Media Literacy

-> What is media literacy?

-> What does it mean to be media literate?

-> Are you media literate? Explain.

What is media literacy? I would first answer to this answer in saying that it is how much we know about the media industry. But what is the media industry nowadays? That is not anymore restricted to magazines or newspapers, but includes any communication medium such as the radio, Web, television, mobile… and many others that surround us. Medias are everywhere, anytime. Thus, media literacy became the matter of how we are able to control and select the information that is continuously created. Today, the information can be effortlessly accessible, so we need to be critic about it, judge it and evaluate the message to detect some form of propaganda or censorship.

Media literacy also assumes that we should know how the media industry is structured, how it works. We have to be aware that a media is financially supported _ government, independent media, partnership, etc_ and also that many intermediates interfere in the information process.

For instance, the images are a result of series of choices: from the journalist who decides to come to a particular place, from the cameraman who films a specific scene, from the editor who only selects some parts, etc. It is all about media literacy: to be conscious that these choices operate according to opinions, and aspirations of the people who works FOR the media.

Media Literate doesn’t only mean using the media as a source of information. It is also mean how critical you are about it. As a media consumer, it is a need to evaluate the media and its own limitations. Where does the information come from? Who created it? Who financed the all process? This reflexion leads us to include three main factors: politic, economic, and social.

We are also producer of new messages. For instance, many newspapers now include a blog section into their website. They encourage people to react to articles and write about their points of view. This new form of communication shows that we are tending to go from an unidirectional information system to a multi directional exchange of information. The proof is clear that we, individuals, have a great role to play in the media.

Can I say I am a media literate? According to what I developed before, as soon as I get any information from somewhere, I am already a media literate. First, because I make a choice in the type of media I want to use. Second, I have the ability to select the information according to what is most relevant for me, what I am interested in.

The deeper level of reflexion is how literate I am according to the media content.

In print media, I do need to know in which political party the media is involved into. Some newspapers_ such as Le Nouvel Observateur (French newspaper)_ pretend not to belong to any political party. I don’t believe in that. There is always an influence from political beliefs that affects the way the information is told. There is nothing wrong with this, we just need to stand back from it. Every journalist, writer, reporter has a background and personal ideas that indirectly modify the way the information is told.

I don’t know if this could be a factor that make myself as a media literate person, but I choose not to watch TV very often, because I do not want to be part of this new trend where the Television is trying to give you everything you want to see without moving from your house, where we don’t have to face the real world anymore. This is a new generation of  ‘having the world inside”, or “at home’.

I am definitely more critical of the information that circulates in the Web than in the print media.

On the Web, everything goes so quick, the concurrence is not a run for the highest quality information, but sometimes a run for marketing and commercial interest.

In the meantime, I think the Web is an incredible tool with an unlimited source of information. I myself use Internet very often, but remain aware of its imperfection.

For instance, I found that it could be a severe test to navigate on the Web where there are windows and commercial banners that parasite home pages. Sometimes even the title of the newspaper disappears behind the commercials ads. (La Voix de Nord, French newspaper). So where we try to find information may be a space for commercial interest. This does have a direct affect on the quality and clarity of the message.