AAS 205/ETHS 220/AAS 680
Eric Mar - 9/11/02
9-11 and
7 Media Literacy & Personal Worldview points &
discussion Questions
Materials adopted from FAIR http://www.fair.org , MediaChannel.org http://www.mediachannel.org , Ontario
Ministry of Education (1989) Media Literacy Resources Guide: Intermediate and
Senior Divisions.
ASSIGNMENT - FOR 9/16 week – class group discussions –
From 9-11 commemoration-related news coverage or adverstising:
Select 1 newspaper/magazine clipping or copy of one that is an example of 1 of the 7 media literacy points below.
Select 1 newspaper/magazine clipping or copy of one that is an example of 1 of the 8 Ways to Detect Bias below.
Staple together and write your name at
the top and bring to class on Wed and Fri for class discussion and to turn in.
7 MEDIA LITERACY FUNDAMENTALS:
![[un01.jpg (7k)]](./medialiteracy_files/image002.gif)
ALL MEDIA ARE
CONSTRUCTIONS
THE
MEDIA CONSTRUCT REALITY & SHAPE OUR INDIVIDUAL WORLDVIEWS
AUDIENCES
NEGOTIATE MEANING IN MEDIA
MEDIA HAVE
COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS
MEDIA
CONTAIN IDEOLOGICAL MESSAGES & VALUE MESSAGES
MEDIA
HAVE SOCIAL & POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
FORM
AND CONTENT ARE CLOSELY RELATED IN THE MEDIA & THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY
MEDIA
1. ALL MEDIA ARE CONSTRUCTIONS.
Media are not simple reflections of external reality, they are diced, spliced, cut, edited, and neatly package into an apparent naturalness.
1. Review the Mainstream [TV news, SF Chronicle, etc.] coverage of 9-11 anniversary events. What is reported and what that you know of is not reported or ‘buried’ in the back pages?
2. What images are common in mainstream reporting of 9-11 commemorations?
2. THE MEDIA CONSTRUCT
REALITY & SHAPE OUR INDIVIDUAL WORLDVIEWS
All of us have a "construct" of what the world is and how it works. It is a model, based on our experiences and observations. When, however, a major part of those observations and experiences come to us preconstructed and interpreted through media, with attitudes and conclusions built in, then the media, rather than ourselves, are constructing our reality. Our worldviews are the lenses we see the world through. They are largely based on our own experiences but are also shaped by our ‘education’ and the mass media. It is crucial to see what dominant worldview exists in the U.S. and discuss how we can more proactively develop our own healthy worldviews.
1. How do you think your perceptions of the world [your ‘worldview’] are shaped by the mainstream media [news, images, textbooks, popular culture producers like Disney, the Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc.]?
2. SELF DEFENSE - What are ways in which you currently ‘protect yourself’ from being manipulated by mainstream media? What are other ways people can develop more insightful ‘worldviews’?
3. AUDIENCES NEGOTIATE MEANING IN MEDIA.
Each of us finds meaning in media through a wide variety of factors: personal needs and anxieties, racial and sexual attitudes, family and cultural background. All of these have a bearing on how we process media.
1. When trying to keep up to date with news [local and national] what media sources do you find yourself ‘pulled’ towards? In other words, which ones are you finding yourself using more than others? Why do you think you choose these media sources?
2. With regard to 9-11 commemorations news, etc. which sources of media are you relying upon? Why are you choosing to use these sources?
4. MEDIA HAVE COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS.
We should be aware that, for all practical purposes, media production is a business and must make a profit. In the case of the television industry, for example, all programs- news, public affairs, or entertainment must be judged by the size of the audience they generate. Issues of ownership, control and related effects should also be explored. Is it right if only one person owns all of a country's newspapers? Should major movie producers be allowed to expand vertically (ie own the theatres, as well as film companies and distribution companies)?
1. Who/what owns the media businesses that you rely upon for information?
2. What impact does the background of the corporations/individuals who own the media sources you rely upon have on what and how the news is covered?
5. MEDIA CONTAIN IDEOLOGICAL MESSAGES AND VALUE MESSAGES.
All media products are advertising in some sense - both for themselves and for values or ways of life.
1. In the post-9-11 context, explain how you think specific values and belief systems are being promoted in the mainstream news reporting you have seen.
2. From what you have seen, how are Palestinians portrayed in the mainstream press? Why do you think they are portrayed in this light?
