Being literate makes the assumption that you can both read and write, media literacy assumes the same but with production. We consider nearly all children, teens, adolescences, and even adults as being some form of digitally or media literate. You most likely consume news whether it be through twitter, facebook, local news, newspaper, magazine, tabloid, radio, or television. You most likely also consume entertainment through these same mediums. Technology and the internet has made vast amounts of information become accessible to us at an instant. Technology has kept up its end of the bargain, but have we? Have we become lazy as consumers and producers?
“Media are powerful forces in the lives of youth. Music, TV, video games, magazines and other media all have a strong influence on how we see the world, an influence that often begins in infancy. To be engaged and critical media consumers, kids need to develop skills and habits of media literacy. These skills include being able to access media on a basic level, to analyze it in a critical way based on certain key concepts, to evaluate it based on that analysis and, finally, to produce media oneself. This process of learning media literacy skills is media education.” Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre For Digital and Media Literacy
Fake News; Real Problems
“If the children are the future, the future might be very ill-informed.”Students Have ‘Dismaying’ Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds, Sam Wineburg.
If you are like me and spent some time in a comment section on twitter, a website, facebook, or just even overheard a conversation on the street you’ve probably seen and heard enough. We have a very REAL problem about FAKE news. While the technological advances and social media presence has allowed the many to have a voice too many are using this voice irresponsibly. This misinformation can be hurtful, wrong, slanderous, or even in some cases deadly, and it spreads like a wildfire through the California hills.
Are the producers to blame?
“Media products are created by individuals who make conscious and unconscious choices about what to include, what to leave out and how to present what is included. These decisions are based on the creators’ own point of view, which will have been shaped by their opinions, assumptions and biases – as well as media they have been exposed to. As a result of this, media products are never entirely accurate reflections of the real world – even the most objective documentary filmmaker has to decide what footage to use and what to cut, as well as where to put the camera – but we instinctively view many media products as direct representations of what is real.” Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre For Digital and Media Literacy
But the youth can tell the difference between real and fake news, right?
“Many assume that because young people are fluent in social media they are equally savvy about what they find there,” the researchers wrote. “Our work shows the opposite.”, Students Have ‘Dismaying’ Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds, Sam Wineburg.
We live in an instant culture where we want everything quickly and that is the most important thing to us. We will trade authentic and value if we can get it cheap and quick. We’ve ignored the basic tenets of digital learning: understanding what sources to trust. I remember learning about propaganda and yellow journalism as a youth and thinking how could people fall into these traps? Flash forward several decades and the practice is still alive and well.
Are consumers to blame?
Do we control the scope? The meaning of any media product is not created solely by its producers but is, instead, a collaboration between them and the audience. Different audiences might not view the same information and meanings from the same source and product. Factors, such as age, gender, race and social status affect our interpretations of media.
Is the media to blame?
“Most media production is a business and must, therefore, make a profit. In addition, media industries belong to a powerful network of corporations that exert influence on content and distribution. Questions of ownership and control are central – a relatively small number of individuals control what we watch, read and hear in the media. Even in cases where media content is not made for profit – such as YouTube videos and Facebook posts – the ways in which content is distributed are nearly always run with profit in mind.” Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre For Digital and Media Literacy. Money over integrity? In today’s world it seems all too common even for the most trusted institutions.
Is society or politics to blame?
“Media convey ideological messages about values, power and authority. In media literacy, what or who is absent may be more important than what or who is included. These messages may be the result of conscious decisions, but more often they are the result of unconscious biases and unquestioned assumptions – and they can have a significant influence on what we think and believe.
As a result, media have great influence on politics and on forming social change. TV news coverage and advertising can greatly influence the election of a national leader on the basis of image; representations of world issues, both in journalism and fiction, can affect how much attention they receive; and society’s views towards different groups can be directly influenced by how – and how often – they appear in media.” Media Smarts, Canada’s Centre For Digital and Media Literacy.
The answer:
Each of these is to blame at varying levels. Each owns their own responsibility. But the truth is, the final responsibility lies within the consumer and how they access, analyze, evaluate, and share/communicate/produce the information they encounter. It’s tough and challenging, but the consumer has to be better at these skills.
New Social Studies: Media Education
This commercial is a few years old. Besides making me bust out laughing, it resonates still about the point it is making about our attitudes and acceptance of how the internet and mass media shape our narrative about content.
Social studies is the various aspects or branches of the study of human society, considered as an educational discipline. However, we have a new social studies, and it has to do with digital and media literacy. Media education. Key aspects of digital and media literacy like how we access media, how we analyze media, how we evaluate media, and how we share and produce media are all things that need to be explicitly explored, refined and taught to consumers and producers of all ages, particularly our youth.
As consumers and learners we need to ask questions:
- How might different people see this media product differently?
- Who created this media product?
- How do those purposes influence the content and how it’s communicated? $?
- Who and what is shown in a positive light? In a negative light? Or not shown at all?
- What conclusions might audiences draw based on these facts?
As a teacher, I plan to teach ABOUT media, not just WITH media. If we provide children and learners with the tools to not just accept, but rather question and view information and sources though various lenses and prospectives we can create learners who analyze, evaluate and reflect what they are consuming before they use it to share, collaborate, or produce products of their own. Another issue is that some learners just don’t possess digital literacy. We roll out technology and resources and expect them to naturally use them the way we see fit. There needs to be a process where students learn how and why they are using what they are using before they can reap the benefits.
While the divide between rich and poor continues to affect access to trainings, resources and tools in regards to technology, other divides grow larger: those who are media literate vs media illiterate, while some grow indecipherable: real vs fake news.
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