Page 265 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Med a L teracy: Creat ng Better C t zens or Better Consumers?

and affect us differently than if it appeared in a primarily print medium such as a
newspaper. Media are art forms as well as forms of communication and can be ap-
preciated for how they use the unique qualities of each medium to connect with their
audience.

PuTTing ThE DEBaTEs in ConTExT:
ConsumErism vs. CiTizEnshiP

The standpoints that various media educators adopt on the questions noted
above are a function of their overall perspectives on the purpose of media lit-
eracy. Underneath these various debates about strategies and goals, the essen-
tial question that really divides the media literacy community is this: Is media
literacy aimed at creating more sophisticated consumers of media or is it about
nurturing engaged citizens? It is one thing to teach children how to decode an
advertisement for fast food, for example, so that they may see how the image of
a hamburger is artificially constructed, and doesn’t resemble the actual product
that you purchase at the counter. It is another thing entirely to encourage an un-
derstanding of fast food as a megabillion-dollar global industry that is spread-
ing particular industrial practices and ways of thinking about food, labor, the
environment, and the like throughout the world. The consequences of these
varying approaches are very different. The student who learns the tricks behind
fast-food advertising, but stops there, may feel that this wisdom is sufficient
and that they are now free to enjoy their burger and fries from a more informed
perspective. The student who learns about the fast food industry’s unfair labor
practices, cruel treatment of animals, negative impact on the environment, and
contributions to obesity and rising health care costs may choose to have a com-
pletely different relationship with these companies in the future. This student
may simply decide to stop patronizing fast food establishments or they might
get involved in working for reform of the industry or educating others about its
harmful practices.
Each of the seven questions noted in the debates listed above may be under-
stood in terms of this crucial difference in understanding the central purpose of
media literacy.

mEDia EDuCaTion sTraTEgiEs anD
ThE ConsumEr/CiTizEn quEsTion
For example, the perspective of media literacy advocates on the teaching of
production skills as part of a media literacy curriculum is informed by their
position on whether media literacy is about creating sophisticated consumers or
engaged citizens. While most educators would agree that teaching production
skills can be an important part of media education, they differ on the context
in which those skills are taught. Simply teaching the technology, without con-
sidering larger questions of how the technology is a crucial part of a hierarchi-
cal system where dominant ways of seeing are defined by those in positions of
power in society, can lead to students simply trying to emulate what they are so