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352 Section 4 Contemporary Mass Communication Theory decide which media to avoid and which to use in ways that best serve our purposes. From the perspective of normative theory, we as citizens of a democracy must make good and effective use of our free press. This is media literacy. Anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, historians, communication scientists— researchers from virtually all disciplines that study how people and groups communicate to survive and prosper—have long understood that as humans moved from preliterate, or oral, culture to literate culture, they assumed greater control over their environments and lives. With writing came the ability to communicate across time and space. People no longer had to be in the presence of those with whom they wished to communicate (Eisenstein 1979; Inglis, 1990; Innis, 1951). The invention of the movable-type printing press in the mid-1400s infinitely expanded the importance and reach of the written word, and power began to shift from those who were born into it to those who could make the best use of communication. If literacy—traditionally understood to mean the ability to read and write— increases people’s control over their environments and lives, it logically follows that an expanded literacy—one necessitated by a world in which so much “reading” and “writing” occurs in the mass media—should do the same. Critical theorist Stuart Ewen writes: Historically, links between literacy and democracy are inseparable from the notion of an informed populace, conversant with the issues that touch upon their lives, enabled with tools that allow them to participate actively in public deliberation and social change. Nineteenth-century struggles for literacy and education were never limited to the ability to read. They were also about learning to write and thus about expanding the number and variety of voices heard in published interchanges and debates. Literacy was about crossing the lines that had historically separated men of ideas from ordinary people, about the social enfranchisement of those who had been excluded from the compensation of citizenship. (2000, p. 448) As such, he argues elsewhere: In a society where instrumental images are employed to petition our affections at every turn—often without a word—educational curricula must … encourage the development of tools for critically analyzing images. For democracy to prevail, image making as a communicative activity must be undertaken by ordinary citizens as well. The aesthetic realm—and the enigmatic ties linking aesthetic, social, economic, political, and ethical values—must be brought down to earth as a subject of study. (1996, p. 413) Alan Rubin (1998) offered three definitions of media literacy: (1) from the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy—the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages; (2) from media scholar Paul Messaris— knowledge about how media function in society; and (3) from mass communication researchers Justin Lewis and Sut Jhally—understanding cultural, economic, political, and technological constraints on the creation, production, and transmission of messages. Rubin added: “All definitions emphasize specific knowledge, awareness, and rationality, that is, cognitive processing of information. Most focus on critical evaluations of messages, whereas some include the communication of messages. Media literacy, then, is about understanding the sources and technologies of communication, the codes that are used, the messages that are produced, and the selection, interpretation, and impact of those messages” (Rubin, 1998, p. 3). Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Chapter 11 Media and Culture Theories: Meaning-Making in the Social World 353 Communication scholars William Christ and W. James Potter offer an additional overview of media literacy: “Most conceptualizations [of media literacy] include the following elements: Media are constructed and construct reality; media have commercial implications; media have ideological and political implications; form and content are related in each medium, each of which has a unique aesthetic, codes, and conventions; and receivers negotiate meaning in media” (1998, pp. 7–8). A careful reader can easily find evidence in these two summations of all the audience- and culture-centered theories we’ve discussed in this book. TWO VIEWS OF MEDIA LITERACY Mass communication scholar Art Silverblatt provided one of the first systematic efforts to place media literacy in audience- and culture-centered theory and frame it as a skill that must and can be improved. His core argument parallels a point made earlier: “The traditional definition of literacy applies only to print: ‘having a knowledge of letters; instructed; learned.’ However, the principal channels of media now include print, photography, film, radio, and television. In light of the emergence of these other channels of mass communications, this definition of literacy must be expanded” (1995, pp. 1–2). As such, he identified five elements of media literacy (1995, pp. 2–3): 1. An awareness of the impact of the media on the individual and society 2. An understanding of the process of mass communication 3. The development of strategies with which to analyze and discuss media messages 4. An awareness of media content as a “text” that provides insight into our contemporary culture and ourselves 5. The cultivation of an enhanced enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of media content Potter (1998) takes a slightly different approach, describing several foundational or bedrock ideas supporting media literacy: 1. Media literacy is a continuum, not a category. “Media literacy is not a categorical condition like being a high school graduate or being an American…. Media literacy is best regarded as a continuum in which there are degrees…. There is always room for improvement” (p. 6). 2. Media literacy needs to be developed. “As we reach higher levels of maturation intellectually, emotionally, and morally we are able to perceive more in media messages…. Maturation raises our potential, but we must actively develop our skills and knowledge structures in order to deliver on that potential” (pp. 6–7). 3. Media literacy is multidimensional. Potter identifies four dimensions of media literacy. Each operates on a continuum. In other words, we interact with media messages in four ways, and we do so with varying levels of awareness and skill: a. The cognitive domain refers to mental processes and thinking. b. The emotional domain is the dimension of feeling. Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
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1959 C. Wright Mills’s The Sociol
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CHAPTER 5 96 NORMATIVE THEORIES OF
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CHAPTER 7 OVERVIEW 174 MOVING BEYON
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SECTION 4 238 CONTEMPORARY MASS COM
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CHAPTER 10 278 MEDIA AND SOCIETY: T
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Page 390 and 391: REFERENCES Adbusters. (2002). “Th
Page 392 and 393: 366 References Century, April 17. (
Page 394 and 395: 368 References Argument about New M
Page 396 and 397: 370 References Gerbner, G., L. Gros
Page 398 and 399: 372 References 1942-1943. New York:
Page 400 and 401: 374 References Lasswell, H. D. (192
Page 402 and 403: 376 References Miller, K. (2005). C
Page 404 and 405: 378 References Preiss, R. W. (2007)
Page 406 and 407: 380 References Smillie, D. (2009).
Page 408 and 409: 382 References query Human capacity
Page 410 and 411: 384 Index children, focus on functi
Page 412 and 413: 386 Index I ice-age analogy, 342 Id
Page 414 and 415: 388 Index media and culture theorie
Page 416 and 417: 390 Index sensemaking, decoding and
Page 418: 392 Index theory, understanding and
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