Final Project: Media Literacy Crisis PSA

Annotated Bibliography

Lewin, T. (2010, January 20). If your kids are awake, they're probably online. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20wired.html

Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices…And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones. And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours.

Hobbs, R. (1998). The seven great debates in the media literacy movement. Journal of Communication, 16. Retrieved from http://myweb.wwu.edu/karlberg/444/readings/sevendebates.pdf

Students [need] practice analyzing the texts that are part of their ordinary viewing experience. If children can be taught to deconstruct media texts, the magic mantra goes, then they won't be taken in by the fantasy, seduced by the violence, or manipulated by commercial ploys. Media education, in this scenario, is the pedagogic equivalent of a tetanus shot.

nb5619. (2010, October 25). Learn critical thinking through media literacy education [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://medialiteracycolloquium.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/learn-critical-thinking-through-media-literacy-education/

Her book applies critical thinking to five media literacy questions (Summers, 2005, pp. 8-9):

1)    Who created the message? – This helps students think about the author, his/her point of view, and the intended audience.

2)    What is the message? – “Thinking skills include investigation of writing style, word choice, and image; determination of whether the message is fact or opinion, fiction or nonfiction” and more.

3)    How was the message delivered? – This can focus on the context and genre of the message and how it captures audience attention.

4)    What is the impact of the message on me? – This involves personal reflection, helping students judge the reliability of the message.

5)    What is the impact of the message on society? – This helps students to “draw conclusions, make inferences, predict, and judge the worth of a message.”

It is beneficial to all participating: students develop critical thinking skills and learn about media literacy; students use their critical thinking skills to score higher on standardized tests; school districts therefore have stronger test scores and more government funding. It is a cycle that teachers must take part in. Rather than teaching facts, teachers can use Lockwood’s ideas to give students something more valuable than good test scores; they can impart critical thinking skills through media literacy education.

Worsnop, C. M. (1989). Media literacy through critical thinking. Ontario: Queen’s Printer.Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/nwmedia/sections/nw_center/curriculum_docs/stud_combine.pdf

Here is a partial list of media:

ß Movies, radio, video, television, theater, recorded music

ß Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, advertising, comic books

ß Computer software, video games, the Internet

The following are examples of media texts in popular culture:

ß Coffee shops, including the pictures, posters, room layout, even the logos on

their products;

ß Sports events, including all the souvenirs used to promote and celebrate

sports and sports personalities.

Media Literacy Project. (n.d.). Language of persuasion. Retrieved from http://medialiteracyproject.org/language-persuasion

The goal of most media messages is to persuade the audience to believe or do something. Hollywood movies use expensive special effects to make us believe that what we’re seeing is real. News stories use several techniques – such as direct quotation of identified sources – to make us believe that the story is accurate.

The media messages most concerned with persuading us are found in advertising, public relations and advocacy. Commercial advertising tries to persuade us to buy a product or service. Public relations (PR) "sells" us a positive image of a corporation, government or organization. Politicians and advocacy groups (groups that support a particular belief, point of view, policy, or action) try to persuade us to vote for or support them, using ads, speeches, newsletters, websites, and other means. These "persuaders" use a variety of techniques to grab our attention, to establish credibility and trust, to stimulate desire for the product or policy, and to motivate us to act (buy, vote, give money, etc.) We call these techniques the "language of persuasion.”

They’re not new; Aristotle wrote about persuasion techniques more than 2000 years ago, and they’ve been used by speakers, writers, and media makers for even longer than that. Learning the language of persuasion is an important media literacy skill. Once you know how media messages try to persuade you to believe or do something, you’ll be better able to make your own decisions.

Some persuasive techniques are:

1.       Bandwagon

2.       Celebrity

3.       Experts

4.       Repetition

5.       Testimonials, and so on