Media Literacy

1.How do people interpret the meaning of the term “media literacy”?

It’s seen as a competence meaning you’re either media-literate or media-illiterate. However, others view it as social in terms of how we read and make media. Also, by some people, it’s interpreted as an entitlement to protect us from potential danger, associated with new media in particular.

2.Who uses media literacy?

Media literacy has become widely used by educators, policy makers, regulators and media producers.

3.What are the definitions of media literacy given by senior OCR examiners?

“The ability to create, use, analyse and understand media products within the context of their audiences and institutions.”- Donna Cooper

“A broader version of conventional literacy, which includes all visual, aural and digital forms, seeking to enable people to become more thoughtful producers and interpreters of media.” – Pete Fraser

“Media literacy can be defined as the ability to read a media text, in understanding the process of communication through the construction of an artefact and its sets of representations. The ability to read a media text, in its visual or audio form, is itself paramount to understanding the meaning text may convey, which is dependent upon the individual, psychological and sociocultural context of the reader.” – Jason Mazzochi

“Media literacy is the ability to understand how any media text constructs its meaning as much through its form as its content.” – James Baker

“Media literacy is being able to engage not just with the immediate content of a media text, but also to be able to apply knowledge and understanding of the institutional factors that have an impact on shaping the text itself and on the messages and values embedded within the text. Media literacy also involves knowledge and understanding of how different audiences in different times and places may interpret the text in different ways. Crucially, the media-literate reader of the text is able to see that his/her own reading of the text may be well at odds with that applied by some or all of the target audience.” – Wayne O’Brien

4.Which definition do you feel you can understand and is “right” in terms of its detail, clarity and breakdown?

I personally feel I understand Pete Fraser’s definition clearly because I usually relate literacy to reading and writing etc. as most probably do; however, this describes media literacy as a “broader version” of literacy. This, in my opinion, shows how media texts, institutions and audiences intertwine with literacy and analysis. I am new to the term and the A2 course; therefore, my opinions may alter when I have a deeper, more extensive understanding of media literacy.

5.Why do people “demonise” young people?

Primarily because of the digital culture, the way they use text language, social networking sites such as MySpace and facebook and next gen video games. It’s possible this is a result of jealousy as it’s a natural part of the ageing process that the previous generation’s music, television, films and just culture in general were somehow better.

6.What are the concerns about modern culture?

The main argument about modern culture is that it’s “saturated” by media and entertainment. There are anxieties about losing control of what they’re doing and where they are virtually. Some people believe youth today are missing out on an “enriching” culture consisting of novels, plays, news and art. Steven Johnson, writer of ‘The Media Teacher’s Book’, disagrees with this argument and believes people are becoming more intelligent and celebrates multilayered streamed television drama, the nature of blogging and intense energy demonstrated by gamers.

7.What is the point of media studies as a subject?

It’s about individuals creating digital media and developing their theoretical media in society – including their own media.

8.What makes media studies a relativist subject?

There aren’t any judgements about whether one media text is better than another, unlike English, which has a canon because certain novels are classed as “classic literature”.

9.What is the key aspect which separates AS media from A2?

With AS, it’s primarily about creating a media product whereas with A2 you have to be media-literate enough to theorise your own media creativity, create media material which observes a set of conventions and has an informed, research-based mode of address for your audience. Also, you should be able to use academic ideas as postmodernism, democracy, representation and discourse.

10.For A2, what understanding has to be developed in terms of literacy?

You need to develop a theoretical understanding of how literacy is “reframing” the digital culture. Therefore, it’s important to demonstrate knowledge for critical perspectives when making your media product and gain an academic viewpoint while appreciating different processes have different outcomes and are open to interpretation.

11.What is literacy traditionally associated with?

Reading and writing and whether you’re literate or illiterate. It’s usually been discussed in relation to deficit and those who were illiterate were a target group for educational programmes.

12.What is rarely discussed?

Different levels of literacy and types of literacy.

