is. To me, media literacy is being able to identify and analyze the messages that radio, television and movies are trying to communicate. In another class I took this past spring quarter, we constantly discussed the tendency to call people who watch media programs "readers" instead of "audience members." Being a reader of media content implies active participation, while being an audience member implies passively absorbing media messages. However, after reading these articles, it is not enough to simply analyze and interpret various media messages when it comes to media literacy. These authors believe that people must question and reflect on why the creators made the choices they did regarding the content of these programs. We must ask why these creators chose to create in the first place. When it comes to considering myself as media literate or not, I think I am when it comes to the certain television show I am watching. I am always thinking about why the writers made a choice for a particular character or why a storyline is going they way it is. However, I hardly ever find myself pondering the decision of these creators to come up with this particular television show in the first place. I am excited to examine and analyze not only the content of these shows, but the historical context as well.
For me, I have always thought about media literacy as being more about how to understand how the media tools work and function, being able to communicate through those means, and just more in general understanding them. When it comes to my own media literacy, using that idea of what it means, I always thought that I was pretty sufficient. However, from the readings I learned that being media literate is so much more than just knowing how to work the technologies that send our messages, it is about being able to actual interpret those messages and understand how they are made to shape the perceptions of the viewer and also the social world we live in. I still feel that I am media literate enough, as the reading said, we have to be somewhat literally in order to interpret a "disconnected, split-second image" overtime we view something such as tv.I think in todays world it is very difficult to become fully media literate. Every single day we have new technologies and new updates and different means to look at and with things constantly changing it becomes hard to keep up. Especially when there are certain means of media that I do not use on an everyday basis. But by being a comm major I have taken many classes that have strengthen my media literacy. I have learned the ways to look at different aesthetics in media and how that later on affects my view on the message that is being sent out, and I understand that every individual is going to interpret certain messages in their own style. I also have seen how the media affects social change, from just small towns to global changes. I understand how large of an impact media has and will continue to have on our world today, and me individually, and I feel that that is the biggest and first step towards become media literate.
To me, media literacy means the ability to absorb different types of media to understand the different messages they are conveying. This can be through mediums like radio, television, film, and more. It is also understanding the intersection of greater historical occurrences, cultural influences and societal issues and how they impact the media's messages. There is a lot to interpret in media, as media can be complex and carry many different ideas and symbols within one entity.
I believe that I am media literate because of my ability to consume, understand and analyze media through my education as a Communication major at Santa Clara University. At the same time however, I do realize that there is a lot more media out there than what I have already absorbed, so I don't believe that I am fully media literate. Since media literacy has expanded in recent years due to globalization and the rise of the Internet I think I have a lot more to learn in terms of becoming media literate and broadening my horizons of understanding how to evaluate and think critically about the different mediums of media.
Following the definitions laid out by Meyrowitz, which call for one's ability to successfully receive and interpret or "read" messages (both intentional and unintentional) by the "sender," I would say that, yes, I am media literate. Though I think it is important to consider my personal experience with media literacy as a Communications minor. I, as have many other students in this course, have taken a considerable number of communication classes and have the aptitude, at this point, to both realize and analyze the preferred, negotiated, and oppositional readings that a message "sender" promotes. Further, my awareness of the processes of hegemony and their consequences as promoted by commercial conglomerates, also allows me a sense of media literacy. Having the cognizance to recognize the forces at play when "reading" a message allow me the opportunity to "explore intended and unintended latent messages[,]" "[be] aware of different content genres[,]" and "[be] aware of the cultural, institutional, and commercial forces that tend to lead to certain types of messages to be constructed..."
In looking at what media literacy means to me, I can say that I have a fairly similar view to that of Meyrowitz. My only divergence from his theory would be that I ultimately place greater importance on being able to accurately interpret the intended and unintended messages of the "sender" as well as the forces at play that aid in the construction of the message. I thoroughly believe that we are creating a generation of "sheeple" who willingly submit to the messages of mass media, and fail to consider any alternative reading of a message. With that said, I place an enormous weight on one's ability to interpret messages both intended and unintended, as well as the ability to look at those factors which contribute to the construction of messages actively promoted by the media so that we may have a more comprehensive "media literacy."
When I think about media literacy, I think about the different ways that my mother and I consume television. I watch TV and notice the small details that when into the actual production of the show, the writing, the lighting and angles, and what the filmmakers are trying to say on a societal level. My mother watches for the drama, scandal, and to be entertained, not finding it necessary to look any deeper into the show. Now, my mother is a kind-hearted angel so there's nothing wrong with her level of media literacy, but it can be problematic when others have a similar level. Meyrowitz puts it best when he says that media is a form of communication, and communication has content concerns that people should be aware of. So, "anyone that cares about aspects of social life" should be concerned with their level of media literacy. Racism, sexism, and other stereotypes exist in all media and unfortunately still run rampant in television today. I think this continues to happen because even producers of content are not always aware of the messages that they are sending. I think a lot of misconceptions can be avoided if media literacy was taught at a younger age or at all. Consuming media takes up a lot of an average person's day, making it as relevant as ever to teach media literacy in schools in order to fight back against misunderstanding about one of the most important aspects of our culture.
