The Importance of Media Literacy

1128 Words3 Pages

1) Media can present content that seems and is more or less real, however, it is our duty as the viewers to be able to distinguish, and differentiate between “reflections of reality, and constructions of reality”. The prime targets of the media are young people because they so unwittingly believe everything the media tells them, from “how to talk, how to dress, and how to relate to others”. This newspaper article, seeing is not believing by Leslie Fruman is essentially explaining that now “for the first time students will take a mandatory course to help separate fantasy from reality in the media.” The mandatory course is referred to as media literacy, and will teach young people the classifications of reality and fantasy. 2) I believe that the majority of teenagers today know the underlying themes of the media, and know that it is all scripted, however, the matter of fact is that teenagers can relate so much to the themes in the media that they slowly begin to believe it. Once they get introduced to the characters, they gradually start to consider them real, and relating to them more and more. 3) On average students spent approximately 11 000 hours at school, 15 000 hours watching TV, and 10 500 hours listening to popular music. This shows that the influence of media is inevitable, and therefore inescapable, and has more of an impact then schooling. 4) According to Ministry of Education’s Resource Book “Media literacy is one of the few instruments that enables teachers and students to challenge the great inequalities in knowledge and power that exist between those who manufacture information in their own interests and those who consume it innocently as news or entertainment.” Media literacy is a course to help students separate fantasy from reality in the media. Media literacy is a set of skills that enables people to critically analyze messages in the media. By using an inquiry-based instructional model, media literacy encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see, and read. 5) a) I believe that here is a strong link between the messages these girls get from soap operas that they practically worship in that girls find the characters in soap operas to be so real and lively, where they begin to question, and fantasize about their dream guy that carries all the characteristics portrayed within the soap opera. b) Boys endure just as much pressure from the media to conform to society's expectations as girls do---what differs between the two is the type of pressure they face.

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