13.What is Web 2.0?

It’s the second phase of internet defined as a new stage by the rapid increase of content and ideas being shared by ordinary people online.

14.What has been the impact of Web 2.0?

It has made a huge difference to how the media are distributed and exchanged.

15.What about in relation to literacy?

Experts see Web 2.0 as a profound, historical shift in how people communicate, how they read and write, and what these things now mean. So Web 2.0 leads to the concept of ‘new literacies’.

16.What is educator and theorist Freire’s theory based on literacy as a social and political practice?

He described how people are excluded from literacy and thus empowered in relation to the social structure. Basically, in simple terms, if you cannot read and write, there are many things you cannot conceptualise, understand of participate in.

17.According to Freire, what does exclusion from literacy result in?

It makes it very difficult for a person to develop a critical view of the world, so we can see from this that somebody who lacks literacy can be oppressed and controlled. Therefore, literacy is placed centre stage in the desire to promote social justice.

18.What are others views on Freire’s theory?

That the process of learning to read and write words was an integral part of learning to understand how the world operates socially and culturally in ways that promote unequal opportunities and outcomes for different groups of people.

19.What did Gordon Brown’s Labour party believe about immigrants working and claiming benefits in the UK?

That they should learn to read and write because if they don’t make an effort ti learn literacy they are excluding themselves from the values of the country they have chosen to move to.

20.What belief do Freire and the UK government share?

The belief that literacy is linked to social change. However, the difference is that Freire sees literacy as a way out of social control – as empowering in a critical sense – while the government see the “obligation” of literacy as a form of social control, or at least as an aspect of social cohesion.

21.What do OFCOM believe media literacy creates?

More “responsible” media consumers as an alternative to censorship. To expand upon this, media literate citizens will self regulate, so the chances of people being negatively affected by violent videogames or urban rap music is reduced if the audience has the critical skills to “decode” what they are seeing/hearing/playing.

22.What does this achieve?

We have empowerment, social justice and social control all mixed together.

23.Name some other types of literacy which gets demonstrated frequently.

Computer literacy, emotional literacy, physical literacy, functional literacy and digital literacy,

24.What can digital literacy be seen as?

A tool for reducing the “digital divide” and thus as a social justice agenda.

25.Give examples of the neologism ‘internet meme.’

A remix video of called ‘Read my lips Bush/Blair love song’ which was posted on youtube received rapid popularity. Also, the terms 'Rick Roll' and 'you've been Rick Roll'd' come from internet users clicking on link they thought was going to be something useful but instead it actually led to a video of Rick Astley performing ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ in the 1980’s.

26.Based from the 2008 research held by OFCOM, what is the issue with people automatically making the assumption that young people are ‘digital natives’?

A social problem where young people who are not media literate are too embarrassed to admit because they feel they should fit in is emerging. Therefore, they suffer in silence and this could prevent them from developing skills needed.

27.Why are people losing trust in television?

Because of the rigged phone votes and awards, and the expose of distorting documentaries.

28.What is the confusion between “DIY” media production and media literacy?

The question “if you make videos and put them on youtube, does that make you media literate, or do you need extra education?” This is difficult to answer directly as it depends on opinions. There are many different definitions of media literacy so there’s obviously going to be interpretation and debate when attempting to answer this questions. Media students who upload and get playback would probably be more successful in giving a stable, reinforced argument/answer for/to the question than the “experts” at OFCOM.

29.What does Robin Blake of OFCOM believe about media literacy?

That media literacy is just the literacy of our times. However, this does not mean that it develops naturally just because we’re exposed to be to a lot of media. In fact, it was pointed out by Sonia Livingstone that modern media can be illegible, hard to understand and very hard to trust compared to the analogue culture.

30.What did the 2008 conference held by OFCOM bring together in terms of media literacy?

Because media literacy is such a wide ranging and popular idea, many teachers, regulators and industry people were brought together in the attempt of coming up with a common framework.

31.How does David Gauntlett define “media studies 2.0” in relation to web 2.0?

