Annotated Bibliography of Articles Related to Media Literacy

Birkerts provides three effects that will occur as a result of moving away from the printed word to the electronic media. The first effect is the language erosion. He explains the reader that transition from books will lead to the “complexity and distinctiveness of verbal and written communication, which are deeply bound to transaction of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak” (9). In the future our language will start to become more simple and dumb. Whereas, by reading books and printed materials people are able to dig more depth and understand and imagine the contents. But, soon this will start to disappear as people will no longer be able to understand the complex language of the literature and intelligence level of people will start to decrease. The second effect of electronic media is the flattening of historical perspectives. This means that due to the electronic media the history will start to recede because the “printed page itself is a link” and when this link is broken the past will gradually diminish (10). Birkerts explains the audience that the past is best represented in the books and libraries. Therefore, moving away from the printed word means moving away from the past and its history. The last effect is the waning of the private self. Birkerts worries that in the future people will forget how to live because of the electronic

We carry our cellphones with us at all times, and with all this online connection, you would think that stepping back and disconnecting is a huge achievement. But this is a new way of life. Nathan Jurgenson, in his article “The IRL Fetish” says, “We have come to understand more and more of our lives through the logic of digital connection. Social media is more than something we log onto; it’s something we carry within us. We can’t log off.”. He explains how we are so deeply connected with technology that it is nearly impossible to stay ‘old-fashioned’. We are learning to accept technological advancements because they are inevitable. In other words, to adapt to this new form of literacy is much easier than avoiding it. In recognition that texting truly is literacy, one English teacher had her students put excerpts of Richard III into “text speak” to show that they fully understand the material. Educators are embracing texting as a new form of learning because it clearly is not going away. Students enjoy texting as a way to escape reality and fail to recognize the literary benefits. Texting will continue to encourage students to read and write as well as improve spelling with phonological

The media in our lives has the strongest impact on our everyday conversations, actions, judgments and perception on society as a whole. Without our modern day technology the world would result to judgments based on their own personal beliefs, not being so easily persuaded by others. The contemporary media portrays Black and Hispanic Americans in numerous positive ways, but more so in a negative light. The stereotypes that these minorities have been given not only affect the community as a whole, but the personal lives of each individual. Although the media can be used for good, the captivating movies, news stories, and documentaries seem to have a negative outcome. The medias focus on Black and Hispanic Americans has not always been bad, but the stereotypes that have developed over the decades shed a negative light on these two racial and ethnic groups.

Dana Gioia calls out millennials and younger generations in america, to spark a conversation about the increasingly declining and destructive behavior of NOT reading! Gioia makes very many fantastic points and uses very many persuasive elements on why literacy actually is vital to to our society and the negative effects that come from this lack of literacy. She gives us factual evidence and credible sources to pull the reader into her side of the argument.

In response to Mitoko Rich, “Literacy Debate – Online, R U Really Reading?” In the 21st century, children are learning via many different sources, whether through textbooks, internet, blogs, etc. Therefore, it was not surprising to read what was mentioned in this article. Reading in the digital age is causing a debate, especially in regards to students. After reading the article, I began to wonder; is it possible that digital text can cause more harm than good? Can digital text take away the value of reading books? And what is happening psychologically to a child when they are using digital text?

According to the International Adult Literacy Survey there are a great number of people in Canada that do not have the required literacy skills to fully comprehend written material (Statistics Canada, 2007: 17). However, the internet has a solution. Imbedded within informative websites are often links to activities, videos and simulations which may serve to enable those with lower literacy levels better comprehension of the material at hand. This is evidenced by findings of the International Adult Literacy survey that determined that individuals who use computers generally scored higher in prose literacy defined as the ability to understand and apply concepts learned from text (Statistics Canada, 2005). The internet has the potential to provide these individuals with a better understand the concepts contained within text through the use of multimedia beyond the one dimensional pictures contained in a traditional book. Therefore, the internet serves as a means of transferring knowledge that is more inclusive than traditional print media. Although the internet facilitates the transfer of information, there are concerns about how this information is interpreted and understood.

Throughout the article Carr establishes the mental process of what reading used to be, and now the modern technology reading. Before one is immersed in the tech world, reading books and newspapers was easy, flying through the books and need to run to the local library. Nowadays, teenagers, and adults all resorts to the Web. Whether it is a blog, social media post, or the online newspaper, many tend to read the bare minimum. Some may complain about the comment or caption is longer than a paragraph. Readers in today’s age

After reading “Adolescent Room Culture: Studying Media in the Context of Everyday Life” by Jeanne Steele and Jane Brown, study the uses and gratifications of literature. Have a look at your life. Where do practice and theory seem to match up, and where do they pass like ships in the night? Keep a “media uses and gratifications” diary for you and your family or friends for a week. Use the diary as raw material for your study. Organize the diary to deliver information about questions you want answered. 

