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Media Literacy
Media Imperialism Lash S, Urry J 1994 Economies of Signs and Space. Sage, London Leibes T, Katz E 1990 The Export of Meaning. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK Lerner D 1958 The Passing of Traditional Society. Free Press, New York Nordenstreng K, Varis T 1974 Television traffic—a one-way street? Reports and Papers on Mass Communication, No. 70 UNESCO, Paris Paterson C 1998 In: Boyd-Barrett O, Rantanen T (eds.) The Globalization of News. Sage, London Peoples Communication Charter 1999 http:\\www.tbsjournal. c o m \ A r c h i v e s \ S p r i n g 9 9 \ D o c u m e n t s\ Congress\CharterIintro\Charter\charter.html Schiller H 1969 Mass Communications and American Empire. A. M. Kelley, New York Schiller H 1976 Communication and Cultural Domination. International Arts and Sciences Press, White Plains, NY Sepstrup P, Goonasekura A 1994 TV transnationalization: Europe and Asia. Reports and Papers on Mass Communication. UNESCO, Paris Sinclair J, Jacka E, Cunningham S 1995 New Patterns in Global Teleision: Peripheral Vision. Oxford University Press, New York Sreberny-Mohammadi A 1996 The global and the local in international communication. In: Curran J, Gurevitch M (eds.) Mass Media and Society. Arnold, London, pp. 177–203 Sreberny-Mohammadi A 1997 The many cultural faces of imperialism. In: Golding P, Harris P (eds.) Beyond Cultural Imperialism. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 49–68 Sreberny-Mohammadi A, Nordenstreng K, Stevenson R, Ugboajah F 1985 Foreign news in the media: International reporting in 29 countries. Reports and Papers in Mass Communication. UNESCO, Paris, No. 90 Tomlinson J 1991 Cultural Imperialism, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD Tracey M 1988 Popular culture and the economics of global television. Intermedia 16: 2 Tunstall J 1977 The Media are American. Columbia University Press, New York Voices 21 1999 http:\\www.tbsjournal.com\Archives\ Spring99\Documents\Congress\congress.html Waisbord S 2000 Media in South America: Between the rock of the state and the hard place of the market. In: Curran J, Park M (eds.) De-Westernizing Media Studies. Routledge, London UNESCO 1980 Many Voices, One World. International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems. UNESCO, Paris
A. Sreberny
Media Literacy The core concept of ‘media literacy’ is intelligent engagement, as both a user and a creator, with media and technology. In Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Education in 1989 determined that media literacy is defined as that which is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques.
9494
More specifically, it is education that aims to increase students’ understanding and enjoyment of how media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. (cited in Tyner 1998, p. 119).
In the USA, where media literacy has generally not been part of the school curriculum, the Aspen Institute Leadership Conference on Media Literacy determined that Media literacy, the movement to expand notions of literacy to include the powerful post-print media that dominate our informational landscape, helps people understand, produce, and negotiate meanings in a culture made up of powerful images, words, and sounds. A media-literate person—everyone should have the opportunity to become one—can decode, evaluate, analyze, and produce both print and electronic media. (Aufderheide and Firestone 1993, p. 1).
Two other constructs are closely related to media literacy, sometimes used interchangeably with it, and prevalent in countries such as the UK, Australia, and Canada. ‘Media education’ is teaching about media, as distinguished from teaching with media. Ordinarily, media education emphasizes the acquisition both of cognitive knowledge about how media are produced and distributed and of analytic skills for interpreting and valuing media content. In contrast, ‘media studies’ ordinarily emphasizes hands-on experiences with media production. Both media education and media studies proponents intend to achieve media literacy goals through learning activities with young people. Appropriation of the term ‘literacy’ for media literacy has been criticized. Some believe it inaccurately glorifies this newer literacy by connecting it with the older, culturally valued reading and writing of text (or print literacy, alphabetic literacy, or simply literacy). Others argue that being literate connotes achieving a state in which one is a passive user rather than a lifelong learner and enthusiastic media participant. Media literacy proponents contend that the concept is and should be related to print literacy and depicts an active, not passive user: The media-literate person is a capable recipient and creator of content, understanding sociopolitical context, and using codes and representational systems effectively to live responsibly in society and the world at large.
