Responses to Teaching Media Literacy

My media studies students have to keep a reflective journal, with at least ten entries, added over a 17 week semester. They can use their journals to prepare for the exam question,  which follows. I have posted responses from a Grade 12 girl and a Grade 12 boy. Both granted permission for this post, but I will not release their names.

-0- 

The goal of this class was to help you become more “media literate.”

What is meant by “media literate?”

How have you become so?

What have you learned about the media this year?

LL, female, age 17

Learning how media works; watching ads days after day. Seeing all the product placements, knowing the characters such as the Green Giant, or Rocky and Bullwinkle, or Pillsbury Doughboy are selling us things we might not ordinarily need. Singing theme songs to TV shows. Looking at Logos and being part of the revolution on how ads are becoming more and more a part of our lives.

With all the ads there comes some issues, such as how ads exploit women, make us feel we need to look and act in a certain way. Or how men are supposed to be strong, heroic and tough. To live in this world we need to become media literate. By being media literate we are able to understand how the ads work or how they effect us. Such as product placement promoting the brand Coke, or when we see a movie star drinking it, we feel we should too.

We learned about the rule of thirds. We learned that everything on Tv is laid out so perfectly. That TV always wraps up issues in the third act, which is not life.

We learned about ads, for instance, that Kool ad with the female in the car, leaving her driver friend who is pumping gas, for another man because he smokes the right kind of cigarette. We learned how ads use different colours to grab your attention, but the messages can be contradictory. Cigarettes use the colour green but green is supposed to be a signal of healthiness, and nature. By being media literate we are able to not buy into what the ads are trying to sell us. Not everything we see on TV is trying to trick us, we do have some important messages on TV. PSA’s don’t sell us things they sell us values, for instance.

I believe I have become more media literate. I’m noting more and more how much ads affect us or that we see 3, 000 ads per day. I learned about colours, and that red is the best colour for passion, and spontaneous purchases. We created PSA’s that we came up with, that were teens talking to teens.

Media studies also matured my thinking about TV and really gave me another viewpoint of how I should look at things.

There is a lot to learn about media and I believe this class has helped me understand more things than I ever thought about. Maybe now when I see the House Hippo [A popular Canadian PSA from Concerned Children’s Advertisers] I’ll find more meaning in it instead of trying to buy one. 

-0-

TM, male, age 17

I have learned a lot in this class this term. I learned about TV, radio, advertisements, Internet and music. The course has really to me to think more critically and I believe now I am more media literate. What I mean is I am now able to understand the media.

Whenever I am watching TV I notice the rule of thirds, it is kind of annoying because it distracts me from enjoying the show. I have also noticed how many edits there are in a music video. I was running on the treadmill and had to turn the TV off because the quick edits were hurting my eyes. I have also noticed how some companies try and sell sex. I would normally think this must work but now I know it is just a way of selling their product.

I have also learned about the CRTC. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. This controls what us as Canadians see and hear through the media. I think all young people should know that Canadian radio stations must play a certain percentage of Canadian music. I believe this is important because it helps us keep our identity as Canadians.

Overall, I have learned a lot of new things that will stick with me. If I do not pick a career in media studies I still believe this course is helpful. Media has a great influence on our lives and you need to be media literate. I would suggest this class to others because it helps you to think critically and it helps you to understand the media.