MEDIA: BEWARE!

Citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for meaningful democracy.

-Noam Chomsky

 

Why be Media Aware?/Why Study Media?

How Can I Become Media Aware?

What does it mean to be media aware?

Articles

Media Sites

Media Awareness Sites

Media Concepts

Rationale and Learning Outcomes

 

Study Media? WHY?

--Because media is everywhere! How many times have you entered a car when the radio wasn't on? Do you know anybody without a TV? Do you know any one who hasn't seen a movie at a theatre ? Have you ever surfed the net? (okay that's a silly question, you are reading this aren't you?). Do you watch your local news, or read the newspaper? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, read on...

The truth is, western culture today is submersed in media. Virtually all that we know, or think we know, about the world beyond our immediate experience comes to us through the media. There would be little problem with this if the media simply reflected reality, but it doesn't. In fact, we know that each medium of communication shapes or "codifies" reality in different ways; we can not consider any message to be neutral or value free. All the media with which we come into contact contain messages about values, beliefs, and behaviours.

How many of us have gone to a hockey game or large concert and watched it on the "Big Screen", instead of watching the action before us? Must we rely on media to interpret the events of our lives?

 

More good reasons to be Media Aware !

 

 

*"If you watch the average amount of television -- 4 hours a day, 28 hours a week, for both American children and adults -- you will spend 13 years watching TV by the time you're 75." Chen, Milton Ph.D. (1994) The Smart Parent's Guide to Kid's TV. San Francisco:KQED Books, p.91

 

 

 

*"By the age of 17, the average American will have seen 350,000 commercials." Trelease Jim (1989) The New Read-Aloud Handbook. New York:Penguin, p.123

 

 

*When children aged 4-6 were asked in a survey, "Which do you like better, TV or your daddy?," 54percent said "TV."Berkeley Pop Culture Project (1991) The Whole Pop Catalog Berkeley:Avon Books, p.547

 

 

*"By the time they finish high school, [Canadian] students will have spent 11,000 hours in school, compared to more than 15,000 hours watching television and 10,500 hours listening to popular music. They will have seen several hundred films and been exposed to countless advertisements." Ontario Ministry of Education (1989) Media Literacy Resources Guide: Intermediate and Senior Divisions. p.5

 

How Can I Become Media Aware?

What does it mean to be Media Aware?

Articles . Media Sites . Media Awareness Sites . Media Concepts


MEDIA: BEWARE!
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This site was created in February 1998
Last updated March 30, 1998