Truth or Reality?: Why we need media literacy

Where would the world be without media literacy? Without media literacy, would kids know what to do and not do? Would parents be able to explain to their kids why things can be done on TV but not in real life? These are questions that must be examined when the thought of media literacy is brought to the table. Without it, the world would be chaotic.

Media literacy is defined by the Center for Media Literacy as “a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet.” The Center goes on to say that, “media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.” (medialit.org) This definition exemplifies how important media literacy is to people of all ages. Children need to learn when to distinguish between make-believe and reality, and parents need to as well all the while teaching their kids why.

This idea was the focal point in a college communications course that I am just finishing up. It taught me a lot about how the media is portrayed. The course also went on to show the effects that media has on people’s lives and how being media literate can help to analyze these effects. From a book that we read in class, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, by Neil Postman, it showed the ongoing affects of television and the media and how it was changing people’s lives. The irony in it is that it was written twenty years ago, and the ideas still hold relevant today.

One important element that I learned in the class was how different media companies were linked and how they could play a part in each others exposure. There are several major entities that own a number of media outlets and sub-companies. These main organizations may have a way to advertise their different businesses within one another. For example, the Disney Foundation owns ESPN. About two months ago, ESPN took part in a major event at none other than Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The title of the event was “ESPN The Weekend” and they hosted a number of shows and sporting events from the studios and fields at Disney World.

This kind of business operation is a type of product placement that happens everywhere with just about every organization. Another feature that I learned in class was how companies will pay for their products placement in certain movies, shows, etc. Product placement like this, seeing how relevant it is in today’s media, makes you really wonder if your favorite sports team really likes Gatorade or if they just get paid to drink it. It’s all another form of endorsements for people and businesses alike. It’s actually funny how small the media world can be.

Overall, media literacy should be a very important aspect to people’s lives. For people to be media literate, they first must know what being media literate means. It means having the know-how to separate truth from reality. Being media literate is an important element that all people should strive to achieve. Media literacy is not just an idea. It’s a way of life.

A reminder?

Media and its effects have a big influence on the way people live their lives. Recently I completed an exercise from the book “Media Literacy” by W. James Potter that analyzed the role that the media plays on people’s everyday life and how its effects contribute to the things we do. In this exercise it instructed to pick a medium (i.e. watch a show, surf the net, etc.,) and see how it makes you feel or do after.

I chose to watch “21”, a new movie that has topped the box offices in the past couple weekends. The movie was about gambling and took place in Las Vegas. In about 3 weeks I will be traveling to Vegas for my first time and have been pretty excited for a couple of months now. But, the entire time as I was watching the movie and after it was over, the excitement of going to Vegas grew enormously and has played an impact on the spending decisions I have recently been making.

Now one could say that this viewing of the movie has influenced me and provoked me to do/change something, which is a logical thought. However, the way I feel, is that what I actually did was tied the movie in with something that I was already doing and excited about, and simply made me a little more passionate with the subject. This is the way that I feel the media affects the decisions we make.

People say that the media has the power to influence or change people’s behavior. I believe that the media merely acts as a catalyst for how people already think or feel and gives them a reason to act on it. For example, I’m a sports guy. I like to play, watch, and talk sports. But, sometimes I’m so busy I don’t have the time to get to play them and more or less forget about that aspect. And when I watch a movie or hear people talking about that idea, it reminds me that I like to play it as well and will provoke me to go out and act on that feeling.

Overall, I would say that I like my life with the media and would not want it to change as of now. I watch some TV, but not too much, I watch some movies, not too many, and I use the internet, but usually as a resource or for music. I am still active each day as I workout 3 days a week and play any and all sports I can join in on as much as I can. I work an awful lot and have a lot of issues to deal with that a normal 21 year old probably shouldn’t have which probably affects the way I feel about the media as well. In conclusion, too much more media exposure would probably change my lifestyle and make me lazier, and any less media exposure would take away from the break in reality I so need or reminders of things I can and like to do.

Whats your favorite show?

