Chapter 1

It is extremely important that as a society, we understand what it means to be media literate and to become this as early as possible. Media literacy is more than just understanding content. It means to promote critical thinking in regards to advertisements, to think about what you are hearing and seeing. It is an understanding the process of mass communication, like the mediums’ function and purpose. We need to be aware of the audience, and more importantly, that the audience includes our self and we are just as susceptible to the message. Developing the skills to correctly analyze the content, information and visual messages we are receiving is necessary to go on to truly enjoy and fully experience what the mass media has to offer us. And as a future participant in the advertising world, media literacy also means to be responsible in the messages I produce by understanding how they will be taken.

I understand that I am impacted by the media and that I make purchasing choices based in part on things such as brand loyalty. I go back to the first time I realized Lysol wasn’t as great as it said on the commercial. The ‘multiple surface’ cleaner that the commercial shows working and sanitizing in 5 seconds with a convenient ‘time lapsed’ note in tiny print on the bottom of the screen, it actually doesn’t effectively kill the germs until you let it sit for 10 minutes. Who wants to sit around for 10 minutes when they just want to wipe off their counter?

Since pictures and scenes have always had an emotional impact on us, advertisers will use this to their advantage. I will quote Cialdini when I call it the ‘click-whirr’ response. It’s when we start to analyze it, bring that logic back into it, that we take away the effects of merely reacting. I also question the source more often now. I used to be that person who thought everything on the internet was true and then I started reading the news and realized that's not so J. Part of that has to do with asking myself, what are the values of this company? Is the bottom line their biggest concern? If that is the case, what would they not tell me?

Finally, being media literate means to understand that media messages are sometimes hard to understand. There are all sorts of things to think about when viewing something as simple as a commercial: a close-up shot at an upward angle is intended to make the object seem more important or how certain scenes suggest time has passed. This also includes the ability to recognize the obvious message being told to me as well as the less perceptible, latent messages.

Why do we believe certain things that are untrue?

Example: Although there is no supporting scientific evidence, we believe sugar makes kids more hyper.