Media Literacy, Key Concepts in

Media literacy is often understood as the process of critically analyzing media messages, but it includes the ability to compose messages using media tools and technologies as well. In recent years, media literacy has been defined as an extended conceptualization of literacy, a view many educators embrace; in this perspective, media literacy includes the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms. This definition arose in the early 1990s as media literacy educators from across the United States gathered at the Aspen Institute for a leadership conference on media literacy. The term access generally means the ability to locate information or find messages and to be able to comprehend and interpret a message's meaning. Analysis refers to the process of recognizing and examining the author's purpose, target audience, construction techniques, symbol systems, and technologies used to construct the message. The concept of analysis also includes the ability to appreciate the political, economic, social, and historical context in which media messages are produced and circulated as part of a cultural system. Evaluation refers to the process of assessing the veracity, authenticity, creativity, or other qualities of a media message, making judgments about a message's worth or value. Finally, the definition of media literacy includes the ability to communicate messages in a wide variety of forms (using language, photography, video, online media, etc.). Media literacy emphasizes the ability to use production processes to compose and create messages using various symbol systems and technology tools.

Media literacy is primarily conceptualized as a learning outcome within an educational framework that aims to give children and young people opportunities to learn about mass media, popular culture, and communication technologies. Media literacy education (or media education) are terms used to refer to the pedagogical processes used to develop media literacy. Because media literacy has developed from the work of educators from many disciplinary perspectives (including communication, education, the fine arts, and public health) in a number of different countries (including England, Canada, Australia, the United States, and others), questions of terminology, focus, and emphasis are debated. In the United States, two national membership organizations support the work of media literacy educators: the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) and the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME).

There are many different types of genres and formats within specific media and communication technologies, and media literacy programs may address these specific forms directly. For example, media literacy programs have included a focus on critical [Page 529]analysis of newspapers and television news, print and TV advertising, magazines, popular music, and contemporary film. Many media literacy advocates and educators make use of a unifying framework: key concepts or questions that identify the central ideas associated with media literacy learning. The key concepts can be explored with children of different ages and with different types of media messages. These include the following:

Messages are constructions. The media do not present simple reflections of external reality. Rather, media messages are carefully crafted constructions that are the result of many decisions and determining factors.

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