1. Need for Media Literacy Media literacy, or media education, has been part of the scholarly literature since at least the 1950s. Then, as now, work has been stimulated by the realities of modern life. Media and technology are frequently used outside school and work. Much content is produced and used for entertainment more than information. Much is ‘low-brow’ popular culture. Much is visual or audiovisual rather than (or in addition to) text—the main representational system
Media Literacy taught in school. All is created and distributed within particular sociopolitical and economic systems; often, profit-making is a primary goal. People like much of what media and technology offer and much of what can be done with them. Very often people accept content uncritically, apparently without taking account of the contextual factors in production, distribution, and interpretation and, for younger people, without understanding how production processes can create seemingly realistic or accurate content. The confluence of these realities has motivated scholars, educators, and public intellectuals to conceptualize and advocate for media literacy. Today, in most developed countries, homes are full of media and technology. For example, a recent survey (Roberts et al. 1999) of a large nationally representative sample of US homes with children 2–18 years of age found the following: (a) 99 percent of the homes had at least one television, 97 percent had at least one VCR, 74 percent had cable or satellite, and 44 percent had premium cable; (b) 97 percent had at least one radio, 94 percent had at least one tape player, and 90 percent had at least one CD player; (c) 69 percent had at least one computer, 59 percent had at least one CD-ROM drive, and 45 percent had access to the Internet; and (d ) 70 percent had at least one videogame player. On average, children in these same homes were spending somewhat more than six hours a day in their own personal nonschool uses of media and technology. Usage time was quite unevenly distributed: (a) 42 percent with television and 13 percent more with other television-like media, (b) 22 percent with audio media, (c) 5 percent with computer technology, (d ) 5 percent with videogames, and (e) 12 percent with print media. Children’s usage patterns changed somewhat with age, with respect to total time invested in, and distribution of usage time among, different media and technology. There were also some variations according to other demographic characteristics. Overall, however, these differences were small enough to be considered variations on a theme rather than different themes. The USA may be among the most mediasaturated of cultures, but the general picture is not that different in other developed countries. Clearly, there is ample reason to argue that media literacy is needed in the USA and elsewhere. Theoretically, media literacy could be a relevant concept and goal for every culture that has any representational system whatsoever. In fact, media literacy work ordinarily focuses on postprint media and technology and the content they convey. Except in the USA, media literacy is prominent in almost all developed countries and typically part of formal schooling. It is probably more common in countries in
which media and technology purvey much popular culture and in those in which there is a marked presence of content originally produced elsewhere (most often, the USA).
