I often see the term “media literacy” used when someone doesn’t understand the message a story is trying to convey, and they’re described as “lacking media literacy”. What does it mean, why is it important, and how do I know if I have good media literacy or not?
(Edit: I should specify that i’m using the term “story” to refer to fictional stories rather than news stories/articles)
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So, it’s sort of in the title: media literacy is how to ‘read’ (or be literate) of media.
What that means really is understanding the symbolism and structures that are present in the story. This could be as simple as a man holding a knife threatening is going to hurt another character or as complex as specific shots used in sequence can build emotional tension.
Practically though, when people talk about media literacy they are discussing critical thinking around the piece of media and asking why it is doing what it’s doing.
So, for example there are many American films that focus on military, or military like tactics. Why do they do this? What could it mean when we take into context the wider US militarism? What message is that sending to the audience? Asking questions like that builds your media literacy as it is practicing ‘reading’ media and attempting to understand the messages that the media is giving to the audience.
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