#2: Media Literacy Fundamental: What is Media Literacy?

 

Summary: Media literacy provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act on media messages in a variety of forms – from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role media plays in our society and develops essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for civic minded participation.

 

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to…

 

• access, analyze and evaluate media messages in recent advertisements.

• demonstrate how media messages are geared to specific demographics of society.

• develop individual inquiry skills that demonstrate an awareness of media content and/or persuasion techniques. 

• create a media product that demonstrates an understanding of media literacy fundamentals.

 

A) 10-15 Minute Lesson: Overview

 

According to the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), a basic definition of media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication. All media messages are constructed by someone for a specific purpose. It is the responsibility of every citizen to develop critical thinking skills to understand that media messages have many layers and determine the impact individual messages have on our actions, values and beliefs. The Center for Media Literacy refers to five fundamental questions as “the core of inquiry-based media literacy.”

 

What are the Five Questions of Media Literacy: Watch the following YouTube *video* Red Bull advertisement (1:00), then review the following questions. Source: 2013 World of Red Bull commercial.

 

* Instructor Note: Educational policies vary across the state regarding the use of YouTube in the classroom. For this activity, ANY 30-60sec commercial video advertisement will be sufficient. Gage your advertisement to your class. An ad that is specifically geared towards the age demographic of the class is helpful, but not necessary. The concept is to ‘unpack’ the content and critically analyze its creation and specific purpose.

 

Consider the following questions:

 

• Authorship– Who created this message? Authorship explores the entities who create media messages. Media text and images are constructed. Plans are made, components are gathered together and people are paid to do various jobs and create all forms of media. Individual choices are made to deliver a product; success often depends upon the media’s ‘naturalness’.

• Format– What creative techniques are used to attract the public’s attention? By asking ourselves what we notice about the media, we examine the small details that stand out. What is being told visually or symbolically? The use of specific fonts, color, camera angles or music often tell a story of their own – these are the aesthetics of the media.

• Audience– Who is the target audience for this message? Considering the audience often examines how different people might understand the same media message in different ways. Our differences influence our various interpretations of media messages and our similarities create common understandings. How would the authors of this message target a specific demographic or target audience?

• Content– What type of lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, the message? All forms of media have values and points of view embedded in their content, where the media carries subtle messages about who and what is important in a society. Who do you think is often left out of these equations or underrepresented?

• Purpose– Why is the message being sent? What is the point of the message? Most media messages are organized to gain commercial profit and/or power. When we look at the motive or purpose behind a media message and how it may be influenced by money, ego or ideology, it gives us a broader perspective of why it was created in the first place.

 

 Source: Center for Media Literacy

 

B) 20-30 Minute Lesson: Dig deeper with a class discussion, divide the class into groups of 5-6 individuals and give each group a copy of the following Questions 1-5, instruct the groups to search online for 'Super Bowl Ads,' choosing one commercial from the most recent NFL Super Bowl to analyze (or another type of commercial). Each group will choose a different advertisement to analyze and discuss each of the following questions, answering 2-3 sub-questions listed beneath, then write down their responses.

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Question #1: Authorship: Who created this message? Additional questions to consider about the video:

 

• Is this media similar or different from other similar brands in the same genre?

• How many people did it take to create this message?

• What are their various jobs?

• Why is it important to know who wrote or created a message?

• What choices were made that might have been made differently?

 

Question #2: Format: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? Additional questions to consider about the video:

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• What fonts, colors, sounds, words, props, clothing, lighting are used?

• How is the media constructed? Does it seem real?

• Where is the camera? What is the viewpoint?

• How is the story told visually? What are people doing?

• What is the emotional appeal? Are persuasive devices used?

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Question #3: Audience: How do different individuals understand the message? Additional questions to consider about the video:

 

• How might different people understand this message differently from me?

• Who is the target audience for this message?

• What other viewpoints should be considered?

• How close is the portrayal to your personal experience? How different?

• Is the audience a specific gender, class, or race?

 

Question #4: Content: What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? Additional questions to consider about the video:

 

• What kinds of behaviors / consequences are depicted?

• What ideas or values are being ‘sold’ in the message?

• What political or economic ideas are communicated in the message?

• What is the overall worldview? How will other cultures view this ad?

• What ideals and/or perspectives are omitted from this ad? How would one find what is missing?

 

Question #5: Purpose: Why is this message being sent? Additional questions to consider about the video:

 

• Who is in control of the creation and transmission of the message?

• Who profits from what is being sold in the message?

• Who is being served by or benefiting from the message? The public? Private interests? Individuals? Institutions?

• What economic decisions may have influenced the construction or transmission of the message?

 

Optional Activity: Share and compare; have each group come up and introduce their chosen commercial to the class, pausing throughout to share their analysis of several of the questions.

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C) 45-60 Minute Online Group Activity: Building a Creative Brief Concept Map

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A creative brief is a mind map that serves as a visual framework for exploring a thought process and demonstrates a student or groups understanding of a concept. For this activity, each group of students are invited to log on to the free website Padlet.com to design a creative brief that demonstrates their understanding of the five questions and their relevance to their chosen commercial. Utilizing the Padlet.com website, create a visual display of the five questions w/ answers and their chosen Super Bowl advertisement. Using Padlet.com to create a concept map about their commercial which includes the commercial and each of the five questions: Authorship, Format, Audience, Content, Purpose (similar to the photo below). Encourage students to be creative in their display, add multiple boxes, arrows, lines to connect concepts, a group photo, etc. Demonstrate the different displays on the overhead, review each group’s findings and play each group’s ad. See the following example of a Padlet organizational chart.

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