Top 10 Network Primetime Series: Total Households
Rank	Program Name	Net	Day	Time	Household		Viewers
					Rating/Share	Audience
1	AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY	FOX	Wed	9:00 PM	14.8/22.0	16,656,000	24,839,000
2	AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY	FOX	Tue	8:00 PM	14.7/23.0	16,617,000	26,117,000
3	DANCING WITH THE STARS	ABC	Mon	8:00 PM	13.0/20.0	14,689,000	20,557,000
4	CSI	CBS	Thu	9:00 PM	12.4/20.0	13,957,000	20,577,000
5	DANCING W/STARS RESULTS	ABC	Tue	9:00 PM	11.1/17.0	12,559,000	17,282,000
6	CSI: MIAMI	CBS	Mon	10:00 PM	10.1/16.0	11,371,000	15,650,000
7	WITHOUT A TRACE	CBS	Thu	10:01 PM	9.7/17.0	10,977,000	15,196,000
8	CSI: MIAMI - TUESDAY SP(S)	CBS	Tue	10:00 PM	9.1/15.0	10,293,000	14,230,000
9	CBS NCAA BSKBL CHAMP SA-2(S)	CBS	Sat	8:48 PM	8.8/16.0	9,979,000	14,435,000
9	TWO AND A HALF MEN	CBS	Mon	9:00 PM	8.8/13.0	9,925,000	14,504,000

Two and a Half Men proves to be a hit, even after being perceived by some as too vulgar for cable broadcast. The popular comedy tied for the 9^th spot in the Top 10 Broadcast TV Programs for the week of March 31, 2008 according to the Nielsen Media Ratings. The show, which is about two brothers and one of their sons all living in the same house, received a rating of 8.8. An estimated 14.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the show during this week.

Apart from this success, it still is not among the top in the 9 o’clock weekly time slot, as it airs on Monday. The 9 o’clock showing on Tuesday is Dancing with the Stars (Results) and holds the number 5 spot in the overall TV broadcasts in the Nielsen Ratings. Wednesday at 9 airs the number one show in America for the season, American Idol. The 9 o’clock Thursday time slot also ranks above Two and a Half Men at number 4 with the hit drama CSI. Compared to the shows on Monday night immediately before at 8 and immediately after at 10, Two and a Half Men still has the lowest rating. Dancing with the Stars airs right before it at 8 o’clock and ranks 3^rd on the top ten. CSI: Miami airs right after it at 10 and it ranks at number 6 on the top ten.

However, when it comes to ratings versus share of market, Two and a Half Men is one of the better shows. Its rating is at 8.8 while the share is at 13. This results in a minimal 3.2 difference between the two, the lowest of any other show in the top ten.

I think that if the show were moved to a different night it may have better ratings. The hindrance of having so many good shows surrounding Two and a Half Men may be limiting its viewers due to the fact that people may not want to watch TV for three hours in a row. If the show were to be switched with the time slot that American Idol has, at 9 on Wednesdays, then I believe it would do much better due to the lack of competition that this time slot has.

Another change that could be made to better the ratings for Two and a Half Men would be to air it at 8 o’clock instead of 9 so that it is first on line-up three hit shows back to back. More people may be apt to watch it due to the fact they are not yet bored of watching another hit show before it.

What is still relevant today?

After recently reading Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, I took some time to sit down and collect my thoughts on the book. This is how I feel.

Postman makes a couple good points about the media and ways in which people perceive it. However, I found a lot of his arguments invalid and irrelevant in today’s society. The book was written in 1985; therefore, I don’t feel that his arguments, for the most part, are applicable in today’s technologically advanced world.

To say that America would no longer accept a fat or different politician, or that news cannot be considered news and is for mere entertainment, or that children will only love school if it is like Sesame Street, are all statements made by Postman reflecting his ideas on how the media had changed the world. However, if you think about it, do you really believe this? The upcoming Democratic election has an African-American as well a woman both running for president. I’d say that is different from the norm in the political world. Furthermore, how many people actually sit down to watch the news for entertainment? I believe that people watch the news to be informed of what is going on around them, not to receive a sense of enjoyment from entertainment.