For me, media literacy means being able to analyze and understand media content. It's looking beyond the surface in order to come to find meanings, concepts, and perspectives that comes with interpreting media. Media literacy is reading media instead of simply consuming it. Many people don't understand that when they watch something like a tv show, they are not only consuming the entertainment factor it gives, but also the messages, perspectives, and ideas that are simultaneously being received by the consumer. As a communications major I have definitely changed the way I look at media content, especially films. I used to watch films without a critical analysis and I would simply judge a movie on if it was good, bad, or okay. Now I watch films and I'm noticing and analyzing the smallest things that I would have never paid attention to before. One of the downsides for me, however, is that it sometimes it takes the joy out of being able to escape into the world of the film because I'm looking at it in a critical view as media content, but I learn a lot nonetheless. It's important for people to be media literate because media is communication and they should be asking questions and looking at how media affects not only them but the society they live in.
I think media literacy is very hard to achieve. To me, I love TV, and when I watch a movie or a TV show, I can feel myself getting lost into the story because of its entertainment value, rather than the true meaning that the film or video is trying to portray. However, after taking a few filming classes, I have caught myself telling my parents about the different shots that the directors use and for what purpose, or simply how long a production takes (small facts along those lines). To me, that is being media literate, and although I view myself as being media illiterate (at least at this time of my life) I do believe I show flashes of media literacy.
A big part of media literacy is being able to understand the message that the director is getting across, however there are many ways people interpret things, which makes being media literate a difficult thing to do (in my opinion). So besides these points, I think being able to separate yourself from the action, comedy, thriller, or whatever it is you are watching and to be able to take a step back and see things from a filming perspective, than that is a very good start to being media literate.
Originally I thought media literacy was communication through media. That messages sent through television, radio, movies and so on was the only part of media literacy. Reading further into depth about the material, I learned that I was close but media literacy is so much more. Media literacy is the ability to create, interpret, study and access to media. This term has multiple different angles to be considered then just the simple message. Sure the message is the main point but the audience must understand exactly what they are viewing or hearing to a whole other level. Media literacy today, can be used as an educational format. Audiences can analyze the data received to understand a certain context. Media can connect many individuals through the internet and teach things like culture or society from many miles away to a much larger audience. Media literacy can develop great skills of critical thinking and sell-expression. It is important to stay up to date with media literacy because it can change and will change in the future with technology improvements. Even from the past media literacy has come along way, for example commercials, there didn't use to be so many commercials during television but now they are every ten minutes expressing multiple different advertisements and so forth. Media literacy will create many different forms of communication messages but have a similarity to affecting the majority of the population.
Media literacy is a way of interacting with media and all of its messages. Technically, its how you analyze, evaluate, and participate with content in the media. I think it has to do with acknowledging how the medium effects the message and how that message is effecting the viewer/consumer. Like being aware of all of the motives behind the message and the intent of the party producing it. I think its important to understand the relationship between medium, message, and viewer. Often times the effect that a message has on someone is not the intended effect. How media is interpreted can change from person to person. Media literacy also encompasses understanding the repercussions of a certain storyline and/or character on society. As someone who hopes to influence content in the media, this is very important.
I would say I am media literate but this feels like a trap. As a comm major, I've taken have a handful of classes on media and its effect. But because media is so sneaky and constantly changing, I don't know if I'm always aware of the effect the content has on me. I like to believe I am capable of critically analyzing and evaluating it. Being media literate doesn't really fit into my ritual of mindlessly watching the Bachelor.
Before reading the two articles, I had a different idea of what media literacy was. However, when learning more about the subject, I realize that the definition I had held was only scratching the surface of what media literacy really is. The term media literacy involves more than just consuming the media in ways of television, movies, radio and even on social media. It requires the ability to be able to peel away the surface level and to see what it really represents. It requires a sophisticated understanding of the material. Not only is media literacy being able to identify these messages, it also involves the skill to challenge it and develop our own views from the message as well. Personally, I feel that I am less media literate than i thought i was. I watch my fair share of television and consume my part of media through other channels too. However, i often find myself taking everything at surface level and not always seeking the deeper meaning of the media. Upon learning about production and the media in general after taking classes at Santa Clara University, I feel that i have become more media literate and am beginning to notice the subliminal messages and stances that are taken through media. Thinking about the television that we regularly consume in a critical way can allow for us be more sophisticated consumers but also can help us to begin to see the world around us through a more critical lens.
