Assignment
Name : Nisrina Novelia
Class : 1SA08NPM : 15616451
Media Literacy
Media literacy is a set of skills that anyone can
learn. Just as literacy is the ability
to read and write, media literacy refers to the ability to access,
analyze, evaluate and create media messages of all kinds.
Media literacy
skills can help children, youth and adults:
Understand how
media messages create meaning
Identify who
created a particular media message
Recognize what
the media maker wants us to believe or do
Name the
"tools of persuasion" used
Recognize
bias, spin, misinformation and lies
Discover the
part of the story that's not being told
Evaluate media
messages based on our own experiences, beliefs and values
Create and
distribute our own media messages
Become
advocates for change in our media system
Media Literacy Concepts
The study and
practice of media literacy is based on a number of fundamental concepts about
media
messages, our
media system, and the role of media literacy in bringing about change.
Understanding
these concepts
is an essential first step in media literacy education.
We’ve
organized Media Literacy Concepts into three levels:
Basic,
Intermediate and Advanced.
Basic focus on
how media affect us.
Intermediate
concepts examine more closely how we create meaning from media messages.
Advanced concepts
examine the interaction of media and society, and the role of media literacy in
bringing about change.
Basic concepts
Media messages can be decoded.
By “deconstructing” media, we can figure out who created the message, and why. We can identify the techniques of persuasion being
used and recognize how
media makers are trying to influence us. We notice
what parts of the story are not being told, and how we can become better informed.
Example
- Who is this advertisement targeting?
- What is the subtext of the ad?
-How is this ad attempting to persuade the consumer?.
- Is this a healthy and/or unhealthy media message?
- What related stories are NOT told by this media example?
Answer
Who is this advertisement targeting? This ad is probably targeting men
since an attractive woman is the focus.
What is the subtext (underlying meaning) of the ad? It seems that the ad is trying to get men to see that there are attractive women at the casino and that maybe they could meet some of those women.
How is this ad attempting to persuade the consumer? The use of the “beautiful people” persuasion technique is in play. The consumer is being persuaded to think that attractive women spend time at casinos.
Is this a healthy and/or unhealthy media message? This is an unhealthy media message because they are using attractive young women to get men to go to the casino.
What related stories are NOT told by this media example? It is not showing the variety of people that may be at the casino or the possible consequences of gambling.
What is the subtext (underlying meaning) of the ad? It seems that the ad is trying to get men to see that there are attractive women at the casino and that maybe they could meet some of those women.
How is this ad attempting to persuade the consumer? The use of the “beautiful people” persuasion technique is in play. The consumer is being persuaded to think that attractive women spend time at casinos.
Is this a healthy and/or unhealthy media message? This is an unhealthy media message because they are using attractive young women to get men to go to the casino.
What related stories are NOT told by this media example? It is not showing the variety of people that may be at the casino or the possible consequences of gambling.
Intermediate concepts
Media convey ideological and value messages.
Ideology and
values are usually conveyed in the subtext. Two examples include news reports (besides covering an issue or
event, news reports
often reinforce assumptions about power and authority)
and advertisements (besides selling particular
products, advertisements almost always promote the values of a consumer
society).
Ideological
and value message conveyed in subtext, such as moral value life value, essential
value, etc.
Advanced concepts
Most media are controlled by commercial interests.
In the United
States, the marketplace
largely determines what we see on television, what we
hear on the radio, what we read in newspapers or
magazines. As we use media, we should always be alert to the self-interest of corporate media makers. Are they concerned about your health? Do they
care if you’re smart or wellinformed? Are they
interested in creating active participants in our society and culture, or
merely
passive consumers of their products, services, and
ideas?
Basic persuasion techniques
Association
This
persuasion technique tries to link a product, service, or idea with something already liked or desired by the target audience, such as fun, pleasure,
beauty, security, intimacy, success, wealth, etc. The
media message doesn’t make explicit claims that you’ll get these things; the association is implied. Association
can be a very powerful technique. A good ad can create a strong emotional response and then associate that
feeling with a brand (family = Coke, victory = Nike).
This process is known as emotional
transfer. Several of the persuasion techniques below, like Beautiful people, Warm
& fuzzy, Symbols and Nostalgia, are specific types of association.
Intermediate persuasion techniques
Simple Solution
Life is
complicated. People are complex. Problems
often have many
causes, and they’re not easy to solve. These realities
create anxiety for many
of us. Persuaders offer relief by
ignoring complexity and proposing a Simple
solution. Politicians claim one policy change (lower taxes, a new law, a government program) will
solve big social problems. Advertisers take this strategy
even further, suggesting that a deodorant, a car, or a brand of beer will make
you beautiful,
popular and successful.
Slippery Slope
This technique combines Extrapolation
and Fear. Instead of predicting
a positive future, it warns
against a negative outcome. It argues against an idea by claiming it’s just the first step down a “slippery slope” toward something the target audience
opposes. ("If we let them ban smoking in
restaurants because it’s unhealthy, eventually they’ll ban fast food,
too." This argument
ignores the merits of banning smoking in restaurants.)
The Slippery slope technique is
commonly used in political debate,
because it’s easy to claim that a small step will lead to a result most people won’t like, even though small steps can lead in many directions.
Advanced persuasion techniques
Scapegoating
Extremely
powerful and very common in political speech, Scapegoating blames a problem on one person, group, race, religion, etc. Some people,
for example, claim that
undocumented (“illegal”) immigrants are the main cause
of unemployment in the United States, even though
unemployment is a complex problem with many causes. Scapegoating is a particularly dangerous form of the Simple
solution technique.