Double Entry Journal #5

"The more we engage in this process the more we can be startled by the findings from such analysis and this can act as reinforcement for developing the habit to view visual images in such a manner. Although this practice addresses new communication technologies the perspective being stressed grows out of an emphasis on standard critical thinking orientations." (Schnell, 2008)

I strongly agree with Schnell's statement regarding the critical analysis of visual representations. Especially in the age of digital technology, we are becoming exposed to more and more visual information (especially by means of the internet). Companies, politicians, and agencies are taking advantage of this subtle way of persuasion by presenting us with new and more shocking advertisements and images. In order to become informed members of our society, it is important that we are aware of how subtle and powerful these images can become. It is our duty to educate our young citizens on the power of visual images and how they effect the way we think, feel, and act. Hopefully, our young people will be able to practice this level of critical analysis to the effect that it becomes habit and can change the world!

Media Literacy: Analyzing Visual Images is a webpage that offers advice for educators on including visual literacy activities into their curriculum. This activity could be used for all grades which makes it a versatile activity that is fun and introduces students to the elements of visual literacy. It also promotes social skills which is very important in media literacy.

1. How does visual imagery negatively influence the truth in political campaigns and foreign relations? Visual literacy is very subtle, so subtle that an image could have an effect on our feelings and decisions that we are not explicitly aware of. In politics and foreign relations, images can be manipulated in almost any way to convey a message that might not be accurate.

2. Can you think of a recent foreign relations incident that may have been related to visual imagery? After researching this topic, I found an article about misleading tweets of photographs and the effects they have had on the Israeli-Palistinian Conflict.

3. What does Ben Franklin by the phrase "Freedom of the press only applies if you have a press."

Those who have the means, particularly financial, to have a media outlet are free to say what they want and what they want to convince the public to hear, see, feel, and think.

4. Do you think that the explosion of digital media is akin to giving everyone a press?

I think that the explosion of digital media has given everyone a voice. We still have the big names in media that are influencing the public, but we, as a public, can create blogs, webpages, Youtube videos, etc. that give us an outlet to say how we feel and possibly convince others to think about things differently.

5. In your opinion, is the potential for more people to create their own media a positive or negative influence on our democratic society?

I think that it is a positive influence on our society. More people can be reached by those who would not ordinarily have the means to get their point across. Of course this also makes more potential for slander and other tactics that convince our society in a misleading way.

6. Is our increasingly visual cultural a good thing or bad thing?

I think it is both good and bad. I don't think we should rely on just using visual information to make our decisions because it can be covertly powerful toward our emotions and feelings. Messages can be conveyed in many other ways and I think that it is important that we do our background research before relying solely on an image. On the other hand, visual information is an easy way to get a message across to the masses.

7. What can save us from the tyranny of a visual culture? I think that we are able to think about the messages that visual images can convey and how they are intended. This is something that we need to indoctrinate into future generations so that we, as a culture, will not be victims of misleading visual media messages.

 

References:
Schnell, J. (2008). Suggestions for addression the increase visual emphasis on visual imagry over aural messages. Retrieved from
http://mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=123

Facing histories and ourselves. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/strategies/media-literacy-analyzing-visu