What is “media literacy” and why is it important to understanding a story?

Question

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)

In: Other

Answer 1

You’ve got the basics. When someone lacks media literacy, it basically means that they don’t get the message that the piece of media was attempting to convey. To be media literate, you need to be capable of reading a text beyond the surface level; to be on the lookout for metaphor, symbolism, references to other works, and other kinds of non-literal writing.

For a basic example, Animal Farm by George Orwell is about animals rebelling against a farmer and seizing control of his farm. You can read it at the surface level and understand the narrative and the characters. But it is also an allegory for the Russian Revolution. Specific characters in the book correspond to historical figures. If you read it with that in mind (and with the knowledge that Orwell was a socialist who opposed Stalinism), you will have a much better idea of the message Orwell was trying to convey.

Now imagine having a conversation with someone about Animal Farm and hearing them say that they thought it was just about pigs. You might say that person lacked media literacy with regard to Animal Farm, because they completely missed the deeper meaning of the work. But, does that person lack media literacy generally? Its hard to know. Maybe they just don’t know much about the Russian Revolution, so the parallels went over their head.

Animal Farm is an extreme example because its one of the most famous allegories in western literature. But basically everyone will at some point encounter a book / film / TV Show / etc. that they miss the point of because they lack some information required to understand it. The best way to be “media literate” is just to read a lot, read carefully, and read commentary / criticism, because even if you miss something, others will be happy to explain it to you.