2. Elements of Media Literacy As an area of scholarship, advocacy, and action, media literacy is to a notable degree contested terrain. However, there are a few agreed-upon fundamental facts (paraphrased from Aufderheide and Firestone 1993): (a) the content of media and technology is constructed; (b) the content is produced within economic, social, political, historical, and esthetic contexts that have influenced the production; (c) the interpretive meaning-making processes involved in content reception consist of an interaction among the user, the content, and the culture; (d ) media and technology have unique ‘languages,’ characteristics which typify various forms, genres, and symbol systems of communication; and (e) media and technology representations play a role in people’s understanding of social reality. Drawing on these facts, in something of a caricature, four ‘pure’ orientations can be found under the media literacy umbrella. As real people, media literacy leaders are a mix of these types, while typically favoring one orientation over the others or selfconsciously combining orientations. One orientation celebrates the richness that media and technology can bring to humankind. The production techniques, genres, and forms of media become the focus, along with storytelling and artistry. Film studies, arts-based curricula, and hands-on production predominate in media education designed from this orientation; production is typically an important part of the curriculum. It is an orientation that has been in the field for some time and is likely to continue. Another orientation reflects fear and dislike of media and technology. Content is believed to have powerful potential to affect the user. Most content (or most content that users select) is judged negatively. The very act of using the medium or technology may be addictive. In this orientation, media literacy goals become those of protecting or ‘inoculating’ users. Much media literacy work in the 1970s reflected this orientation, at least to some extent. Not so today. Yet another orientation takes a more agnostic position about media and technology. Both good and bad uses and content exist; what is good and bad may vary among individuals and circumstances. Media literacy becomes self-awareness, good taste, good choices, interpretive tools and skills, an evaluative stance toward all content, and self-determination as both a user and creator of media and technology. 9495
Media Literacy A final orientation reflects the recognition that cultural forces are at work with media and technology, privileging the views and welfare of some groups over other groups. Media literacy is participation in expanding the voices and visions available in media and technology and active resistance to any hegemonic influences. The dominant theoretical paradigm in this orientation is critical theory or cultural studies. A critical component of media literacy is interpreting and creating messages conveyed in various ‘languages.’ Of these, the visual elements found in print, film, television, computers, and other media and technology have received the most attention. Visual literacy is needed to interpret, create, and control the effects of images—images alone and images combined with words; images one receives and images one creates. Particularly when images are realistic, as in much photography, film, and television, the naı$ ve user may not realize how much these images too are constructed and must be interpreted. Visual literacy has a long history of its own, coming out of photography and film.
3. Relationship to Information Literacy Although media literacy is broadly defined, work has tended to emphasize popular audiovisual media such as film and television. Recently, as use of computerbased technologies, the Internet, and the World Wide Web has increased, a related literacy, information literacy, has gained prominence. Whereas proponents of media literacy (including visual literacy and media education) come primarily from the fields of communications, media studies, the arts, education, and cultural studies, the most vigorous proponents of information literacy have been librarians and other information professionals. The American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy wrote: ‘to be information-literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information’ (American Library Association 1989, p.1) At first glance, this short definition seems quite similar to a short definition for media literacy. Closer examination reveals notable distinctions. Information literacy assumes that one has an identified information need; media literacy does not. Media literacy issues apply when one is engaged with media and technology idly, for relaxation and for fun, as well as intentionally to learn something. Moreover, in contrast to information literacy, media literacy makes much of the fact that the content one encounters or creates is problematic and merits intelligent, critical engagement. Furthermore, that content utilizes a variety of representational systems that one needs to learn to interpret and utilize. Despite these differences, there are as well many similarities in the two modern-day literacies and several efforts to connect together. 9496