To me, media literacy is first having access to the many forms of media out there, whether it's television, film, books, the Internet, etc., and then being able to analyze and interpret that media. As many people have mentioned, a good portion of the public consumes media more for the entertainment factor than anything else. Stunts, explosions, and the like are fun to watch, but often there is a deeper meaning or larger theme to the scenes on the screen. I think that if people have trouble grasping these messages, it can be because they just haven't been taught to process them or even look out for them in the media. As a Communication major here at SCU, I have been fortunate enough to learn how to view media from different perspectives. While watching a film, I'll often point out an interesting shot or continuity error to family or friends, who usually just tell me to be quiet and enjoy the movie. I do enjoy it, but it's nice to be able to do so, and at the same time think about how different shots were filmed or how scenes were edited. Thus, I would say I am media literate to a certain extent; I am able to look at media in a deeper way, but I still have a lot to learn about evaluating media and creating it.
After reading Meyrowitz, Lewis and Jhally’s articles on the model of multiple media literacies and the struggle over media literacy, I found it interesting to see that I am already media literate in ways I had not considered before. As an English major, I am media content literate in that I constantly analyze messages, ideas, themes, connections to find greater or deeper meaning in many varieties of media. And as a Communication minor I have a foundation in understanding how different political, economic, and social factors shape media, and as a filmmaking student, I have adopted media grammar literate techniques and strategies to critically view films and other media by analyzing their production variables, like the use of different camera angles, sound design, editing, and so forth. This concept of media literacy brings to my attention the fact that my access to and familiarity with these literacies allows me to challenge different institutions and even the media itself in my ability to break them down and understand them. It speaks to the whole idea of a “sophisticated citizen” versus “sophisticated consumer” that Lewis and Jhally speak of.
I initially imagined media literacy as simply the ability to use different communication technologies, ranging from reading a simple children’s book to using a vast online network to communicate with communities on the other side of the globe. However, I now better understand it as a form of autonomy in the way it develops skills in analysis, reasoning, and communication (Lewis and Jhally) and a way to examine our society and the institutions that we function within. Additionally, it is media incredible to recognize that obtaining media literacy is not “finite” (Meyrowitz) because new forms of media will continue to develop and grow.
I would define media literacy as the ability to understand the messages or content conveyed by media, and also to critically examine the ways in which those messages are conveyed by media as a whole or specific mediums. Purely comprehending the content dimension of media is important, but it does not guarantee that a person is media literate. In order to be truly media literate, a person must be able to critically examine the specific natures of different mediums, and how some are better suited to express certain messages than others. Additionally, a basic understanding of the techniques used by specific mediums is helpful in creating a well-rounded analysis. Knowledge of the techniques used in media is what separates passive audiences from engaged, thoughtful ones. For example, viewers with no knowledge about filmmaking techniques will only follow a movie's plot, while more knowledgeable viewers can recognize more subtle details like camera angles or camera movements, audio, lighting, etc.
Personally, I would consider myself media literate in the same way that I am literate in the traditional sense. Obviously I can read and write, but that doesn't mean that I know every single word in the English language. In the case of media literacy, I recognize that I can always improve my media literacy skills.
The way I see media literacy is being able to look at a form of media, whether it's a webpage, film, tv show, book, visual novel, whatever, and being able to look beyond the face value of it and extract and understand some sort of underlying theme or idea. It's not a term I would have used to describe it but I think it is the best term for it. It's something that I think a lot of people do and in a lot of ways it can help to further your enjoyment and/or deepen your appreciation for the film. An example I'd use is in Captain America: The Winter Soldier which came out in 2014. It was basically, on face level, your standard Marvel superhero fare, albeit one of their best since the original Iron Man in 2007/2008 (I can't remember which year it came out) but just through a look at the plot and the political climate at the time, there were a lot of parallels and messages about "does the government have too much power" and "where is the line between privacy and safety" which were very much active topics around that year with the NSA and Edward Snowden.
Whether or not I'm media literate, I'd consider myself to be somewhat literate. I take in a good amount of media through TV shows, films, and video games and I do a fare about amount of reading through books and comic books so I think I'm adequate at reading between the lines. Much like with normal literacy, I'm more adept in some cases than in others and there's always space to get better.
Media literacy is tough to measure. We can claim to correctly interpret a given sample of media, but at the end of the day, most of what we claim to be literacy is simply our own speculation. Thus I believe media literacy isn't necessarily about who is interpreting the media correctly. It's more about how effectively we observe the media, and the process through which we make sense of it. Nevertheless, we can have varying levels of media literacy--while I do think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the credibility and validity of their opinion lies in how "well" they are able to read media.
