Media Literacy: Concept and Definition - Class 6 PDF Download

Media literacy involves learning to access, analyse, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms (Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute, 1992). The definition lays stress on creating media messages, which is only one aspect of media literacy. We need to understand media literacy as a wholesome education which is more about helping audiences of different age groups become competent, critical and literate in all media forms so that they are able to make meaning of all that they see or hear, rather than letting the medium control their thinking.
Media literacy empowers you to understand the media, the rationale of media, the reasons for messages, the implication of visual images and the economics of the media industry. You will be capable of not only finding the answers to your questions from the media but also raise pertinent questions when required. Thus, you will not get carried away by the images of real or imaginary world that are put before you by the media.
Media literacy also helps you understand your surroundings. It helps you make more informed decisions, as you are able to see the hidden meanings behind the messages. In brief, media literacy makes you a more discerning user of media outputs.

Need for Media Literacy

The first and most important requirement for a healthy democracy is to have enlightened electorate. Media literacy creates educated electorates, who are able to see through the campaign strategies and are capable of critically evaluating manifestoes and election speeches. The other important reasons for media literacy are:
1. Influence of media on our daily life: You must have observed that even little toddlers and small children are addicted to mediated communication all day. For some of our children, television acts as a baby sitter and internet as a friend. In such a situation, it is important that children should also be media literate and understand that Tom and Jerry are only cartoons and in real life one can get hurt if one runs like them!
2. Media shapes our perception of the world: If we watch too much of a certain type of programme, we start to believe that the society is just like that. Media literacy frees us from the stereotypes created by the images projected at us.
3. Media is urban and elite oriented, but the society is not: In our real lives, we have to work hard for a living and in our films and television serials; life is depicted to be very rosy. A media literate person will not feel frustrated at this situation and will understand that real life is different from what is depicted. Thus, media literacy helps us to see the difference.
4. Technology changes the look of the world every day: Media products flood the market and change the way people read, talk, write and understand. A media literate person is able to follow the media as per his/her individual requirement and is not led by the diktats of the market.

Functions of Media Literacy

Media literacy as an area of education, must explore the nature and influence of media and media messages in our culture. As far as our culture is concerned, media no longer only influences it; but is already a part of it. From mobile phones, cameras, computers, laptops, internet, newspapers, television to cinema, all the products of media are part of our everyday life and hence our culture. Media literacy therefore helps us understand our culture.
Media literacy does not intend to create critiques of media systems or the society who are forever looking for political agendas, stereotypes or misrepresentations; it however, does intent to create a media consumer who is capable of taking wise decisions and is not unintentionally influenced by media.
Media literacy does not function as a means to criticise the media and find faults with all the messages as it would amount to taking a very narrow dimension to this vast field. However, it involves critically analysing the media only when you have thoroughly understood the meaning behind the messages.
Although some experts believe that media literacy is the knowledge of media production - it is not. Creating media products is a very specialised aspect of media literacy which actually begins from understanding media messages and systems.
Media literacy aims to help you look at the media experience from multiple perspectives, which would include your own educated opinion about media messages. Media literacy does NOT tell you to not interact with the media. It only teaches you to interact carefully, think critically and understand intelligently.

Process of Media Literacy

In order to understand the process of media literacy it will be useful to revisit the famous Model of Communication Process given by the political scientist Harold Lasswell (1948) who defined an act of communication in terms of the following questions:

• Who (Communicator) 
• Says What (Message) 
• In Which Channel (Medium) 
• To Whom (Receiver) 
• With what effect? (Effect)

According to Lasswell there are three functions for communication:

• Surveillance of the environment; 
• Correlation of the parts of society in responding to the environment; and 
• Transmission of social heritage from one generation to next.

Lasswell model suggests that a media message flows in a multicultural society with multiple audiences through various channels. Understanding media is also about understanding different players in the system of mediated communication. Each of the entities outlined by Lasswell can be understood in terms of media, messages and audiences.

‘Who’ or the Communicator is the savvy individual or media organisation who can use the media systems to send forth their messages.
‘What’ is the message that is being sent forth by the medium - it is influenced by many factors and may not be error free.

Channel refers to the medium being used. Each medium has its own characteristics and the nature of the message changes.
‘To Whom’ refers to the consumers of media products and ‘With what effect’ implies the repercussion of the message.

The process is not as simple as it appears; so let us understand it in the context of Media Literacy. The process of Media Literacy begins with the audience - the consumers of media products. When we become media literate, we start to collect relevant and useful information and comprehend its meaning effectively. We gather and interpret information, appreciate the good and the bad, and become media savvy. Given below are the ways in which this process is carried out:

• Each message is understood independently and in relationship with others.
• The message may come from any media. This is understood as ‘deconstruction of message’.
• After deconstruction the messages are analysed in their context and presentation - this is called ‘decoding’.
• Messages are now ‘read’ in the real sense.

The above process will also help you to look at the messages coming from the media with a new perspective.

• Biases and prejudices can be recognised and treated likewise; 
• We can read between the lines; 
• The intent of the sender becomes clear; 
• The media and media channels are understood from the messages they send forth and also how they do it; 
• We understand the ideology of a media organisation that brings out these messages; and 
• We understand our society better.

The fact that you have learnt how to ‘read’ the media messages will also help you to ‘write’ in a better format. You will be able to organise your thoughts, draft your text, add images and/or sounds, edit, and present the final message.