Quote:
"Media literacy may be defined as the ability to access, experience, evaluate,
and produce media products. Media are seen to represent actual events, but those
representations are subjective and incomplete. Journalists and news producers
select which stories to publish, what aspects to emphasize, and what language to
use. Media literacy is necessary for media consumers to sift through the variety
of presentations, including films, newspapers, Web sites, and video screens to
arrive at meaning." Semali, 2001
I chose this quote because this course has opened my eyes about the messages that media portrays. I, along with most of the American population, have access and experience with media through television, Web sites, and newspapers. Being able to evaluate and produce media products are vital skills that can prevent us from being passive members of society. Prior to this course, I never thought about the news media having the "choice" of what to cover and how to present it. Now, I pay attention to what is being presented to me and it is amazing the information that is often left out or "tweaked" for shock value or to portray an opinion.
The article News Coverage Skews Picture of Youth Crime discusses how the messages that media portray are often disproportionate and the incredible power of these messages. According to the article, coverage of violent crime has increased while the crime rate has decreased. Also, the article points out the disproportionate amount of violent crime perpetrated by youths and African Amercians that is reported in the news media. I think that this article is helpful in providing examples of why we need media literacy in our classrooms.
1. New literacies encompass a variety of concepts related to multimedia. This involves literacies that have emerged in an era of cultural and intellectual shift in the way information is produced, presented and received. Much of this includes visual and electronic communications. New literacies should change teachers' understanding of what it means to be literate in the digital age because children must not only be able to read printed text, they must be able to utilize computer programs, analyze the messages that are received from others through television, the internet, and other forms of media, and be able to produce their own media to represent their opinions. One example is that students must be able to use computers and other digital devices in order to access information to be successful academically and in the future workforce.
2. My perception of this quote is that the media is so far-reaching that is affecting the beliefs of our citizens. If people keep getting the same messages over and over again, the majority will begin to believe the message, especially if it is conveyed by familiar or powerful people. The media attempts to "normalize" many ideas, which is the reason why capitalists own these corporations-to convey their messages and persuade our public to think the way that they want us to.
3. The lack of critical media in education leads to a citizenry that is passive. Especially in this age of technological growth, there are more media messages that are in the grasp of our youth and they definitely need to learn to discern the messages that are presented to them.
4. It would be extremely difficult to claim an absolute definition of literacy due to the constant changes in the way that we communicate.The definitions and mediums of literacy are constantly shifting. Semali, 2001, states that definitions need to be based on praxis to be meaningful. He feels that the definition of literacy should be definced by the artist, author, or producer that uses it.
5. Semali advocates for a critical approach to visual literacy because he feels that visual literacy refers to multiple abilities to read, view, understand, evaluate, and interpret visual texts. I agree that we do need to take a critical approach to visual literacy. First and foremost, visual texts are everywhere. We need to teach our students how to think critically about the information that is presented to them in multiple formats.
References:
Semali, L. (2001). Defining new literacies in curricular practice.
Reading Online, 5(4). Retrieved from
http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=semali1/index.html
The Progess Report. (n.d.). News coverage skews picture of youth crime. Retrieved from
http://www.progress.org/media04.htm
I'm glad you found this article on Youth Crime and news reporting. The more you research this phenomenon the more disturbed you will become. The news does an phenomenal job of distorting reality!
ReplyDeleteThe article you found was really interesting. The overemphasis on young people of color as perpetrators of crime made me think of other statistics I have read about how the media tends to focus on abduction cases. Typically, the child abduction cases that get national coverage consist of young, white girls taken by strangers.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me want to research what the real statistics are, particularly as a parent. I don't want to walk around feeling like my child is constantly in danger. The skewed media coverage (of youth violence and child abduction) makes me feel less safe than if the coverage showed a complete picture. I also worry about what this kind of coverage does to our sense of trust in others, and what that means for the community as a
whole.