For example, the first time I watched Breaking Bad, I simply thought to myself "Wow! What a great show. The acting performances are really powerful", and that was the extent to which I delved into it. However, after taking a few film classes at SCU, I feel like my understanding of how exactly Breaking Bad became such a critically acclaimed show was greatly expanded. There are subtle elements of foreshadowing throughout each episode, and the uniquely dramatic mood of Walter White's journey is set not only in the dialogue, but the camera movements, foreground/background contrast, etc. When watching the show a second time, I noticed many more of these individual details. The same gap in understanding can apply to other forms of media as well, whether it be news or literature.
I feel like I am relatively media literate, but I am still working out the kinks, especially when it comes to written media. My studies at SCU are steadily building my comfort level when working with film and more visual types of media, but I am still working on being able to skillfully navigate written works as well. After dabbling in several marketing and PR internships over the past two years, along with a Journalism course in between, I'd like to think I'm on the right track.
Media literacy in my own terms is connecting with media in all its forms and then analyzing, evaluating, and understanding the material. I would say in the past four years at this school, I have become media literate, but I am not a pro. Through my Social Movements and Media class with Professor Sarkar, I was able to peel back the layers of different movements such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and Kony 2012 to see that even if they may have begun with the best intentions, they became very commercialized and lost its ultimate meaning: to help. For example, most people who participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge did not donate money to the cause or even know and how debilitating the disease is. However, when I first watched the videos a couple of years ago, I did not see it like this, I thought it was doing good when in all actuality it was not.
I think being media literate is something that a communication major is being challenged to become and to embrace. In several courses I have taken durning my time here we have focused on what the media telling us and what they want us to take away from it, one class that comes to mind specifically is Communication 2GL. I feel since I have taken this course my eyes have been open and more aware of the messages the media is giving through its context. I would not say that I am completely media literate, but I am very aware of what the media is trying to make the viewer intake in the current media. I would say I have a harder time being media literate from older context just because things were different then and times have changed.
28 comments:
Media Literacy is a very interesting topic to discuss. We encounter many different forms of media in our daily life. In the context of this class, I do happen to watch television everyday (I need my t.v.). While I do watch a lot of television programs and encounter a wide variety of commercials and advertisements throughout these programs, I do not believe that I am toally media literate. I watch most of my programs for entertainment purposes. This is my way to escape daily life and assume the life of Nick Miller or Michael Bluth. But, I do not analyze the social message or impact that these programs may have on me or society. I analyze their content and evaluate how entertaining the program was, but that is only one facet of media literacy. Media literacy involves being aware of messages, understanding why those messages are present and under what kind of constraints and context that these messages are produced. In order to become more media literate, I need to start understanding my programs at a deeper level instead of just being an audience member on the textual level. Media literacy involves having a more contextual approach as stated by Lewis and Jhally.
Media literacy is a term that’s clearly not only complicated to define but also equally difficult to achieve. I find media literacy to be an interesting concept because it is an educational process that so many people are constantly a part of without being aware of it. In such shows as Milton Burle’s Buick Hour, we can see how in the past, there were fewer sponsors and the sponsorship was a lot more obvious. Nowadays, brands work hard to incorporate their name or logo into media such as television shows without being too obvious, while at the same time having to differentiate themselves in a field of multiple sponsors. I think that this example shows an understood change in the audience media literacy: sponsors at one point aimed to solely get their name out in public and earn brand recognition, though as the public grew and saw this strategy more and more often, brands have had to adapt their marketing strategies because of a more aware and conscious audience.
I like to consider myself pretty media literate, though, classes at SCU I’ve taken in journalism, film production, and other media-focused classes, have shown me terms and concepts I had never considered or been able to put a name to before. I’ve learned that media is a rapidly changing field and our understanding of it needs to adapt as well in order to consider ourselves media literate.
To me, being media literate means being able to critically understand media as well as challenge it. Rather than simply understanding the message being sent, media literacy requires an understanding of the entire context of the message. Media literacy gives people the important power to interpret messages for themselves, rather than blindly accept what is being shown to them.
Up until the first class on Tuesday, I would probably have said that I was very media literate. I am always critical of the message being sent in popular shows, and I realize when media is reinforcing stereotypes/trying to sell me something. Yet after reading about the full extent of media literacy from Meyrowitz and Lewis & Jhally, I think I have much more work to do in order to be able to fully understand why certain messages are conveyed by media, rather than simply understanding what those messages are. Media literacy, according to both articles, requires knowledge of social context and social impact, as well as knowledge of media from the past--and I don't think I am used to reading media in such a critical way yet.
I would say that I am media literate in regards to a certain amount of media I consume. Being able to understand and interpret certain messages portrayed throughout media is important, especially as our society becomes more and more globalized. The things that are needed to be media literate include having access to media, whether its TV, movies, YouTube, etc, being able comprehend certain messages from media, and finally being able to analyze those messages and where they came from. However, not everyone can be media literate in every sense of the term. The articles address the ideas of media grammar and understanding the unique way each medium portrays its messages, as well as the setting or environment than influences communication within a certain medium. Media literacy also lies behind what we actually consume on the screen. The mix of production variables are different in every medium, making it unique to its audience.
