Five Key Questions Form the Foundation for Media Inquiry. Media Literacy Five Key Questions Form the Foundation for Media Inquiry.

Information for this PowerPoint was taken from: "Five Key Questions Form Foundation for Media Inquiry." Center for Media Literacy. 19 Sep. 2008 <http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article677.html>.

Key Concept #1 - Authorship All media messages are "constructed."

Key Concept #1 - Authorship Ask yourself: Who created this message?

Key Concept #1 - Authorship Whether we are watching the nightly news, passing a billboard on the street, or reading a political campaign flyer, the media message we experience was written by someone, images were captured and edited, and a creative team put it all together.

Key Concept #1 - Authorship Choices are made: words are edited out; dozens of pictures may have been rejected. As the audience, we don't get to see or hear the words, pictures or endings that were rejected.

Key Concept #1 - Authorship The result is that whatever is "constructed" by just a few people then becomes "normal" for the rest of us. The truth is, it's all fake - even the news.

Who Created This Message? Text of award-winning ad (which, in print form, is located in the white transparent box area at the bottom, along with the Surfrider logo): "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today. "Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, DGWB Wins Award for Surfrider Ad." Surfrider Foundation - Home Page. 22 Sep. 2008 <http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves3/announcement9.htm>.

Key Concept #2 -Format Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

Key Concept #2 - Format Ask yourself: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

Key Concept #2 -Format Explore the 'format' of a media message and examine the way a message is constructed.

Key Concept #2 -Format What creative components are used in putting it together: words, music, color, movement, camera angle?

Key Concept #2 -Format What do you notice… Shapes? Size? Sounds? Silence? Props, sets, clothing? Composition? Lighting?

Key Concept #2 -Format How is the story told visually? Where is the camera? What is the viewpoint? What are people doing? Are there any symbols? Visual metaphors?

Key Concept #2 -Format What's the emotional appeal? What persuasive devices are used? What makes it seem "real?"

Key Concept #2 -Format EXAMPLE: http://tvadsview.com/creepy-father-t-mobile-commercial/

"It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today.

What creative techniques are used? Text of award-winning ad (which, in print form, is located in the white transparent box area at the bottom, along with the Surfrider logo): "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today. "Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, DGWB Wins Award for Surfrider Ad." Surfrider Foundation - Home Page. 22 Sep. 2008 <http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves3/announcement9.htm>.

Key Concept #3 -Audience Different people experience the same media message differently.

Key Concept #3 -Audience Ask yourself: How might different people understand this message differently from me?

Key Concept #3 -Audience Each audience member brings to each media encounter a unique set of life experiences: age, gender, education, cultural upbringing, etc.

Key Concept #3 -Audience Our similarities are also important to understanding how media makers "target" different segments of the population in order to influence their opinion or, more typically, to sell them something.

Key Concept #3 -Audience Have you ever experienced anything like this in your life? How close is this portrayal to your experience? How many other interpretations could there be? How could we hear about them? Are other viewpoints just as valid as mine?

Who or what is the target audience? Text of award-winning ad (which, in print form, is located in the white transparent box area at the bottom, along with the Surfrider logo): "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today. "Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, DGWB Wins Award for Surfrider Ad." Surfrider Foundation - Home Page. 22 Sep. 2008 <http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves3/announcement9.htm>.

Key Concept #4 - Content Media have embedded values and points of view.

Key Concept #4 - Content Ask yourself: What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?

Key Concept #4 - Content It is important to understand that there are no value-free media and never will be. All media carry subtle messages about who and what is important.

Key Concept #4 - Content Sometimes, like us, media makers are careless and turn a generalization (a flexible observation) into a stereotype (a rigid conclusion).

Key Concept #4 - Content The values of mainstream media typically reinforce, and therefore, affirm, the existing social system.

Key Concept #4 - Content Two of the major complaints many people have about media: Less popular or new ideas rarely get aired, especially if they challenge long-standing assumptions or commonly-accepted beliefs; Unless challenged, old assumptions can create and perpetuate stereotypes, thus further limiting our understanding and appreciation of the world and the many possibilities of human life.

Key Concept #4 - Content What kinds of behaviors / consequences are depicted? What type of person is the reader / watcher / listener invited to identify with?

Key Concept #4 - Content What ideas or values are being "sold" to us in this message? What judgments or statements are made about how we treat other people?

Key Concept #4 - Content What ideas or perspectives are left out?

What lifestyles or values are represented in this ad? Text of award-winning ad (which, in print form, is located in the white transparent box area at the bottom, along with the Surfrider logo): "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today. "Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, DGWB Wins Award for Surfrider Ad." Surfrider Foundation - Home Page. 22 Sep. 2008 <http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves3/announcement9.htm>.

Key Concept #5 - Purpose Media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Ask yourself: Why is this message being sent? Key Concept #5 - Purpose Ask yourself: Why is this message being sent?

Key Concept #5 - Purpose Look at the motive or purpose of a media message - and whether or how a message may have been influenced by money, ego or ideology.

Why is this message being sent? Text of award-winning ad (which, in print form, is located in the white transparent box area at the bottom, along with the Surfrider logo): "It ain't pretty. Raw sewage. Oil spills. Medical waste. Our oceans have turned into a toxic wasteland and it's enough to make anyone, or anything, sick. Which is why we urge you to join the Surfrider Foundation, the organization whose main objective is to keep our beaches clean and safe for you and your family. Not to mention some pretty relieved shells. For more information, call 1-800-743-SURF, or hook up with us at www.surfrider.org today. "Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, DGWB Wins Award for Surfrider Ad." Surfrider Foundation - Home Page. 22 Sep. 2008 <http://www.surfrider.org/makingwaves/makingwaves3/announcement9.htm>.

Key Concept #5 - Purpose Many people do not know that what's really being sold through commercial media is not just the advertised products to the audience-but also the audience to the advertisers!

Key Concept #5 - Purpose The real purpose of the programs on television, or the articles in a magazine, is to create an audience (and put them in a receptive mood) so that the network or publisher can sell time or space to sponsors to advertise products.

We call this "renting eyeballs." Key Concept #5 - Purpose We call this "renting eyeballs." oxfordseo.com/blog/?p=455

Key Concept #5 - Purpose Since the Internet became an international platform, groups and organizations - even individuals - have ready access to powerful tools that can persuade others to a particular point of view, whether positive or negative.

Key Concept #5 - Purpose The Internet provides multiple reasons why all users need to be able to recognize propaganda, interpret rhetorical devices, verify sources and distinguish legitimate websites from bogus, hate or hoax websites.

Ask the Five Questions! Who created this message? What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? How might different people understand this message differently from me? What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? Why is this message being sent?

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