Media Literacy:
Critical Thinking About
Media Messages
2006 Early Learning/
Literacy Symposium
Frank W. Baker
media educator
fbaker1346@aol.com
“Pay no attention to that
man behind the curtain….”
Media Literacy
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Awareness of how much time young
people spend with media
The knowledge, skills and abilities to
understand how the media work:
critical thinking about media
messages
Snapshot of kids & media

87% of 8- to 17-year old children play video games
at home (mediafamily.org)

When asked what they do when TV commercials come
on, nearly 60% of respondents say they watch them
(American Kids Study, 2005)

TV is on in the typical African-American home 11:10 a
day, compared with 7: 34 in white homes
(Nielsen Media Research)
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Sixty nine percent of kids 6-14 have TVs in their
bedrooms (U.S. Multicultural Kids Study 2005)
•Children aged 2-5 watched an
average of 3 hours and 40 minutes
of television a day during the
2004-5 TV season (Forrester Research)
Media influences
Researchers found
that children who
spent more time
watching TV eat
more calorie-dense,
low-nutrient foods
advertised on
television.
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent
Medicine, April 2006
Snapshot of kids & media
Generation M= Multi-tasking (March 2005)
“Our students are growing up in a world
saturated with media messages…yet, they
(and their teachers) receive little or no training
in the skills of analyzing or re-evaluating these
messages, many of which make use of
language, moving images, music, sound
effects.”
Journal Adult & Adolescent Literacy, February 2004
“While more young people have access to
the Internet and other media than any
generation in history, they do not
necessarily possess the ethics, the
intellectual skills, or the predisposition to
critically analyze and evaluate their
relationship with these technologies or the
information they encounter. Good hand/eye
co-ordination and the ability to multitask
are not substitutes for critical thinking.”
Dr. David Considine, media educator
Media & Brain Research
The most recent research tells us
that the brain is still developing
even as late as the teenage years.
Young people, who are exposed to
the screens ( TV, computer, etc.)
are more likely to have re-wired
critical brain connections; needed
for things like creativity &
imagination.
Doctors are now realizing that
media is as much a health issue as
many other childhood disorders and
diseases.
video
What preschoolers can
begin to understand:
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It is a good idea to think and talk about
what we see/hear on the screen
All media are made by ‘storytellers’
Some storytellers are more trustworthy
than others
Media storytellers use pictures (and sound) to
tell stories; languages used make thinks look
different than they might be in real life
Rules in our home might be different than
rules on TV or computer
Dr. Faith Rogow, Early Childhood Expert/Media educator
Media literacy
Take a few minutes and write your
own definition:

What is media literacy?
OR

Why should our students be ‘media literate’?
Video
Media literacy
Media literacy is concerned with helping
students develop an informed and critical
understanding of the nature of mass
media, the techniques used by them,
and the impact of these techniques.
More specifically, it is education that aims
to increase the students' understanding
and enjoyment of how the media work,
how they produce meaning, how they
are organized, and how they construct
reality. Media literacy also aims to
provide students with the ability to create
media products.
(Source: Media Literacy Resource Guide,
Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997)
Core Concepts: Media literacy
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All media are constructions (of reality)
Media are constructed using languages
with their own set of rules
Media convey values and points of view
Different people experience the same
media messages differently
Media= power + profit
Source: Center for Media Literacy
All media are constructions
What is this?
Remember: media construct (re-present) reality
Media: constructed using languages
Language of film
Camera work
Lighting
Editing
Sets
Sound/music
Costumes
Expressions
Camera angles
Lighting
Media convey values and
points of view
Audiences negotiate meanings
Media= power + profit
FOX (News Corp)
NBC (GE)
CBS (Viacom)
ABC (Disney)
CNN (AOL/Time Warner)
Advertiser-Audience Relationship
The following
program is
brought to you
by the sponsor.
You are brought
to the sponsor
by the program.
Critical Inquiry
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Who created/produced the message?
For what purpose?
For which “target audience(s)”?
What techniques are used to:
1) attract attention 2) increase believability
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Who or what is omitted and why?
How do you know what it means?
Does it contain bias or stereotypes?
Media Literacy in Florida’s
Sunshine State Standards
ENGLISH
Listening, Viewing, and Speaking
Standard 2
The student uses viewing strategies
effectively.
Grades 3-5
2. Recognizes and responds to nonverbal
cues in a variety of nonprint media, such as
motion pictures, television advertisements,
and works of art.
Media as languages
Reading the visual
Using magazines
Changing what we teach
"If video is how we are
communicating and
persuading in this new
century, why aren't more
students writing screenplays
as part of their schoolwork?“
Heidi Hayes Jacob
video
Using Toy Commercials
Buy Me That: a 3 part video series
Script
Toy Ad Analysis
Worksheet
Using Toy Commercials
Cinderella Magical
Talking Vanity
video
Activity
Each group receives an ad
Use the handout to answer
the questions about the ad
Share time
Create the script for the ad
Teaching about signs
What are signs?
What are their purposes?
What do they say?
How is color used?
Why are they here?
Teaching with film
"Film has its own language, its own
grammar.. It's helpful for students to
know this language and to think
critically about film in an increasingly
visual world.“ Martin Scorsese
“If people aren’t taught the language of
sound and images, shouldn’t they be
considered as illiterate as if they left college
without being able to read and write?”
George Lucas
The Languages of film
Camera work
Lighting
Editing
Sets
Sound/music
Costumes
Expressions
Because of Winn Dixie
PBS Media Literacy
http://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/medialiteracy/index.html
PBS Media Literacy
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
Resources
Ideas for elementary
Introduce photography: visual literacy
Introduce film: through flip books
Cereal box design: nutrition messages
Media diary: exploring media in my world
Create your own 30 second P.S.A.
Produce a classroom magazine or newspaper
Recommended books