4. Issues and Problems The incomplete integration of various orientations into a cohesive conceptualization of media literacy is one issue or problem in the field. Beyond the basic facts presented earlier, conceptual differences abound. Differences can be productive, but many believe the field would benefit from a more coherent conceptualization, which would then support more cohesive advocacy and education efforts. Another problem arises from the fact that much media literacy work is action-oriented, developing media literacy goals and curricula, providing media education. With the exception of work in cultural studies and critical theory, there is too little scholarly and research-based understanding of what media literacy is and how it functions. Furthermore, too few media education programs have been seriously evaluated so that successful approaches can be replicated and less successful approaches improved. Finally, the field has done little to move from the user side of the equation to the medium side, to examine how media and technology themselves can promote media literacy via their system and\or content characteristics. See also: Advertising: Effects; Audiences; Electronic Democracy; Entertainment; Literacy and Illiteracy, History of; Literacy Education; Media Effects; Media Effects on Children; Media Ethics; Media Imperialism; Media, Uses of; Printing as a Medium; Television: History
Bibliography American Library Association 1989 Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. American Library Association, Chicago Aufderheide P, Firestone C 1993 Media Literacy: A Report of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. The Aspen Institute, Queenstown, MD Bazalgette C, Bevort E, Saviano J (eds.) 1992 New Directions: Media Education Worldwide. British Film Institute, London Brunner C, Tally W 1999 The New Media Literacy Handbook. Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York Buckingham D, Sefton-Green J 1994 Cultural Studies Goes to School: Reading and Teaching Popular Media. Taylor & Francis, London Considine D M, Haley G E 1999 Visual Messages: Integrating Imagery into Instruction. A Media Literacy Resource for Teachers, 2nd edn. Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, CO Duncan B, D’Ippolito J, McPherson C, Wilson C 1996 Mass Media and Popular Culture, version 2. Harcourt Brace, Toronto, Canada Giroux H A, Simon R L 1989 Popular Culture, Schooling and Eeryday Life. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, Toronto, Canada Kellner D 1995 Media Culture. Routledge, London Kubey R (ed.) 1997 Media Literacy in the Information Age. Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ Masterman L 1985 Teaching the Media. Comedia, London Masterman L, Mariet F 1994 Media Education in 1990s Europe: A Teachers’ Guide. Manhattan Publishing, Croton, NY
Media, Uses of McLaren P, Hammer R, Sholle D, Reilly S 1995 Rethinking Media Literacy: A Critical Pedagogy of Representation. Peter Lang, New York Messaris P 1994 Visual ‘Literacy’: Image, Mind and Reality. Westview Press, Boulder, CO Moore D M, Dwyer F M (eds.) 1994 Visual Literacy: A Spectrum of Visual Learning. Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Quin R, Aparici R (eds.) 1996 Media education. Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture 9(2) (whole issue) Roberts D F, Foehr U G, Rideout V J, Brodie M 1999 Kids & Media in The New Millenium. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, CA Symposium: Media literacy 1998 Journal of Communication 48(1): 5–120 Tyner K 1998 Literacy in a Digital World: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Information. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
performed by existing media. This is referred to as ‘functional equivalence’ (Weiss 1969). Unless individuals devote more overall time to media use, time spent on older media must be displaced. Some researchers argue that overall media time tends to remain constant so that displacement is likely if new media become popular (Wober 1989). To the extent that a new medium like television performs the entertainment function in a way that is more compelling and attractive (than existing media like radio, magazines, movies, or print fiction), according to this ‘functional equivalence’ argument those earlier media will suffer losses of audience time and attention. Time displacement is becoming a central concern in research on Internet use, as researchers seek to gauge its potential to displace use of TV, radio, or newspapers.
A. Dorr Copyright # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Media, Uses of Mass media (mainly TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, and now Internet) have been found to perform a variety of ‘functions’ for the audiences who use them (Wright 1974). Among the major controversies in the literature on media use (which is limited by most research reviewed below having been conducted in the USA) is the question of how much each medium’s content informs rather than simply entertains its audience. Television is often assumed to serve primarily as an entertainment medium while print media are looked to for information. The information vs. entertainment distinction may overlook more long-term uses and subtler or latent impacts, such as when media content is used as a stimulus for subsequent conversation or for consumer purchases. Such latter impacts also can affect longerrange cultural values and beliefs, such as fostering materialism or the belief that commercial products