In 1967, Beatle’s star Paul McCartney was rumored to have been in a car crash that had killed him. This rumor was quickly squashed after the Beatle’s press officer called McCartney’s home to verify that he was very much alive (Yoakum. GadFly.com). This did not stop the rumors from spreading globally. On Wednesday September 17th, 1969, Drake University sophomore Tim Harper published an article about Paul McCartney in the university newspaper, Drake Times-Delphic. The article made claims that alluded to the theory that Paul McCartney had died in the 1967 car crash and that the Paul McCartney the world now saw was a lookalike (Harper. 1.). This “fake news” story spread across the country with radio stations reporting on the article (LaBour. …show more content…
(Rideout et al. 2) Students are interacting with more and more hours of media a day and also interacting with constantly changing and updating forms of media. With the ever-changing landscape of today’s media, it is imperative that students learn how to properly evaluate and interact with said media. This is especially true as a 2018 Pew Research report found that 71% of teenagers get their news from platforms such as SnapChat and Twiiter (Smith and Anderson. “Social Media Use 2018”.) Grammar and middle school aged children get roughly half of their news from social media, per a 2017 Common Sense Media study (Robb. 3.) Considering student are more likely to believe news if it comes from Twitter, as stated earlier in the Stanford study, this presents a real problem. Students need to be taught early and often to think critically about where they get their information from and how that information is presented. Intertwining media literacy into our existing curricula will allow children to interact with media and the news …show more content…
“Paul Is Dead…Again? Twitter Tries to Kill Off McCartney.”). The hashtag RIP Paul McCartney made its way to the top of the trending list and Americans everywhere were both confused and heartbroken. The newest “death” of McCartney came forty-three years after the article in Drake Times-Delphic claimed he had died in 1967 and been replaced with a lookalike. Both of these reports were fake news, however, the 2012 news spread much faster than the article in 1969. The two deaths of Paul McCartney provide a perfect example of why media literacy is such an important tool to teach America’s students. As technology advances, students need to be more prepared than ever to handle the media that they interact with. Media literacy needs to be intertwined in existing curriculum for grades Pre-K through 12 as children and teens have difficulty spotting the difference between fact, fiction, opinion, and sponsored content. Currently, children and teenagers have a tough time thinking critically about the media that they consume. To combat sponsored content and “fake news”, students need to be taught to think critically about all media and messages. Introducing media literacy early and often will give students the ability to think critically about where their news is coming from and if a source is credible. By keeping up with technology, media available, and constantly teaching media
In the article “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy,” writer Clive Thompson argues that the widespread use of technology and social media does not make kids illiterate and unable to form coherent sentences, but instead, keeps them actively writing and learning. Thompson’s article is based off of a study done by Andrea Lunsford, a writing professor at Stanford University. Thompson agrees with Lunsford that the use of social media and the Internet allow students to be creative and get better at writing. In his article, Thompson quotes John Sutherland, an English professor at University College of London, to inform the audience of the opposite side of the argument. He states, “Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have
People use mass media for many different reasons, such as enjoyment, companionship, surveillance, and interpretation. In order for a person to interpret what mass media puts out, media literacy is applied. Media literacy allows the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a variety of forms while focusing on being able to interpret media messages and its effects in many different ways. This is done through audiences whom actively receive and process the medias messages. In Adrian Chen’s article, “Unfollow” the effects media technology has on people is brought to light through the story of a previous Westboro Baptist Church member, Megan Phelps-Roper, who became acclimated with Twitter. The unfiltered and controversial
Everyone was going crazy because of The Beatles. Beatlemania was defined by the multitude of crazed young women obsessed with this new rock 'n roll band. It began in 1963 and continued until they broke up in 1970. In 1969, a listener of WKNR-FM called in and made a comment that shocked the world: Paul McCartney, one of the four Beatles, was dead. The caller, who gave only the name Tom as an identity, claimed that in 1966, McCartney had been in a fatal car accident, but it had been withheld from the public to avoid riots and other mayhem by grief-stricken fans. The caller went on to inform the disk jockey, Russell Gibb, that the band had placed clues in some of their songs and album covers. Some songs had clues in them that you could only hear if you played them backwards. When the clues were aired on the radio, the mayhem that they had tried to avoid, began to break out. The Paul McCartney Death Hoax was The Beatles' method of secretly warning their fans of their possible breakup.
