1. Mass Communication and Media Literacy
Chapter 13
Mass Communication and Media Literacy

2. Mass Media
Channels of mass communication – the means of transmitting messages to broad audiences
books, film, television, radio, newspapers, magazines

3. Social Media Means of connecting and interacting actively
cell phones, , PDAs, iPODs, MP3s, the Web, etc.

4. Media in Our Lives
The Media Continuum

5. Uses and Gratification Theory
We choose to attend to mass communication to gratify ourselves
People are active agents who make deliberate choices

6. Agenda Setting
Selecting and calling to the public’s attention ideas, events, and people
Media divert attention from some topics
Gatekeeper
a person or group that decides which messages pass through the gates of media to reach consumers

7. Cultivation Theory
Television promotes a worldview that is inaccurate but that viewers nonetheless assume reflects real life

8. Cultivation Theory (cont’d)
a cumulative process by which television fosters beliefs about social reality
Mainstreaming
Resonance

9. Ideological Control
Media function as tools to represent the dominant ideology in a culture as normal and right

10. Understanding Social Media
Blur production and consumption
Alter conceptions of space
Invite supersaturation
Encourage multitasking
Promote visual thinking

11. Media Literacy Understand the influence of media Access to media
Democratic Access
digital divide
Expose yourself to a range of media sources
Analyze media

12. Media Literacy (cont’d)
Critically evaluate media messages
puffery
Respond actively
Use mass communication consciously
Participate in decision making about media

13. Websites Citizens for Media Literacy Media Literacy Online Project
University of Oregon – Eugene
FAIR: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Society of Professional Journalists

14. More Websites Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children
American Academy of Pediatrics
Joint statement, Congressional Public Health Summit, July 26, 2000
American Society of Newspaper Editors