module 1 readings- Regina Hernandez

As this class began and I completed the first activities on my own, I have to honest, I still was unclear on what media literacy was. I did do some research on my own but I was still confused, but after proceeding with the assignments and getting to the assigned readings I began to understand more on what media literacy is. According to Jane Tallim, media literacy is the ability to analyze the media’s messages to the public by critical thinking, asking pertinent questions, understanding the goals of the media production, and to be aware of media factors influencing people. I also learned that there is a difference between media literacy and media education. Tallim explains that media education is examination of the media world, by asking who is the message for, why is there a message, whose voices are heard and whose are absent.  Now that I have read and understood the main concepts let me explain some articles that I found interesting.

To begin with, in this week’s readings for Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture by Karen Sternheimer, I learned about media phobia and the relationships of media and childhood. The first chapter focused on media phobia and it also gave me an insight on how the media was back in 1980’s. Did you know that in 1982 the channel networks would shut down at night!? Also, I learned that many have a media phobia and automatically link the media to all the society problems. This chapter explained that although the media is a critical problem, there are bigger problems such as poverty in the world, so one should not have all focus and blame on media.  It also explained how media phobia was created by media itself. There is media propaganda trying to blame social problems on media For example, the media has sent messages accusing itself for the increase of violence in adolescents.. Sternheimer also explains that in order to deconstruct media phobia one needs to focus on popular culture. I think that because popular culture shapes what we think and talk about, having media education, will help deconstruct media phobia. Additionally, in chapter 2 Sternheimer explains that many disagree on the age of a childhood as well as what childhood is. A childhood is lived by differently by experience of each individual. That I can relate because as an older child my childhood was strict and different than my younger sister who had more “freedom”. As well as the experience we had where I was introduced to a computer at age 9 and boy were they big.  On the other hand, she would watch cartoons on a tablet since she was five. I understand Sternheimer on varieties of definitions and understandings of childhood that make it more difficult to stop blaming social problems on pop culture.

Also, I found the power point  “Why Media literacy” interesting because it helped shape my understanding on the importance of teaching and having and ideology of media literacy. In the power point one can see how over time the consumption of media is greater than the hours of learning in school. It also compares violent acts between children shows and prime TV.  Where children shows have 5 times more violence than prime TV.  Last semester I took an adolescent development class where I learned that many adolescents are affected by the media because the media portrays a females as skinny yet with curves, and many adolescents do not know that these models are usually intensively photoshoped. This power point also explains how self esteem is targeted in the media.  Also, it shows other common problems such as drug use and drug death affected by media coverage.