Deciphering the Media Code
Michelle Khouri
It’s time to face a frightening truth. Educators have been fighting an ongoing battle against what seems like a shape-shifting foe. Before technology boomed, this foe took the shape of chewing gum and secret notes. Now, educators feel they have to fight against a thousand different forms of distraction, like text messages, iPhones, Blackberries, Twitter, Facebook, and the list goes on. But, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them.
In his session, “Becoming Media Literate: Critical Literacy through a Media Lens,” Canadian educator Ken Pettigrew stressed the importance of teaching students about the media. “That’s our job as teachers—holding students’ hands until the lights come on,” said Pettigrew, “Media literacy is one of those ways that we can turn the lights on for students.” In Ontario’s York Region School District, where Pettigrew teaches, 20 percent of the curriculum is dedicated to teaching media literacy. The district does this because they feel it enhances students’ critical thinking skills and helps them develop an understanding of the media-saturated world they are born into.
Pettigrew opened by playing Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl 2009 commercial. What ensued was a healthy and plentiful debate of what Coca-Cola was trying to accomplish with their deliberate choices in music, camera angles, and characters. When the discussion ended, Pettigrew’s point was clear: analysis of the media through examples inspires conversation and substantive thought. Teaching students media literacy is not about letting them roam on Facebook or warning them about the evils of the Web. Rather, it involves careful study of newspapers, commercials, movie posters—anything with the purpose of reaching an audience—and the critical analysis of their meaning, text, audience, and production.
According to Pettigrew’s presentation, the eight key concepts of media literacy are:
- All media are constructions.
- Media construct versions of reality.
- Media contain value messages.
- Audiences interpret messages differently.
- Media have commercial interests.
- Media have social and political implications.
- Each medium has its own language, form, techniques, conventions, and aesthetics.
- In media, form and content are closely connected.
Helping students understand media functions and purposes develops students who are able to analyze media messages and make more informed consumer decisions. As Pettigrew put it, media literacy is about teaching students to consume wisely, rather than to not consume at all.