|
Media
Concepts
|
|
ALL MEDIA ARE
CONSTRUCTIONS.
Media are not
simple reflections of external reality, they are diced,
spliced, cut, edited, and neatly package into an apparent
naturalness.
|
|
THE MEDIA
CONSTRUCT REALITY.
All of us have a
"construct" of what the world is and how it works. It is a
model, based on our experiences and observations. When,
however, a major part of those observations and experiences
come to us preconstructed and interpreted through media,
with attitudes and conclusions built in, then the media,
rather than ourselves, are constructing our reality. (Scary,
huh?)
|
|
AUDIENCES
NEGOTIATE MEANING IN MEDIA.
Each of us finds
meaning in media through a wide variety of factors: personal
needs and anxieties, racial and sexual attitudes, family and
cultural background. All of these have a bearing on how we
process media.
|
|
MEDIA HAVE
COMMERCIAL IMPLICATIONS.
We should be
aware that, for all practical purposes, media production is
a business and must make a profit. In the case of the
television industry, for example, all programs- news, public
affairs, or entertainment must be judged by the size of the
audience they generate. Issues of ownership, control and
related effects should also be explored. Is it right if only
one person owns all of a country's newspapers? Should major
movie producers be allowed to expand vertically (ie own the
theatres, as well as film companies and distribution
companies)?
|
|
MEDIA CONTAIN
IDEOLOGICAL MESSAGES AND VALUE MESSAGES.
All media
products are advertising in some sense - both for themselves
and for values or ways of life.
|
|
MEDIA HAVE
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS.
Although media
may not be directly responsible for creating values and
attitudes, they serve to legitimize and reinforce them. The
mass media often become the matrix with in which young
people define their relationships to their popular culture,
as well as their friends. Also, media today are closely
linked with politics and social change. An effective
television campaign can elect a government leader. For
Canadians, the domination of American media has obvious
cultural implications, and the struggle for a distinctive
Canadian identity will continue to be difficult. (Have you
ever asked yourself what it means to be Canadian? or How
Canadian films different from American films?" Or if your
not Canadian, what makes things do you associate with your
nationality, why? These are difficult questions to
answer.)
|
|
FORM AND
CONTENT ARE CLOSELY RELATED IN THE MEDIA.
The awareness of
the relation between form and content is discussed in
Marshal Mcluhan's thesis that each medium has its own
grammar and codifies reality in its own unique way. Thus,
different medium will report different messages and
different impressions of the same event. (Consider the
differences between hearing a radio newscast, and then
watching that newscast on T.V. What will be different, and
why?)
Ontario
Ministry of Education (1989) Media Literacy Resources Guide:
Intermediate and Senior Divisions. p.8
(summarized)
|