In my time at Santa Clara, the Communication and English departments have taught me to try and be more media literate. Classes in journalism taught me to look for more than one source and question articles that aren't on reputable news sites (and even to question some articles that are on reputable websites). Film classes taught me not to confuse my audience by breaking the 180 rule (unless it's done well and purposefully) and to match the eye lines of characters. Creative writing classes have taught me how to write characters that make people laugh and how to write parts of those characters that make the audience see them as more than just a funny character. In this way, I believe Santa Clara has taught me the basic foundations of media literacy, combining the different definitions of Meyrowitz, Lewis, and Jhally. These classes taught the content and consumer portions of Meyrowitz, who outlines three different types of literacy: media content literacy, media grammar literacy, and medium literacy. They also include Lewis and Jhally's citizen (not just consumer) literacy that focuses more on context than content.
I am on my way to becoming more media literate, but I am not sure that it's a concept you can fully arrive at. Some day, there will be new media that I have to learn how to interpret and understand, just like people before me had to learn how to use the telephone or the video camera to communicate. I recently took COMM 30, which taught me ways of looking at video that I had not considered. I am content with my current media literacy, though the media literacy that I possess may look completely different for people who live in India or China who deem themselves media literate. In that way, I am content with my media literacy, but am looking to become more media literate, especially as a soon to be graduate who will be set off into the world, left to interpret media by herself.
Media literacy, in the most general term, means to me the understanding of various forms of media and their content. I think that there are different levels and depths to media literacy and I fall somewhere in the middle. I believe I am media literate in terms of some specific types of media and less media literate for others. I also think that media literacy is a generational knowledge in that millennials would obviously be more media literate that the baby boomer generation. Different, new media has been developed and we are much more literate in terms of understanding and interpreting the types of media as well as the messages/content being presented. The more in tune a person is with understanding and interpreting not only messages but why certain messages are communicated in the way that they are allows a person to be media literate.
In terms of movies, I am always critical of the lines an actor says or the style that the movie or scene is shot in. When watching television shows sometimes it's hard to not think about the writers behind the scenes and why they chose the storyline, characters and specific messages for the show. Furthermore, being a communication major has allowed me to critique various media messages in the news and especially on social media and how these have an impact on society. All of these components, in my opinion, contribute to being media literate.
I am media literate, to a certain extent. Media literacy is an inherently unattainable status because to me, media literacy is not only the intake of a vast variety of media, but also the conscious awareness and analyzation of the content and how it infiltrates our daily lives. I consider myself somewhat media literate because although I think critically about some of the things I consume, it would be impossible to intake and analyze everything out there. I do, though, have a more conscious awareness than most people when it comes to the stories and information I am exposed to. Thanks to classes I've taken and people I've met, my perspective has changed throughout the past few years and I see more than meets the eye now.
Before reading these two articles, I had a completely different understanding of what media literacy is. To me, media literacy is being able to identify and analyze the messages that radio, television and movies are trying to communicate. In another class I took this past spring quarter, we constantly discussed the tendency to call people who watch media programs "readers" instead of "audience members." Being a reader of media content implies active participation, while being an audience member implies passively absorbing media messages. However, after reading these articles, it is not enough to simply analyze and interpret various media messages when it comes to media literacy. These authors believe that people must question and reflect on why the creators made the choices they did regarding the content of these programs. We must ask why these creators chose to create in the first place. When it comes to considering myself as media literate or not, I think I am when it comes to the certain television show I am watching. I am always thinking about why the writers made a choice for a particular character or why a storyline is going they way it is. However, I hardly ever find myself pondering the decision of these creators to come up with this particular television show in the first place. I am excited to examine and analyze not only the content of these shows, but the historical context as well.
For me, I have always thought about media literacy as being more about how to understand how the media tools work and function, being able to communicate through those means, and just more in general understanding them. When it comes to my own media literacy, using that idea of what it means, I always thought that I was pretty sufficient. However, from the readings I learned that being media literate is so much more than just knowing how to work the technologies that send our messages, it is about being able to actual interpret those messages and understand how they are made to shape the perceptions of the viewer and also the social world we live in. I still feel that I am media literate enough, as the reading said, we have to be somewhat literally in order to interpret a "disconnected, split-second image" overtime we view something such as tv.I think in todays world it is very difficult to become fully media literate. Every single day we have new technologies and new updates and different means to look at and with things constantly changing it becomes hard to keep up. Especially when there are certain means of media that I do not use on an everyday basis.
