Look
at the following websites and analyze them using the 5 media concepts below.
For each of the five concepts you should write 2 - 5 sentences to address
the various questions.
Websites
to use (choose 3 of the 5):
CNN
Yahoo
Music
LA
Times
National
Geographic
Amnesty
International
Media
Literacy Concepts:
1. Classify the Product
All
media messages have some basic identifiable properties
o What
medium is used? the genre?
o Is
it part of a whole or complete by itself?
2. Examine its origins
All
media messages are constructed.
o Who
is the sender of the message? Who paid for the message? How many people
actually put it together and what did each do?
o What
is the content based on? an actual event? an idea? whose idea?
o What
is the purpose or intent of the message? Is it clear or hidden?
3.
Analyze its mediation
Media
messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.
o What
techniques are used to attract my attention?
§
Colors,
shapes
§
Sounds
or silence
§
Movment
§
Symbols
§
Props,
settings, clothing
§
Words
– written or spoken
o Conventions
of presentation: routines or patterns, traditions, stereotypes, narrative
formulas, camera angles and point of view, use of graphics and layouts
o What
is emphasized and what is left out?
4. Investigate its consumption
Different
people experience the same message differently.
o How
might different people understand this message differently from me?
o Who
is the intended audience and why?
o How
does your (and others’) background (gender, ethnicity, age, religion, economic
status, familiarity with product, etc) influence your reaction?
o What
is your or others’ motivations for consuming product?
o Who
has access to it? Is anything needed to consume the product?
o How
many ways might you interpret this message?
5. Perceive its impact
Media
have embedded values and points of view.
o What
lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in or omitted from
this message?
o What
judgments are made about personal or social relationships? about political,
economic, or moral values?
o What
is the cultural context?
o What
Ideas are being sold?
o What
type of person is the consumer asked to identify with?
o What
kinds of behaviors and consequences are shown?
o Who
or what is left out?
o What
are personal/societal effects of consuming this? the effects on your time
/money? the effects on future experiences with the media?