Media and Politics

Media Literacy:
The Ability to Access, Analyze, Evaluate and Create
Mass Media Messages

I. Introduction: How does the mass media relate to literacy?

II. To evaluate requires us to be sure about our values. What do we value?

III. The Conflict

"In America there is a conflict between what's right and who's charming."

III. How does the media work to shape values?

W.W.II Propaganda
Political Ads from the 1994 Election
Our own work with the camera: same message from low angle, high angle and straight on
Witness clips with different audio

IV. Why are visual media used so extensively in propaganda?

V. Pepsi Ad from Super Bowl

Let's analyze and evaluate this with respect to the media literacy key concepts.

VI. Media Literacy and Powerful Literacy

Mass media represent a powerful discourse in this society. Gee suggests that "powerful literacy" requires us not only to be able to participate in several different secondary discourses but to be able to step out of them and critique these ways of constructing meaning.