can solve personal problems. The media may also perform interrelated information or entertainment ‘functions,’ as when viewers learn headline information about a news story on television, but then seek in-depth information from newspapers or magazines. Much literature has been devoted to studying the diffusion of stories of landmark events (Budd et al. 1966), such as the Kennedy assassination or the death of Princess Diana—or the audience response to events created for the media themselves (e.g., Roots, Kennedy–Nixon and other presidential debates). There is also the more general question of how the various media complement, compete with, or displace each other to perform these functions, particularly in terms of user or audience time. As each new medium is introduced, it performs functions similar to those
1. Methods Media use issues raise various questions about study methodology and measurement, since research results can vary depending on the methods used. For example, people’s media use can be measured by electronic meters attached to their TVs (or computers), by ‘beepers’ attached to the person’s clothing, by inperson or video monitoring, or by simply asking these people questions about their media use. Survey questions generally have the value of being more flexible, more global, and more economical than monitoring equipment, but there are problems of respondent reliability and validity. Long-range usage questions (e.g., ‘How many hours of TV did you watch in a typical week?’) may reveal more about a respondent’s typical patterns, but they are limited by that person’s memory or recall. Shorter-range questions (e.g., ‘How many hours of TV did you watch yesterday?’) appear to overcome these problems, but the day may not be typical of long-range usage. There is evidence that in the shorter range, complete time diaries of all the activities the person did on the prior day may be needed to capture the full extent of media use engaged in; an example of the power of the diary approach to reflect the full extent of media impact is given in Fig. 1. In much the same way, different results are obtained when different types of questions are asked about the ways and purposes for which the media are used and how media usage has affected audiences. Thus different results are obtained when one asks respondents which news medium has informed them most compared to a more ‘microbehavioral’ approach, in which respondents are asked actual information questions and these answers are then correlated with the extent of each medium used (Davis and Robinson 1989)—or when respondents are asked to keep an information log of each new piece of information obtained and where\how it was obtained. 9497
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
ISBN: 0-08-043076-7
A. Sreberny
Media Literacy The core concept of ‘media literacy’ is intelligent engagement, as both a user and a creator, with media and technology. In Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Education in 1989 determined that media literacy is defined as that which is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques.
9494
More specifically, it is education that aims to increase students’ understanding and enjoyment of how media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. (cited in Tyner 1998, p. 119).
In the USA, where media literacy has generally not been part of the school curriculum, the Aspen Institute Leadership Conference on Media Literacy determined that Media literacy, the movement to expand notions of literacy to include the powerful post-print media that dominate our informational landscape, helps people understand, produce, and negotiate meanings in a culture made up of powerful images, words, and sounds. A media-literate person—everyone should have the opportunity to become one—can decode, evaluate, analyze, and produce both print and electronic media. (Aufderheide and Firestone 1993, p. 1).
Two other constructs are closely related to media literacy, sometimes used interchangeably with it, and prevalent in countries such as the UK, Australia, and Canada. ‘Media education’ is teaching about media, as distinguished from teaching with media. Ordinarily, media education emphasizes the acquisition both of cognitive knowledge about how media are produced and distributed and of analytic skills for interpreting and valuing media content. In contrast, ‘media studies’ ordinarily emphasizes hands-on experiences with media production. Both media education and media studies proponents intend to achieve media literacy goals through learning activities with young people. Appropriation of the term ‘literacy’ for media literacy has been criticized. Some believe it inaccurately glorifies this newer literacy by connecting it with the older, culturally valued reading and writing of text (or print literacy, alphabetic literacy, or simply literacy). Others argue that being literate connotes achieving a state in which one is a passive user rather than a lifelong learner and enthusiastic media participant. Media literacy proponents contend that the concept is and should be related to print literacy and depicts an active, not passive user: The media-literate person is a capable recipient and creator of content, understanding sociopolitical context, and using codes and representational systems effectively to live responsibly in society and the world at large.
