MediaMedia

Unbelievable Website

A website where you can order exotic animals for meals ?

http://www.petsorfood.com/

Why does this exist?

Who would make this?

What reactions do you have to it?

Unbelievable WebsiteHow can you determine if the website is reliable or not?

Others:

The Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

Shards of Glass http://www.shardsoglass.com/

Media Literacy Media - any form of produced communication

Medium - a particular form of communication (newspaper, radio, television, internet, etc)

Literacy - the ability to effectively understand a form of communication

Is it important to be “media literate”? Why or why not?

Take the media survey...

Media Literacy

What does the following clip say about media literacy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Reactions? Thoughts?

We live in a media-saturated environment, thus it is important to be able to understand the messages that are constantly bombarded us so we can make informed decisions about things

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

1. All media are constructions that construct reality

all media (t.v. shows, webpages, textbooks, songs) Don’t “just exist” - they are carefully made by someone for a purpose

we have built our personal understandings of the world through media - our sense of “beauty”, “Manliness”, “success”, “happiness” comes from the images and messages around us

Dove - http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=iYhCn0jf46U

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

1. All media are constructions that construct reality

Questions to ask:

-Who created this message and what do they want me to think about this message?

-How does the info in this message compare to facts, what I already know, etc?

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

2. All media have their own forms and conventions

all media use different techniques and “tricks of the trade” to catch our attention

the meaning of a message might differ between mediums (for example, a newspaper report on a baseball game will differ from a television news report of the ame game)

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

2. All media have their own forms and conventions

Questions to ask:

-How are the tools of this medium used to convey this message?

-How would the meaning of this message change if it were in a different medium?

Ford commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqoHrzuut70

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

3. All media have embedded values and points of view

all media are some form of advertising - they are trying to sell you either a product, service, idea etc (for example, an ad might be trying to sell you cigarettes and a song might be trying to sell you an idea about rebellion)

we have to be aware of the ideas that are being sold to us because they can influence our religious, political and social views on life

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

3. All media have embedded values and points of view

Questions to ask

-what beliefs, lifestyles, values are being presented to me?

-what beliefs, lifestyles, values are omitted from this message?

-who is in control of this message?

-what stereotypes (if there are any) are being presented?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

4. Different people experience the same message differently

everyone has different beliefs, values, lifestyles so everyone experiences a message differently (e.g. kids view cartoons different then adults, men and women may have a different interpretation of a movie)

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

4. Different people experience the same message differently

Questions to ask

-how might people of different beliefs, ethnicities, age, gender experience this message?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41475603#41475603

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

5. All media are constructed to gain profit or power

every medium is influenced by commercial considerations

this effects content, technique, and distribution

a relatively small handful of corporations dominant what we see, hear and read

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

Tools for Understanding Media: Five Key Concepts

5. All media are constructed to gain profit or power

Questions to ask -

Why was this ad sent?

How was this ad paid for?

How does this ad generate money or power?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APS9tso1G9k