Media Literacy and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media Literacy and Ethics - Essay ExampleMedia Literacy is a subject that is gaining relevance in the Information Age that we hold out today. This is because a passive digestion of discussion content that is offered on a platter is unlikely to lead to a healthy understanding of that content. This is especially true in the highly privatized and commercialized environment of today, where much corporate and political propaganda gets passed on as objective news. Hence, there is no doubt as to the importance of Media Literacy to the usual public. Yet, it is further a fraction of the population that could claim to possess a searing understanding of how different mediums of information operate. (Pavlik & McIntosh, 2011) The rest of this essay will disinvest into what all comprise Media Literacy and also analyze how media literate the author of this essay is. Firstly, media literacy seeks to address the proliferation of new literacy practices in an increasingly mobile, global, digital world. Broadly analogous to bulls eye literacy,media literacypromotes the analysis (reading) and production (writing) of texts in a variety of forms. In practice, conflicting assumptions about the definitions, practices, and impact ofmedia literacy are at the heart of contentious debates about its constitutional aims, purposes, and value. Consequently, asmedia literacy promotes greater access to a wider range of tools and texts, it is increasingly mired in age-old debates about the uses of literacy to frame, shape, and control public discourse. In the process, it touches on the relationships amidmedia literacy, cultural narratives, and the arts. (Tyner, 2009, p.3) One of the key features of Media Literacy is the cultivation of strategies for a scientific analysis of media content. In this sense, Media literacy can be said to offer the citizens a range of critical approaches to gain insight into the nature of media content. Those studying the media should understand that it is mer ely the messenger of information without any inherent moral character. What ascertains the value is the list of attributes attached to it, including who is producing the message, what the contribution is, and the target audience. (Silverblatt, 2007, p.4) Several academics in the field of Media Studies have defined Media Literacy in various different ways. Some claim that a comprehensive understanding of how news and program content is produced, including selection, edition and presentation are essential. In the case of news media, for example, without a complete understanding of these behind-the-scene processes, the audience/reader would not be in a position to critically evaluate the quality of journalism. Some of the criteria for measuring quality of journalism are objectivity, editorial neutrality, standard of presentation and detail. It is only a Media Literate person who would be able to evaluate how the medium he/she is using is performing on these counts. Such an evaluation will overhaul him/her in deciding to continue with the medium or switch over to an early(a) medium or actively engage with its managers in order to mend its overall standards. (Pavlik & McIntosh, 2011) It used to be the case when the term Media Literacy was used entirely in the context of print media. But ever since the invention of the Internet and other digital technologies the methods of information transmission have changed greatly. So, where Media Literacy previously meant the ability to decode, understand and communicate in print