1. Need for Media Literacy Media literacy, or media education, has been part of the scholarly literature since at least the 1950s. Then, as now, work has been stimulated by the realities of modern life. Media and technology are frequently used outside school and work. Much content is produced and used for entertainment more than information. Much is ‘low-brow’ popular culture. Much is visual or audiovisual rather than (or in addition to) text—the main representational system
Media Literacy taught in school. All is created and distributed within particular sociopolitical and economic systems; often, profit-making is a primary goal. People like much of what media and technology offer and much of what can be done with them. Very often people accept content uncritically, apparently without taking account of the contextual factors in production, distribution, and interpretation and, for younger people, without understanding how production processes can create seemingly realistic or accurate content. The confluence of these realities has motivated scholars, educators, and public intellectuals to conceptualize and advocate for media literacy. Today, in most developed countries, homes are full of media and technology. For example, a recent survey (Roberts et al. 1999) of a large nationally representative sample of US homes with children 2–18 years of age found the following: (a) 99 percent of the homes had at least one television, 97 percent had at least one VCR, 74 percent had cable or satellite, and 44 percent had premium cable; (b) 97 percent had at least one radio, 94 percent had at least one tape player, and 90 percent had at least one CD player; (c) 69 percent had at least one computer, 59 percent had at least one CD-ROM drive, and 45 percent had access to the Internet; and (d ) 70 percent had at least one videogame player. On average, children in these same homes were spending somewhat more than six hours a day in their own personal nonschool uses of media and technology. Usage time was quite unevenly distributed: (a) 42 percent with television and 13 percent more with other television-like media, (b) 22 percent with audio media, (c) 5 percent with computer technology, (d ) 5 percent with videogames, and (e) 12 percent with print media. Children’s usage patterns changed somewhat with age, with respect to total time invested in, and distribution of usage time among, different media and technology. There were also some variations according to other demographic characteristics. Overall, however, these differences were small enough to be considered variations on a theme rather than different themes. The USA may be among the most mediasaturated of cultures, but the general picture is not that different in other developed countries. Clearly, there is ample reason to argue that media literacy is needed in the USA and elsewhere. Theoretically, media literacy could be a relevant concept and goal for every culture that has any representational system whatsoever. In fact, media literacy work ordinarily focuses on postprint media and technology and the content they convey. Except in the USA, media literacy is prominent in almost all developed countries and typically part of formal schooling. It is probably more common in countries in
which media and technology purvey much popular culture and in those in which there is a marked presence of content originally produced elsewhere (most often, the USA).
2. Elements of Media Literacy As an area of scholarship, advocacy, and action, media literacy is to a notable degree contested terrain. However, there are a few agreed-upon fundamental facts (paraphrased from Aufderheide and Firestone 1993): (a) the content of media and technology is constructed; (b) the content is produced within economic, social, political, historical, and esthetic contexts that have influenced the production; (c) the interpretive meaning-making processes involved in content reception consist of an interaction among the user, the content, and the culture; (d ) media and technology have unique ‘languages,’ characteristics which typify various forms, genres, and symbol systems of communication; and (e) media and technology representations play a role in people’s understanding of social reality. Drawing on these facts, in something of a caricature, four ‘pure’ orientations can be found under the media literacy umbrella. As real people, media literacy leaders are a mix of these types, while typically favoring one orientation over the others or selfconsciously combining orientations. One orientation celebrates the richness that media and technology can bring to humankind. The production techniques, genres, and forms of media become the focus, along with storytelling and artistry. Film studies, arts-based curricula, and hands-on production predominate in media education designed from this orientation; production is typically an important part of the curriculum. It is an orientation that has been in the field for some time and is likely to continue. Another orientation reflects fear and dislike of media and technology. Content is believed to have powerful potential to affect the user. Most content (or most content that users select) is judged negatively. The very act of using the medium or technology may be addictive. In this orientation, media literacy goals become those of protecting or ‘inoculating’ users. Much media literacy work in the 1970s reflected this orientation, at least to some extent. Not so today. Yet another orientation takes a more agnostic position about media and technology. Both good and bad uses and content exist; what is good and bad may vary among individuals and circumstances. Media literacy becomes self-awareness, good taste, good choices, interpretive tools and skills, an evaluative stance toward all content, and self-determination as both a user and creator of media and technology. 9495
Media Literacy A final orientation reflects the recognition that cultural forces are at work with media and technology, privileging the views and welfare of some groups over other groups. Media literacy is participation in expanding the voices and visions available in media and technology and active resistance to any hegemonic influences. The dominant theoretical paradigm in this orientation is critical theory or cultural studies. A critical component of media literacy is interpreting and creating messages conveyed in various ‘languages.’ Of these, the visual elements found in print, film, television, computers, and other media and technology have received the most attention. Visual literacy is needed to interpret, create, and control the effects of images—images alone and images combined with words; images one receives and images one creates. Particularly when images are realistic, as in much photography, film, and television, the naı$ ve user may not realize how much these images too are constructed and must be interpreted. Visual literacy has a long history of its own, coming out of photography and film.