But by being a comm major I have taken many classes that have strengthen my media literacy. I have learned the ways to look at different aesthetics in media and how that later on affects my view on the message that is being sent out, and I understand that every individual is going to interpret certain messages in their own style. I also have seen how the media affects social change, from just small towns to global changes. I understand how large of an impact media has and will continue to have on our world today, and me individually, and I feel that that is the biggest and first step towards become media literate.
To me, media literacy means the ability to absorb different types of media to understand the different messages they are conveying. This can be through mediums like radio, television, film, and more. It is also understanding the intersection of greater historical occurrences, cultural influences and societal issues and how they impact the media's messages. There is a lot to interpret in media, as media can be complex and carry many different ideas and symbols within one entity.
I believe that I am media literate because of my ability to consume, understand and analyze media through my education as a Communication major at Santa Clara University. At the same time however, I do realize that there is a lot more media out there than what I have already absorbed, so I don't believe that I am fully media literate. Since media literacy has expanded in recent years due to globalization and the rise of the Internet I think I have a lot more to learn in terms of becoming media literate and broadening my horizons of understanding how to evaluate and think critically about the different mediums of media.
Following the definitions laid out by Meyrowitz, which call for one's ability to successfully receive and interpret or "read" messages (both intentional and unintentional) by the "sender," I would say that, yes, I am media literate. Though I think it is important to consider my personal experience with media literacy as a Communications minor. I, as have many other students in this course, have taken a considerable number of communication classes and have the aptitude, at this point, to both realize and analyze the preferred, negotiated, and oppositional readings that a message "sender" promotes. Further, my awareness of the processes of hegemony and their consequences as promoted by commercial conglomerates, also allows me a sense of media literacy. Having the cognizance to recognize the forces at play when "reading" a message allow me the opportunity to "explore intended and unintended latent messages[,]" "[be] aware of different content genres[,]" and "[be] aware of the cultural, institutional, and commercial forces that tend to lead to certain types of messages to be constructed..."
In looking at what media literacy means to me, I can say that I have a fairly similar view to that of Meyrowitz. My only divergence from his theory would be that I ultimately place greater importance on being able to accurately interpret the intended and unintended messages of the "sender" as well as the forces at play that aid in the construction of the message. I thoroughly believe that we are creating a generation of "sheeple" who willingly submit to the messages of mass media, and fail to consider any alternative reading of a message. With that said, I place an enormous weight on one's ability to interpret messages both intended and unintended, as well as the ability to look at those factors which contribute to the construction of messages actively promoted by the media so that we may have a more comprehensive "media literacy."
When I think about media literacy, I think about the different ways that my mother and I consume television. I watch TV and notice the small details that when into the actual production of the show, the writing, the lighting and angles, and what the filmmakers are trying to say on a societal level. My mother watches for the drama, scandal, and to be entertained, not finding it necessary to look any deeper into the show. Now, my mother is a kind-hearted angel so there's nothing wrong with her level of media literacy, but it can be problematic when others have a similar level. Meyrowitz puts it best when he says that media is a form of communication, and communication has content concerns that people should be aware of. So, "anyone that cares about aspects of social life" should be concerned with their level of media literacy. Racism, sexism, and other stereotypes exist in all media and unfortunately still run rampant in television today. I think this continues to happen because even producers of content are not always aware of the messages that they are sending.
I think a lot of misconceptions can be avoided if media literacy was taught at a younger age or at all. Consuming media takes up a lot of an average person's day, making it as relevant as ever to teach media literacy in schools in order to fight back against misunderstanding about one of the most important aspects of our culture.
For me, media literacy means being able to analyze and understand media content. It's looking beyond the surface in order to come to find meanings, concepts, and perspectives that comes with interpreting media. Media literacy is reading media instead of simply consuming it. Many people don't understand that when they watch something like a tv show, they are not only consuming the entertainment factor it gives, but also the messages, perspectives, and ideas that are simultaneously being received by the consumer. As a communications major I have definitely changed the way I look at media content, especially films. I used to watch films without a critical analysis and I would simply judge a movie on if it was good, bad, or okay. Now I watch films and I'm noticing and analyzing the smallest things that I would have never paid attention to before. One of the downsides for me, however, is that it sometimes it takes the joy out of being able to escape into the world of the film because I'm looking at it in a critical view as media content, but I learn a lot nonetheless. It's important for people to be media literate because media is communication and they should be asking questions and looking at how media affects not only them but the society they live in.
I think media literacy is very hard to achieve. To me, I love TV, and when I watch a movie or a TV show, I can feel myself getting lost into the story because of its entertainment value, rather than the true meaning that the film or video is trying to portray. However, after taking a few filming classes, I have caught myself telling my parents about the different shots that the directors use and for what purpose, or simply how long a production takes (small facts along those lines). To me, that is being media literate, and although I view myself as being media illiterate (at least at this time of my life) I do believe I show flashes of media literacy.