Can you apply Steele and Brown to what you have observed, or do you need to modify their model? Can you think of a better representation? How will you construct your model? Which

By definition, Media Literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. The power of the media should not be underestimated. Millions of teens and adults spend hours watching television and surfing the web on a daily basis. With the use of media literacy, these individuals that utilize hours of their daily lives can be protected from pressures of media disinformation that also pushes them to become the idealistic human model it wishes them to be. By teaching majority of our communities about media literacy, we can free them from the standardized pressures of society itself. These free beings will no longer feel the needs to live up to the expectations of the media as they will discover the falsified truth when analyzed deeply. Educating the population will not only free their minds mentally, but it will strengthen their capability of thinking also. Media Literacy provides opportunities for anyone to build communication skills, boost his or her confidents to interpret multiple media sources at the same time, and as well as realistically designating the portrayal of his or her position along with others’ in a perspective view. One can take advantage of media literacy to improve his or her media use habits, such as constant television viewing behaviors. With the impact of educating the life of an individual with Media Literacy, we can advance the habitual uses of media of that human being’s family and develop more intellectual

The mass medium I have chosen to critique is a new television show called This Is Us and it airs on the NBC channel. This Is Us is a show about a family with triplets and they show how they handle all the different parts of their lives. This particular mass medium addresses many of the different current issues going on in today’s society including; race, diversity, education, religion, and politics. This Is Us addresses diversity in today’s society and portrays many different types of people within this one television show. To prove that this mass medium portrays diversity I will look into how this show illustrates race, different social stances, and different educational backgrounds both positively and negatively. Also, to better the credibility

This week, I watched the movie “ Miss Representation”, it is a documentary in 2011 and Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the director, producer and was written by her. I watched the film on Thursday, July 30, 2015, I watched it on my computer and I was watching it at home. The documentary is about we human are failing to see the real world that we lives in. It talks about that media is a very powerful tool of delivering messages to the world. The documentary starts with some numbers of information that tell us that American teenager: “spend 31 hours a week watching TV, 17 hours a week listening to music, 3 hours a week watching movies, 4 hours a week reading magazines, 10 hours a week online, and that is 10 hours and 45 minutes of media consumption a day” (“ Miss Representation”). Nowadays, people are going to learn more from media, then any other things because each of us has just spent too much time on it, and everyone does have their own ways to have the interaction of the media. And the media are just everywhere around us.

The article, “Digital Literacy Is the Key to the Future, But We Still Don’t Know What It Means,” is written by Marcus Wohlsen. He writes his article, to explain to the public what digital literacy is. Wohlsen knows that the increasing there is an increasing usage of technology in the public life, and to adapt to this they are going to need to be literate is using it. In his article, he explains to the public what this literacy is, and how much one needs to be literate in technology. Wohlsen effectively uses multiple viewpoints of experts and relatability to engage the reader and explain to them what digital literacy is all about.

Media literacy is defined as "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a variety of forms" (Know TV). In more practical terms, media literacy means questioning the media and interpreting its many messages accordingly. Students are exposed to mass quantities of media on a daily basis. They watch television and movies, read books, newspapers, and magazines, listen to music, and in more recent years explore the Internet. This extreme exposure to media outlets leads to the need for education about the media. Media literacy is one way to help educate students about issues in which they are already actively engaged. Media literacy should be implemented into

In today’s society, there are a number of factors that affect a child’s ability to learn. The media, for good and for bad, is the primary teacher of American youth. This environment reflects life itself, sometimes in a corrupt way, including the positive and heinous parts, along with the beautiful and hideous parts, as well as the charitable and violent parts. It is almost impossible to protect American youth from experiences reflecting the adult world when the media invades homes and becomes so much a part of everyday living. “American teenagers spend 31 hours a week watching television, 10 hours a week online, 4 hours a week reading magazines, and 17 hours a week listening to music” (Miss). Even though mass media is a huge part of a

Media and education are agents for transmitting information between and among people during pre-conflict, conflict, and post conflict stages in fragile states. Various parties use these agents of information to pursue their agenda and interests. On one hand, media and education have served the purpose of spreading fear and creating a psychological impact to propagate violence such as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Conversely, during peacebuilding processes, they have served as mediums to promote peace during conflict. Despite the proliferation of violence through media and education, both can aid in achieving peacebuilding in conflict-ridden states, irrespective of the stage of such conflict. Various arguments and researches have been made on the importance, reliability and validity of the media and education in peacebuilding and reconstruction of states.