3. Relationship to Information Literacy Although media literacy is broadly defined, work has tended to emphasize popular audiovisual media such as film and television. Recently, as use of computerbased technologies, the Internet, and the World Wide Web has increased, a related literacy, information literacy, has gained prominence. Whereas proponents of media literacy (including visual literacy and media education) come primarily from the fields of communications, media studies, the arts, education, and cultural studies, the most vigorous proponents of information literacy have been librarians and other information professionals. The American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy wrote: ‘to be information-literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information’ (American Library Association 1989, p.1) At first glance, this short definition seems quite similar to a short definition for media literacy. Closer examination reveals notable distinctions. Information literacy assumes that one has an identified information need; media literacy does not. Media literacy issues apply when one is engaged with media and technology idly, for relaxation and for fun, as well as intentionally to learn something. Moreover, in contrast to information literacy, media literacy makes much of the fact that the content one encounters or creates is problematic and merits intelligent, critical engagement. Furthermore, that content utilizes a variety of representational systems that one needs to learn to interpret and utilize. Despite these differences, there are as well many similarities in the two modern-day literacies and several efforts to connect together. 9496
4. Issues and Problems The incomplete integration of various orientations into a cohesive conceptualization of media literacy is one issue or problem in the field. Beyond the basic facts presented earlier, conceptual differences abound. Differences can be productive, but many believe the field would benefit from a more coherent conceptualization, which would then support more cohesive advocacy and education efforts. Another problem arises from the fact that much media literacy work is action-oriented, developing media literacy goals and curricula, providing media education. With the exception of work in cultural studies and critical theory, there is too little scholarly and research-based understanding of what media literacy is and how it functions. Furthermore, too few media education programs have been seriously evaluated so that successful approaches can be replicated and less successful approaches improved. Finally, the field has done little to move from the user side of the equation to the medium side, to examine how media and technology themselves can promote media literacy via their system and\or content characteristics. See also: Advertising: Effects; Audiences; Electronic Democracy; Entertainment; Literacy and Illiteracy, History of; Literacy Education; Media Effects; Media Effects on Children; Media Ethics; Media Imperialism; Media, Uses of; Printing as a Medium; Television: History
Bibliography American Library Association 1989 Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. American Library Association, Chicago Aufderheide P, Firestone C 1993 Media Literacy: A Report of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. The Aspen Institute, Queenstown, MD Bazalgette C, Bevort E, Saviano J (eds.) 1992 New Directions: Media Education Worldwide. British Film Institute, London Brunner C, Tally W 1999 The New Media Literacy Handbook. Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York Buckingham D, Sefton-Green J 1994 Cultural Studies Goes to School: Reading and Teaching Popular Media. Taylor & Francis, London Considine D M, Haley G E 1999 Visual Messages: Integrating Imagery into Instruction. A Media Literacy Resource for Teachers, 2nd edn. Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, CO Duncan B, D’Ippolito J, McPherson C, Wilson C 1996 Mass Media and Popular Culture, version 2. Harcourt Brace, Toronto, Canada Giroux H A, Simon R L 1989 Popular Culture, Schooling and Eeryday Life. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Press, Toronto, Canada Kellner D 1995 Media Culture. Routledge, London Kubey R (ed.) 1997 Media Literacy in the Information Age. Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ Masterman L 1985 Teaching the Media. Comedia, London Masterman L, Mariet F 1994 Media Education in 1990s Europe: A Teachers’ Guide. Manhattan Publishing, Croton, NY
Media, Uses of McLaren P, Hammer R, Sholle D, Reilly S 1995 Rethinking Media Literacy: A Critical Pedagogy of Representation. Peter Lang, New York Messaris P 1994 Visual ‘Literacy’: Image, Mind and Reality. Westview Press, Boulder, CO Moore D M, Dwyer F M (eds.) 1994 Visual Literacy: A Spectrum of Visual Learning. Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Quin R, Aparici R (eds.) 1996 Media education. Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture 9(2) (whole issue) Roberts D F, Foehr U G, Rideout V J, Brodie M 1999 Kids & Media in The New Millenium. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, CA Symposium: Media literacy 1998 Journal of Communication 48(1): 5–120 Tyner K 1998 Literacy in a Digital World: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Information. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
