Importance of Media Literacy and Knowledge

Because it makes you a better citizen

Media literate people understand that media are constructed to convey ideas, information and news from someone else's perspective. They understand that specific techniques are used to create emotional effects. They can identify those techniques and their intended and actual effects. They are aware that the media benefit some people, but leave others out. They can (pose and sometimes answer) questions about who benefits, who is left out, and why. Media literate people seek alternative sources of information and entertainment. Media literate people use the media for their own advantage and enjoyment. Media literate people know how to act, rather than being acted upon. In this way, media literate people are better citizens.

Why study the media?

1. Media saturation
2. Media influence
3. The manufacture and management of information
4. Media education and democracy
5. The increasing importance of visual communication and information
6. The growing privatization of information
7. Educating for the future

Key principles of Media Literacy

Key principles of Media Literacy

1. The ability to distinguish fact from fiction.


2. The ability to identify and appreciate different levels of realism.


3. A better understanding of the actual mechanisms of production and distribution of TV programmes, CD-ROM games, films, interactive software, websites etc...


4. The ability to differentiate reportage from advocacy.


5. Awareness and assessment of commercial messages within programmes (product placement etc) and a critical approach to advertising.


6. An awareness of the economic and presentational imperatives that underlie news management.


7. The ability consciously to explain and justify media preferences.

Media Literacy

Definition of Media Literacy

Understanding the Word Literacy

1. the quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write.
2. possession of education: to question someone's literacy.
3. a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field: to acquire computer literacy.

The Kind of programmes people watch