While researching other people’s reviews on the book, I found that there weren’t too many who didn’t like it. Everyone seemed to be pleased or impressed by it, which threw me for a loop. Am I getting the wrong idea from this book? Maybe, just maybe, these other people are in an older generation and can see his points of the media and television as it was proposed in the 80’s. But what they may be missing is how much television is changing with the technological advances being made so often. They aren’t the ones who “grew up” with mainstream TV with more than 13 channels so that people can actually choose what they want to watch.

Nevertheless, the book makes for a good debate. Everyone has different viewpoints and feelings on the issues which Postman talks about. My recommendation would be to read the book, so that you can decide for yourself how you feel.

Could you be the next reporter?

“We must adjust to changing times and still hold to remaining principles.”

-Jimmy Carter, 39^th U.S. President

The times are constantly changing many aspects of people’s everyday lives. With the technology revolution in full flight, media outlets are changing as well. One aspect of change in the media comes from the idea of citizen journalism. It’s changing the ways news is considered “news”. Citizen journalism sites have taken a new approach to the news in which they reveal. Whether it is adding their own input on a news story, finding missing or inaccurate information in a news story, or covering a story that which may not have been covered by traditional news sources, citizen journalists offer fresh insights into today’s “news” culture. But how much can it be trusted?

One of the many citizen journalists’ web sites out there is Philly Future. This is a Philadelphia based site that offers the chance for citizens to write the “news”. The content on this site is more about news stories and happenings that you wouldn’t see in traditional newspapers or other media vehicles in the area. This gives the average citizen the chance to write what he or she may think is news and have it published on the site for other people to share.

Many of the stories on the site may be considered objective. They can range from being biased, to only partial coverage of a story, or even taking a story out of its context. These issues stem from the fact that with citizen journalism sites, like Philly Future, being so open to users, many stories come from those who are interested in the topic or have a stake in the issue. This idea goes on to show that people may present a story from his or her point of view and leave out information that may be critical to the opposing side of that story. This openness for objectivity could be positive or negative in the stories in which a site may cover. In could either bring people together to share their similar ideas on a topic, or it could start a debate between opposing sides of an issue who may share the interest of the citizen journalism web site.

In any case, citizen journalism is an up-and-coming industry that is growing larger by the day. With the demand for more entertainment news, the audience calls for more stories that a traditional news outlet may not cover. So, why not cover the stories that you wish to read yourself? Anything is possible in today’s society.

Survivor

Alexis makes a valid point in the case that the fans know some of the tendencies and abilities of the favorites. But, she overlooks the fact that the producers and editors of the show only put on TV what is appealing to the audience.

In the state of automaticity, there are traps. One of these traps is giving us a false feeling of being informed. Because society is so full of information, people tend to believe that they are greatly informed. However, the truth is that message saturation is so thick that we tend to accept the surface meaning of many messages and believe it to be true. That may be the case in howAlexis feels. She says that they have an advantage because they know the ‘favorites’ tendencies but what she is missing is that the fans are only seeing a small amount of what is really going on. And in that small amount the producers may be skewing the actual truth and give a false feeling that we are seeing reality.

Furthermore, this sense of skewed reality also comes from a term in Chapter 5 known as “Programmers’ Perspective”. Programmers know that they need to attract audiences by tweaking their sense of reality to make a show seem more interesting. This can be a major factor in giving Alexis a false feeling that she knows how the veterans are going to act.

Max Headroom

Max Headroom was an 80's TV series that portrayed the media and how it works in a dramatic, futuristic way. The main character in the episodes is named Edison Carter. He is one of the best reporters in this time and he works for Network 23. Their main competition in this episode comes from Breakthru-TV. Breakthru-TV is faking terrorist attacks to draw ratings because they have “exclusive coverage”. In actuality, the attacks are on a miniature “terrorist studio” and not really taking place. That is until Network 23 finds out of this and reports that it was all a fake.

This episode illustrates a key concept of media literacy that deals most with media content. The antagonist in the episode was all about getting the ratings for either channel. What he was trying to do was make a deal with either network, whoever would pay, and give them “exclusive” coverage to the “terrorist attacks”, even though they were staged. The first to have coverage would then get the ratings the station would want and be happy with that. The thought of getting better ratings was more important than the actual message thus skewing the actual media content of the message.