A big part of media literacy is being able to understand the message that the director is getting across, however there are many ways people interpret things, which makes being media literate a difficult thing to do (in my opinion). So besides these points, I think being able to separate yourself from the action, comedy, thriller, or whatever it is you are watching and to be able to take a step back and see things from a filming perspective, than that is a very good start to being media literate.
Originally I thought media literacy was communication through media. That messages sent through television, radio, movies and so on was the only part of media literacy. Reading further into depth about the material, I learned that I was close but media literacy is so much more. Media literacy is the ability to create, interpret, study and access to media. This term has multiple different angles to be considered then just the simple message. Sure the message is the main point but the audience must understand exactly what they are viewing or hearing to a whole other level.
Media literacy today, can be used as an educational format. Audiences can analyze the data received to understand a certain context. Media can connect many individuals through the internet and teach things like culture or society from many miles away to a much larger audience. Media literacy can develop great skills of critical thinking and sell-expression. It is important to stay up to date with media literacy because it can change and will change in the future with technology improvements. Even from the past media literacy has come along way, for example commercials, there didn't use to be so many commercials during television but now they are every ten minutes expressing multiple different advertisements and so forth. Media literacy will create many different forms of communication messages but have a similarity to affecting the majority of the population.
Media literacy is a way of interacting with media and all of its messages. Technically, its how you analyze, evaluate, and participate with content in the media. I think it has to do with acknowledging how the medium effects the message and how that message is effecting the viewer/consumer. Like being aware of all of the motives behind the message and the intent of the party producing it. I think its important to understand the relationship between medium, message, and viewer. Often times the effect that a message has on someone is not the intended effect. How media is interpreted can change from person to person. Media literacy also encompasses understanding the repercussions of a certain storyline and/or character on society. As someone who hopes to influence content in the media, this is very important.
I would say I am media literate but this feels like a trap. As a comm major, I've taken have a handful of classes on media and its effect. But because media is so sneaky and constantly changing, I don't know if I'm always aware of the effect the content has on me. I like to believe I am capable of critically analyzing and evaluating it. Being media literate doesn't really fit into my ritual of mindlessly watching the Bachelor.
Before reading the two articles, I had a different idea of what media literacy was. However, when learning more about the subject, I realize that the definition I had held was only scratching the surface of what media literacy really is. The term media literacy involves more than just consuming the media in ways of television, movies, radio and even on social media. It requires the ability to be able to peel away the surface level and to see what it really represents. It requires a sophisticated understanding of the material. Not only is media literacy being able to identify these messages, it also involves the skill to challenge it and develop our own views from the message as well.
Personally, I feel that I am less media literate than i thought i was. I watch my fair share of television and consume my part of media through other channels too. However, i often find myself taking everything at surface level and not always seeking the deeper meaning of the media. Upon learning about production and the media in general after taking classes at Santa Clara University, I feel that i have become more media literate and am beginning to notice the subliminal messages and stances that are taken through media. Thinking about the television that we regularly consume in a critical way can allow for us be more sophisticated consumers but also can help us to begin to see the world around us through a more critical lens.
To me, media literacy is first having access to the many forms of media out there, whether it's television, film, books, the Internet, etc., and then being able to analyze and interpret that media. As many people have mentioned, a good portion of the public consumes media more for the entertainment factor than anything else. Stunts, explosions, and the like are fun to watch, but often there is a deeper meaning or larger theme to the scenes on the screen. I think that if people have trouble grasping these messages, it can be because they just haven't been taught to process them or even look out for them in the media. As a Communication major here at SCU, I have been fortunate enough to learn how to view media from different perspectives. While watching a film, I'll often point out an interesting shot or continuity error to family or friends, who usually just tell me to be quiet and enjoy the movie. I do enjoy it, but it's nice to be able to do so, and at the same time think about how different shots were filmed or how scenes were edited. Thus, I would say I am media literate to a certain extent; I am able to look at media in a deeper way, but I still have a lot to learn about evaluating media and creating it.
After reading Meyrowitz, Lewis and Jhally’s articles on the model of multiple media literacies and the struggle over media literacy, I found it interesting to see that I am already media literate in ways I had not considered before. As an English major, I am media content literate in that I constantly analyze messages, ideas, themes, connections to find greater or deeper meaning in many varieties of media. And as a Communication minor I have a foundation in understanding how different political, economic, and social factors shape media, and as a filmmaking student, I have adopted media grammar literate techniques and strategies to critically view films and other media by analyzing their production variables, like the use of different camera angles, sound design, editing, and so forth. This concept of media literacy brings to my attention the fact that my access to and familiarity with these literacies allows me to challenge different institutions and even the media itself in my ability to break them down and understand them. It speaks to the whole idea of a “sophisticated citizen” versus “sophisticated consumer” that Lewis and Jhally speak of.