If “Paul is dead” theorists are correct about McCartney dying in 1966, then “Faul” is still with us today. He had four children with his deceased wife, Linda Eastman, and produced more than twenty solo albums – not to mention the ones released by the band he formed after the break-up of the Beatles, Wings. Then came his divorce from Heather Mills, one of the most expensive divorces of all-time, which probably made him wish he were dead. So who is the real Paul McCartney? As George Harrison sang in “Something”, “I don't know / I don't know”. Neither does the world, and it may never know, but conspiracy theorists like to believe they have known this entire time.
Children have been exposed to the celebrity lifestyle in rock music videos all their lives. It seems that the more they grow, the easier it is for their parents to care less about what their child is viewing on TV (Sherman, 2000). What parents don’t know is that their children are being exposed to things like drugs, sex and graphic violence on a daily basis. After school specials went the way of the dinosaur being replaced by MTV’s explicit musical portrayal of ...
Children today are growing up in a digital world where their surrounding environments are rich with popular culture, leading teachers to reconsider and respond to new pedagogies for teaching literacy in the classroom (Beavis, 2012; Hall, 2011; Petrone, 2013; Walsh, 2010).
In the story of The Monkey’s Paw, Sergeant-Major Morris delivered a monkey’s paw to the White family, Mr. White, Mrs. White, and Herbert White. Mr. White accepted the monkey’s paw, but knew it could be very dangerous. Mrs. White and Herbert were skeptical at first, so they insisted Mr. White wish for something. Mr. White wished for two hundred pounds, not thinking anything negative would happen, although that was not the case. They joked about the two hundred pounds, not knowing they would get it in restitution when Herbert was killed the next day at work. Mrs. White had Mr. White wish for Herbert back alive, and Mr. White did it. At the end, Mr. White had to wish Herbert dead again. Mr. White is the cause of the terrible case of the monkey’s paw, he created an interest in the monkey’s paw to start, he wished for the first wish of two hundred pounds, even though he knew it would not end well, and he wished for Herbert alive again, even though he wished for him dead just moments after.
A media panic, or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non-willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see in different forms of media and their behaviours.
The distant chanting of the protesters disturbed my sleep. I sighed deeply, then got out
Exposing students to the power of social media in the classroom is an important part of preparing them to be active and positive digital citizens in a 21st century world. In the last two years, my own students have rapidly been drawn to Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and many other social networking platforms. They upload, share, and connect with others often without any regard to how their digital footprints may reflect them as individuals. Having continuous conversations with students about the choices that they make can lead to positive results. Students don't realize how powerful social media platforms can be in terms of networking, researching, and engaging in academic conversations. It makes me laugh every time I hear them whisper about my colleague Heather's or my Twitter feed. First of all kids, I can hear you. Second of all, yes, social media can be an amazing way to give and exchanged knowledge.
The first argument for media literacy deals with the notion that media plays a dominant role in politics and culture. Media help citizens to understand the complex problems within society. The job of the media is to inform the public; however, it is the job of the public to decipher the messages being sent through the media. T...
Social Media has become a very essential tool in the society; in addition, it has a huge impact on communication and learning process. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking. “As of September 2013, seventy-one percent of online adult use Facebook, eighteen percent use Twitter and seventeen percent use Instagram, twenty-two percent use PInterest, and another twenty-two percent use LinkedIn. (PewReasearch, 2013). In addition, "Between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet user ages eighteen and twenty-nine jumped from nine percent to forty-nine percent. The usage of social media had grown drastically.” On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (Socialnetworking.procon,2012). Social media has impacted everyone in several different ways. In this present time, majority of college student use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media has a bold impact college student's grades, social interactions, and the teaching and learning process.
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.
Masuma Ahuja, journalist from the Washington Post, said “Teens today, also known as the Facebook Generation or ‘digital natives,’ are part of the first U.S. generation to be so closely identified with technology (Ahuja 3).” Many people believe that social media tends to distract students. With the increasing technological advances, students are encouraged and even required to take part in social media. Social media is a part almost many aspects of a teens life. Social media applications such as Instagram, twitter, snap chat, Facebook, vine, and many more are changing the way teens are interacting which can result in academic struggles. Social media is having a negative affect on students by distracting them from their work and prohibiting them from using their full potential in the classroom and at home.
“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses” (Thinkexist, 2010). The mass media, including news, movies, magazines, music, or other entertainment source has become a part of daily life for many people. As the quote mentions mass media and its power are capable of influencing people’s mind and behavior. Contents in the media introduced to young people make it difficult for them to distinguish between what is real and what is not, as a result stimulating confusion and blind imitation. The mass media plays an important role in the increase of violence, sexual activity, and risky behaviors among teenagers.