The Fine Art Of Media Literacy
what is media and what does it mean to be media literate?
media and media literacy
Media is a form of communication. A TV, radio, cell phone, internet, video games, laptops and even a simple USB drive is a form of media. Anything that allows storage and transmission is a part of media which makes it a very prominent part of our day to day lives. Media has many forms; advertising, broadcasting, social media, print media, news media, multimedia, published media e.t.c. Media affects in all kinds of way. i personally can not live a day without logging in to my social networking site. All my academic work is on it too. i would say we are now bound to all sorts of media. There is no escape anymore. Since “Media” is such readily available to us, it is very important to be media literate. To me, media literacy is when a person is able to access the forms of media that is available to him and then critically analyze how all of them can work in that individuals favor. It is not a very complicated thing but it is surely a thing that requires your attention. A media literate person should also be able to see how media affects us and our society, how we can make use of it positively, how they can be safe in the online world, how to know what is true and what is not, how to evaluate things with regards of your own experience and control the interpretation that they see or hear rather than letting that interpretation of things to control them. Media is a very evident part of our culture; therefore media literacy is now a very significant thing in the 21st century. Without this fundamental ability, an individual will be naive about what is happening in the world and would not be able to successfully evaluate and effectively participate in our ever changing world.
media and its kinds
what media stands for
our society nowadays
Make love not war- Axe
In this peace commercial “Make love not war” (2014), the renowned company; Axe shows how a man is not known for how he looks or smells but for how he loves, promoting the idea of peace. This ad cleverly demonstrates men from different parts of the world; be it the Middle East, Asia or the West, who are known for violence, initially at a state of war but in the end they all show a delightful gesture of love for their woman. With this advertisement, Axe tries to show the better side of men in order to demolish the stereotype of them being physically strong rather than emotionally. With the help of perfect music coupled with good cinematography, the commercial accomplishes to draw in both the genders especially the ones in love or the ones related to a veteran, by changing the tone of the ad from an intense and serious mode to a lighthearted and strong end.
The Gwinnett County Way.
Alitiya Kazani, Staff Reporter
Saturday March 15, 2014
Gwinnett County schools have arranged a new and innovative way of making up school days. Since the students had to miss 7 days due to the “snowpocalypse” that took over Atlanta a few months back, Gwinnett County added 30 minutes to every single day the students are going to be in school in the current academic year.
On our interview with one of the head administrators; Ms. Doofenshmirtz, we learned the reason as to why this action was thought to be necessary. “We think it’s really mainstream to just add a few days in the end of the school year or call students to school for 4 Saturdays, we are the Gwinnett county, we care about our students, we do things differently” says the 40 year old, esteemed administrator.
Many counties for instance Cobb County, thought it was okay for students to let the extra days go. They thought it was not necessary for them to make up those days and it is acceptable for them to think that since their county covers a smaller area and has a lower ranking than Gwinnett county schools.
The student opinion about the change is school timings was also commendable. “I love 30 extra minutes in my classroom. Who wouldn’t like spending extra time with the best teachers and in the subjects you are most interested in? I think it’s a good change. They should permanently change the timings to this.” Says Mary Gonzalez, a student from Parkview high school.
After intensive research in this matter and after seeing the results of student outcome for the last couple of weeks, it has been shown that the tardy rates decreased, the grades went higher and students can now concentrate more during class. The reason behind this is because students actually care about what they missed during the “snowpocalypse” days and the extra thirty minutes in class allows them to extinguish the thirst of knowledge they developed due to that.
Due to this commendable output, it is believed that Gwinnett county will continue to keep the “30 minute rule” for the next couple of years not because of its efforts to stand out but also due to attain the standard of excellence they yearn for.
Paranoia and Fear
This underrated number starts of with an individual being "lost" where he "cannot see so clear". This relates to 1984 because that dystopian society also started off with peoples ignorance. When people are not clear as to what they want, they give the authorities a chance to control them slowly and gradually. They start off with guiding but then they start controlling.
Then the song goes on saying "they are all spies" and that they are everywhere, hiding in every corner. In 1984, this concept was related by the thought police. A person can never know where they are and who they are. It could be the person sitting right next to you, your spouse, your children e.t.c. Once the thought police sniffs disobedience, they can turn you in to the government because they are loyal to only the authorities. The idea of spies/thought police also relates to the idea of fear and control.
Thirdly the song focuses on discontent and unrest because the individual's freedom is suppressed. "i awake to see that no one is free. We are all fugitives". Similarly in 1984 people were spied on by tele screens and people, allowing them to have no peace of mind,
Other than that the line "i forgot everything i learned" also links to 1984 because people almost forgot all their morals and ethics an were willing to accept anything for e.g. 2+2=5.
Lastly the song also says "they're going to catch us where we sleep and if we dont hide here, They're going to find us" which according to me shows not only hopelessness but also the factor of giving up after a long fight which is what happened at the end of the novel 1984. This was when Winston gave up and turned himself in to the love of Big Brother.
Reflection
Over the course of this semester, i have learned a lot of different things about media literacy and i assure you that my views about this class have changed in a very positive manner. Going back to my first entry, i can see how much more knowledge i have of media literacy than i did then. My initial ideas had a good base about this area but now i can build up on it. In the beginning i thought that media literacy was a tool that allowed us to be successful in making decisions regarding media related aspects, now i know that it is completely different. Media literacy is essential for everyone open to media. A form of media may stretch from TVs to computers. If you have access to anything by a way that is not physical, you are exposed to media. Media affects us in a positive and a negative manner so it is really important for us to be media literate. Media literacy allows us formulate our ideas into something positive. it allows us to critically analyze and interpret it in a way that subtracts all the manipulation of media by who controls it. Media literacy allows you to seek other option, do researches and consider the fact that everything around you affects you.
This class was highly informative for me. i learned that news articles are not as reliable as they appear to be, government can control us in many way, how communism and dictatorship can be spread easily with the use of media, how we can be naïve about the world around us and how everything has a story. It is crazy when we think about how media can influence our life, our decisions and political viewpoints. I learned that you have to read and research to know more; that you shouldn’t be satisfied with what is in front of you and you should look into the depth of ever matter before presenting a point. You have to be a learned person to be successful.
This class was very different from all the other classes I have taken because it was more contemporary. It was also more relatable and I certainly learned a lot of things I wouldn’t have learned if I had to take British literature. Media literacy is more interesting according to me and I was actually awake during this class, semester long. I think it is really important for high school to have more classes that relates to us nowadays because that is what is going to keep us more interested in school. This class also allowed me to think more about what I do, how my search results can be tracked, that I am actually being monitored every day and what I should do about all this. It really opened my eyes to the reality of living in the US. I would really like if this class has less homework so that it’s lesser stress and more learning. I would also like if this class gave us more projects and assignments to present in front of the class so that we get to express ourselves more. Other than that I loved this class.