I initially imagined media literacy as simply the ability to use different communication technologies, ranging from reading a simple children’s book to using a vast online network to communicate with communities on the other side of the globe. However, I now better understand it as a form of autonomy in the way it develops skills in analysis, reasoning, and communication (Lewis and Jhally) and a way to examine our society and the institutions that we function within. Additionally, it is media incredible to recognize that obtaining media literacy is not “finite” (Meyrowitz) because new forms of media will continue to develop and grow.
I would define media literacy as the ability to understand the messages or content conveyed by media, and also to critically examine the ways in which those messages are conveyed by media as a whole or specific mediums. Purely comprehending the content dimension of media is important, but it does not guarantee that a person is media literate. In order to be truly media literate, a person must be able to critically examine the specific natures of different mediums, and how some are better suited to express certain messages than others. Additionally, a basic understanding of the techniques used by specific mediums is helpful in creating a well-rounded analysis. Knowledge of the techniques used in media is what separates passive audiences from engaged, thoughtful ones. For example, viewers with no knowledge about filmmaking techniques will only follow a movie's plot, while more knowledgeable viewers can recognize more subtle details like camera angles or camera movements, audio, lighting, etc.
Personally, I would consider myself media literate in the same way that I am literate in the traditional sense. Obviously I can read and write, but that doesn't mean that I know every single word in the English language. In the case of media literacy, I recognize that I can always improve my media literacy skills.
The way I see media literacy is being able to look at a form of media, whether it's a webpage, film, tv show, book, visual novel, whatever, and being able to look beyond the face value of it and extract and understand some sort of underlying theme or idea. It's not a term I would have used to describe it but I think it is the best term for it. It's something that I think a lot of people do and in a lot of ways it can help to further your enjoyment and/or deepen your appreciation for the film. An example I'd use is in Captain America: The Winter Soldier which came out in 2014. It was basically, on face level, your standard Marvel superhero fare, albeit one of their best since the original Iron Man in 2007/2008 (I can't remember which year it came out) but just through a look at the plot and the political climate at the time, there were a lot of parallels and messages about "does the government have too much power" and "where is the line between privacy and safety" which were very much active topics around that year with the NSA and Edward Snowden.
Whether or not I'm media literate, I'd consider myself to be somewhat literate. I take in a good amount of media through TV shows, films, and video games and I do a fare about amount of reading through books and comic books so I think I'm adequate at reading between the lines. Much like with normal literacy, I'm more adept in some cases than in others and there's always space to get better.
Media literacy is tough to measure. We can claim to correctly interpret a given sample of media, but at the end of the day, most of what we claim to be literacy is simply our own speculation. Thus I believe media literacy isn't necessarily about who is interpreting the media correctly. It's more about how effectively we observe the media, and the process through which we make sense of it. Nevertheless, we can have varying levels of media literacy--while I do think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the credibility and validity of their opinion lies in how "well" they are able to read media.
For example, the first time I watched Breaking Bad, I simply thought to myself "Wow! What a great show. The acting performances are really powerful", and that was the extent to which I delved into it. However, after taking a few film classes at SCU, I feel like my understanding of how exactly Breaking Bad became such a critically acclaimed show was greatly expanded. There are subtle elements of foreshadowing throughout each episode, and the uniquely dramatic mood of Walter White's journey is set not only in the dialogue, but the camera movements, foreground/background contrast, etc. When watching the show a second time, I noticed many more of these individual details. The same gap in understanding can apply to other forms of media as well, whether it be news or literature.
I feel like I am relatively media literate, but I am still working out the kinks, especially when it comes to written media. My studies at SCU are steadily building my comfort level when working with film and more visual types of media, but I am still working on being able to skillfully navigate written works as well. After dabbling in several marketing and PR internships over the past two years, along with a Journalism course in between, I'd like to think I'm on the right track.
Media literacy in my own terms is connecting with media in all its forms and then analyzing, evaluating, and understanding the material. I would say in the past four years at this school, I have become media literate, but I am not a pro. Through my Social Movements and Media class with Professor Sarkar, I was able to peel back the layers of different movements such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and Kony 2012 to see that even if they may have begun with the best intentions, they became very commercialized and lost its ultimate meaning: to help. For example, most people who participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge did not donate money to the cause or even know and how debilitating the disease is. However, when I first watched the videos a couple of years ago, I did not see it like this, I thought it was doing good when in all actuality it was not.
I think being media literate is something that a communication major is being challenged to become and to embrace. In several courses I have taken durning my time here we have focused on what the media telling us and what they want us to take away from it, one class that comes to mind specifically is Communication 2GL. I feel since I have taken this course my eyes have been open and more aware of the messages the media is giving through its context. I would not say that I am completely media literate, but I am very aware of what the media is trying to make the viewer intake in the current media. I would say I have a harder time being media literate from older context just because things were different then and times have changed.
Post a Comment