“The view of the internet and new digital media as an ‘optional extra’ is replaced with recognition that they have fundamentally changed the ways in which we engage with all media.”

32.What questions arise in terms of this?

Do people watch television in the traditional sense anymore? Are there any distinct media institutions in the era of convergence? If you can share music on facebook with your ‘friends’, and they can purchase it at the click of a mouse and then access the video immediately on youtube, how does this change the music industry? And is there still such a thing as ‘the audience’ in this day and age?

33.What else does Gauntlett suggest?

He suggests that people do not get represented by the media any more. Instead, they use web 2.0 platforms to make their own media, share it with the world and thus represent themselves.

34.What does this mean for media studies?

It needs to engage with the ways in which people make sense of their identities and then creatively, through the media, express this.

35.What do media students need to do in terms of this?

According to Gauntlett, we need to move away from ‘media 1.0’ way of doing things by ‘questioning the traditional approach to people who “produce” media and people who “use” media’ and by exploring people’s contemporary media experiences by encouraging creative responses.

36.What is the main difference between ‘media 1.0’ and ‘media 2.0’?

Media 2.0 is more about people and less about ‘the media’ in isolation.

37.What does Dan Gilmour say about web 2.0?

He says it enables people to participate in politics and news, by producing their own accounts of real events and commenting immediately (and loudly) on “official” journalism.

38.What does media academic John Hartley say?

He describes the shift from a demand led market of creative industries to a social network market. Describing the long tail of media distribution, he suggests that the liberating potential of web 2.0 might be equal, not only to the emergence of “mass literacy”, but beyond that to the introduction of mass public schooling.

39.What claim did Alastair Campbell (who was previously Tony Blair’s press officers and spin doctor) in 2008?

That Britney Spears had ceased to be considered a human being by the public and is now understood primarily as a news commodity. This was around the time of her meltdown which stole the limelight resulting in her becoming known as a “fallen icon”.

40.What led Britney Spears to her commodification?

Possibly, it was accelerated and amplified by online dispersal of her.

41.Give examples of this.

Known as Britney 2.0, there’s online news, rolling news, blogs, YouTube, lack of regulation, notions of truth, people responding and people creating.

42.What do you believe this is saying about web 2.0?

I think the Britney Spears fiasco can cause negativity surrounding web 2.0 because of the lack of media regulation. To elaborate upon this, with the easy accessibility to video sharing sites and social networking sites like MySpace, YouTube, Bebo and facebook have helped exploit the celebrity culture which puts a lot of pressure upon celebrities who are firmly in the public eye.

43.What does Hills analyse fandom as?

A form of cultural expression.

44.What can broadband internet do?

It can accelerate fan interpretations and reimagining’s of media products. Examples include Trekkies and Elvis impersonators although this isn’t really to do with web 2.0 as such.

45.Why does the internet epitomise fan culture these days?

Because people are able to follow and show support for a celebrity or franchise effortlessly and by sharing their reimagining’s they can raise attention. For example, Harry Potter fans who share their own literature online help to attract fellow fans and even some new ones who wouldn’t usually be a fan. This is just one of the reasons why the internet has become a place for fandom’s to expand.


46.What does Gauntlett argue?

That the media play a role in the construction of identity but not that big a role in relation to other aspects of social experience.

47.What does lead him to suggest?

That media studies has, until now, been to interested in just the media.

48.So what was media studies apparently insufficiently attentive to?

People and how they give meaning to culture.

49.Why must we take a much more academic approach to media studies?

Well we need to be creative when actually making our own media products but extremely academic when analysing existing media because we’ll be using web 2.0 to research, plan and evaluate different media texts as well as our own media products. Therefore, we need to academically inclined during this process.

50.What is your aim in the critical perspectives exam?

In the first part, it’s all about theorising the creative work, however, we’ll also have to answer a question on a theme focusing on analysing cultural products and evaluating the theories. This all adds up to media literacy.