performed by existing media. This is referred to as ‘functional equivalence’ (Weiss 1969). Unless individuals devote more overall time to media use, time spent on older media must be displaced. Some researchers argue that overall media time tends to remain constant so that displacement is likely if new media become popular (Wober 1989). To the extent that a new medium like television performs the entertainment function in a way that is more compelling and attractive (than existing media like radio, magazines, movies, or print fiction), according to this ‘functional equivalence’ argument those earlier media will suffer losses of audience time and attention. Time displacement is becoming a central concern in research on Internet use, as researchers seek to gauge its potential to displace use of TV, radio, or newspapers.
A. Dorr Copyright # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Media, Uses of Mass media (mainly TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, and now Internet) have been found to perform a variety of ‘functions’ for the audiences who use them (Wright 1974). Among the major controversies in the literature on media use (which is limited by most research reviewed below having been conducted in the USA) is the question of how much each medium’s content informs rather than simply entertains its audience. Television is often assumed to serve primarily as an entertainment medium while print media are looked to for information. The information vs. entertainment distinction may overlook more long-term uses and subtler or latent impacts, such as when media content is used as a stimulus for subsequent conversation or for consumer purchases. Such latter impacts also can affect longerrange cultural values and beliefs, such as fostering materialism or the belief that commercial products can solve personal problems. The media may also perform interrelated information or entertainment ‘functions,’ as when viewers learn headline information about a news story on television, but then seek in-depth information from newspapers or magazines. Much literature has been devoted to studying the diffusion of stories of landmark events (Budd et al. 1966), such as the Kennedy assassination or the death of Princess Diana—or the audience response to events created for the media themselves (e.g., Roots, Kennedy–Nixon and other presidential debates). There is also the more general question of how the various media complement, compete with, or displace each other to perform these functions, particularly in terms of user or audience time. As each new medium is introduced, it performs functions similar to those
1. Methods Media use issues raise various questions about study methodology and measurement, since research results can vary depending on the methods used. For example, people’s media use can be measured by electronic meters attached to their TVs (or computers), by ‘beepers’ attached to the person’s clothing, by inperson or video monitoring, or by simply asking these people questions about their media use. Survey questions generally have the value of being more flexible, more global, and more economical than monitoring equipment, but there are problems of respondent reliability and validity. Long-range usage questions (e.g., ‘How many hours of TV did you watch in a typical week?’) may reveal more about a respondent’s typical patterns, but they are limited by that person’s memory or recall. Shorter-range questions (e.g., ‘How many hours of TV did you watch yesterday?’) appear to overcome these problems, but the day may not be typical of long-range usage. There is evidence that in the shorter range, complete time diaries of all the activities the person did on the prior day may be needed to capture the full extent of media use engaged in; an example of the power of the diary approach to reflect the full extent of media impact is given in Fig. 1. In much the same way, different results are obtained when different types of questions are asked about the ways and purposes for which the media are used and how media usage has affected audiences. Thus different results are obtained when one asks respondents which news medium has informed them most compared to a more ‘microbehavioral’ approach, in which respondents are asked actual information questions and these answers are then correlated with the extent of each medium used (Davis and Robinson 1989)—or when respondents are asked to keep an information log of each new piece of information obtained and where\how it was obtained. 9497
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
ISBN: 0-08-043076-7