3. How have Asian people been portrayed historically during wartime – WWII, Korean War, Viet Nam war?
4. Are Arab and Muslim people being portrayed in a similar light today?
6. MEDIA HAVE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS.
Although media may not be directly responsible for creating values and attitudes, they serve to legitimize and reinforce them. The mass media often become the matrix with in which young people define their relationships to their popular culture, as well as their friends. Also, media today are closely linked with politics and social change. An effective television campaign can elect a government leader.
1. Why do you think the mainstream press and news media are now [this week] releasing the info that IRAQ ‘may’ have access to nuclear technology?
2. How do you think the 100’s of hate crimes [including killings and beatings] directed toward Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans in the aftermath of 9-11 have been fueled by the mainstream media portrayals of these groups?
3. Are there other institutions besides the media that are also partially responsible?
4. How do you think seeing more images of the U.S. flag and hearing songs like “god bless America” over and over again impacts us? How do you think it impacts younger children?
7. FORM AND CONTENT ARE CLOSELY RELATED IN THE MEDIA & THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY MEDIA
Each medium has its own grammar and codifies reality in its own unique way. Thus, different mediums will report different messages and different impressions of the same event. Consider the differences between hearing a radio newscast, and then watching that newscast on T.V. What will be different, and why?
1. What are some key alternative forms of media that you have used to better educate yourself?
2. In what ways do you think radio news might be more informative than TV news? What are the drawbacks to radio as opposed to TV news?
3. How can hip hop music and other forms of youth art and culture be used to help educate young folk to develop stronger self-identity and a better understanding of community and the world?
4. In what ways that you know of have Asian Americans historically expressed themselves and told their own stories outside of the mainstream press and media? How have you, if at all, contributed to community art and media?
8 Ways to Detect Bias in the
News
From the Media Awareness Network - Excerpted from Newskit: A Consumer's Guide to News Media, by The Learning Seed Co.
At one time or another we all complain about "bias in the news." The fact is, despite the journalistic ideal of "objectivity," every news story is influenced by the attitudes and background of its interviewers, writers, photographers and editors. Not all bias is deliberate. But we can become more aware news readers or viewers by watching for the following journalistic techniques that allow bias to "creep in" to the news:
1. Bias through selection and omission
An editor can express a bias by choosing to use, or not to use, a specific news item. Within a given story, some details can be ignored, and others included, to give readers or viewers a different opinion about the events reported. If, during a speech, a few people boo, the reaction can be described as "remarks greeted by jeers" or they can be ignored as "a handful of dissidents."
Bias through omission is difficult to detect. Only by comparing news reports from a wide variety of outlets can the form of bias be observed.
2. Bias through placement
Readers of papers judge first-page stories to be more significant than those buried in the back. Television and radio newscasts run the most important stories first and leave the less significant for later. Where a story is placed, therefore, influences what a reader or viewer thinks about its importance.
3. Bias by headline
Many people read only the headlines of a news item. Most people scan nearly all the headlines in a newspaper. Headlines are the most-read part of a paper. They can summarize as well as present carefully hidden bias and prejudices. They can convey excitement where little exists. They can express approval or condemnation.
4. Bias by photos, captions and camera angles
Some pictures flatter a person, others make the person look unpleasant. A paper can choose photos to influence opinion about, for example, a candidate for election. On television, the choice of which visual images to display is extremely important. The captions newspapers run below photos are also potential sources of bias.
5. Bias through use of names and titles
News media often use labels and titles to describe people, places, and events. A person can be called an "ex-con" or be referred to as someone who "served time twenty years ago for a minor offense." Whether a person is described as a "terrorist" or a "freedom fighter" is a clear indication of editorial bias.
6. Bias through statistics and crowd counts
To make a disaster seem more spectacular (and therefore worthy of reading about), numbers can be inflated. "A hundred injured in aircrash" can be the same as "only minor injuries in air crash," reflecting the opinion of the person doing the counting.
7. Bias by source control
To detect bias, always consider where the news item "comes from." Is the information supplied by a reporter, an eyewitness, police or fire officials, executives, or elected or appointed government officials? Each may have a particular bias that is introduced into the story. Companies and public relations directors supply news outlets with puff-pieces through news releases, photos or videos. Often news outlets depend on pseudo-events (demonstrations, sit-ins, ribbon cuttings, speeches and ceremonies) that take place mainly to gain news coverage.
8. Word choice and tone
Showing the same kind of bias that appears in headlines, the use of positive or negative words or words with a particular connotation can strongly influence the reader or viewer.
Other good media literacy sources –
MEDIA CHANNEL Global Vision News Network - http://www.mediachannel.org/teach/
FAIR – Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting –
Media Literacy Clearinghouse –
The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (SF IMC) –
Media Alliance -
http://www.media-alliance.org/