Media Literacy Vocabulary
Media:
any tool or technology used for sending and/or receiving messages
Mass Media:
any tool or technology used for sending messages from a central
source to may receivers/ usually only one-way communication is
possible
Media Text:
any message sent via media/could be words, pictures, sounds – or
multimedia
One-Way
Communication:
getting information from any media source such as TV, radio,
newspaper
Two-Way
Communication:
getting information from talking to another individual, such as
a friend
Media literacy:
being aware of media and its influences
Critical thinking:
the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluation information to
reach an answer or conclusion
Connotation:
The surrounding emotional feelings associated with a word
Denotation:
the literal, dictionary definition of a word
Point-of-view:
the perspective from which a story is told
Slant:
to distort (information) by rendering it unfaithfully or
incompletely, esp. in order to reflect a particular viewpoint
Bias:
a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevent
unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.
Stereotype:
a rigid conclusion
Generalization:
a flexible observation
Lifestyles:
a way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and
values of a person or group
Values:
beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional
investment (either for or against something)
Rhetoric:
the art or technique of persuasion through the use of spoken and
written language
Content:
something that is to be expressed through some medium, such as
speech, writing, or any of various arts
Documentary:
a film, radio or television program, etc based on or re-creating an
actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually
accurate and contains no fictional information
Authorship:
an explicit way of assigning responsibility and giving credit of
intellectual work
Format:
the organization, plan, style, or type of something
Constructedness: all media is constructed by ordinary people doing their job
Audience:
the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers
collectively
Message/content: all media carry subtle messages about who and what is important
Purpose:
the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
Propaganda:
information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some
cause
Product Placement: an increasingly common practice whereby advertisers pay media
makers to use or display their products as props yet never reveal
this arrangement as a form of advertising; “stealth ads”