Media literacy is vital for our socialization in society and our ability to form ideas. It hadn’t occurred to me until Brian O’Neil’s article that what my mother devoted her parental pedagogy to, was in fact media literacy.
My mother is a staunch conservative: Rush Limbaugh is referred to as Rushy Baby, Michael Steel spoke at my house for the Potomac Women’s Republican Club and dessert was always followed by a trip to “No Spin Zone” (we relished in O’Riley’s no-nonsense knocked out of illogical liberal arguments). My mother was so concerned with protecting us from the liberal media that she made sure we had a healthy and constant dose of conservative opinion in our house. She knew that to be a good citizen, able to see passed the untruths of environmentalist-wackos and purporters of radical agendas, we had to be media literate. Sadly for my mother, her tactics of allowance money for conservative articles and arming us with alternative Christian books during evolution and global warming lessons, failed (I am now an liberal, something we don’t discuss at the holidays).
But, in her attempt to fight one bias with another, she successfully instilled a knack for seeking alternative opinions and questioning the dominant logic. I am, thanks to my mom, media literate, although not the way she perhaps would want me to be. If one took her determination and applied it to a more diverse set of opinions, the result would be an individual prepared to engage in the public sphere.
Exposure to a diversity of media is crucial to forming one’s individual opinion. Experiencing a well-rounded host of news and facts increases capacity to understand and interpret divergent opinions. Media literacy can bring this type of multifaceted learning to the classroom, giving each child the ability to question and understand our global society. If I were teaching a media literacy class, I would use the following approaches:
- Presenting opinions from at least two different news sources from every continent.
- Sources would alternate countries and opinions.
- Articles would report on the same story to illuminate the differences of opinions.
- Students would read blogs and learn how to check for accuracy by fact checking and engaging with the author.
- Blogs would come from different countries and reflect a variety of opinion.
- Blogs are important because they present a cultural and personal perspective on a issue that isn’t expressed in news reporting.
- Students would practice voicing and defending their opinions in peaceful productive ways.
- They would be encouraged to share their opinions with other students and teachers to learn how to communicate.
- Because alternative opinions are often met with different reactions; it’s important for students to know how to support and evolve their opinions through dialogue.
- Hopefully the exposure to so many alternative opinions would ensure positive and collaborative discussions with an acceptance of alternative opinions.
Media literacy is imperative for America to progress beyond its stiffening dichotomous ideologies. For our society to adapt to a globalized word, individuals must be able to construct their own informed beliefs and truths of our society. To do this, a strong approach focusing on diversity and plurality must be taken.
I can appreciate how your upbringing effects the way you view media. Growing up (and to this day) my father has always taken an unreasonable amount of pleasure in playing devil's advocate to everything I say, even when he agrees with me. This is his way of teaching me to be able to back up my claims. He is by no means conservative, but he watches and listens to many news sources, including FOX News. Whereas I would be tempted to throw something at the television, he says "you can't make good arguments unless you know what discourse is taking place on the other side," and he is right. He ascribes to the philosophy you pointed out: "Exposure to a diversity of media is crucial to forming one’s individual opinion. Experiencing a well-rounded host of news and facts increases capacity to understand and interpret divergent opinions."
ReplyDeleteI imagine his critical outlook comes from the backlash of being raised in a small, close-knit religious community in Madagascar. He took at face value everything he was taught, until he came to America, and discovered that it was an option to question. I think your idea of a media literacy curriculum is plausible for the context of America, as you point out. What this raises for me, is the challenges of teaching media literacy in countries where the political regime and/or dominant religion foster an environment that discourages dissent.