Here's an interesting post analyzing SuperNanny and Nanny 911 as reality. It can easily be used in connection with media literacy or critical thinking. Identifying the unreality of reality TV would make an interesting classroom exercise.
Showing posts with label Media Literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Literacy. Show all posts
10.05.2011
11.29.2010
$5 Off
$5 Off
The $5 off coupon and the large percentage reductions provide good examples of media literacy and its relevance to everyday living. Increasingly we see coupons for saving money at the various stores. One such one is Bed Bath & Beyond. The coupon says “$5 off any purchase of $15 or more.” Not a bad deal or so you’d think. Then, at the bottom of the ad, in very small print—print most people would need glasses to read—is a list of exclusions—in this case, over 40. And here is an ad for Michaels—40% off any one regular price item—followed by a list of exclusions in print too small to read. And then there’s Macy’s—15% off in large letters, followed by a list of exclusions—again, in small print.
So, what’s the idea? Well, it seems to me (and I could be wrong) that at last part of the idea is to have you read the big print, select the items to be purchased, present the coupon, and then be told that this item is excluded from the $5 offer, the 40% discount, or the 15% off. Then, what do you do? You can hold up the line and argue? Go back for a similar product that is covered? Refuse to purchase the item? Most likely, you’ll just buy it without the discount. I think the media literacy lesson here is: Expect to be fooled. Look at how an ad, any ad, is trying to fool you. Chances are it’s doing exactly that.
The $5 off coupon and the large percentage reductions provide good examples of media literacy and its relevance to everyday living. Increasingly we see coupons for saving money at the various stores. One such one is Bed Bath & Beyond. The coupon says “$5 off any purchase of $15 or more.” Not a bad deal or so you’d think. Then, at the bottom of the ad, in very small print—print most people would need glasses to read—is a list of exclusions—in this case, over 40. And here is an ad for Michaels—40% off any one regular price item—followed by a list of exclusions in print too small to read. And then there’s Macy’s—15% off in large letters, followed by a list of exclusions—again, in small print.
So, what’s the idea? Well, it seems to me (and I could be wrong) that at last part of the idea is to have you read the big print, select the items to be purchased, present the coupon, and then be told that this item is excluded from the $5 offer, the 40% discount, or the 15% off. Then, what do you do? You can hold up the line and argue? Go back for a similar product that is covered? Refuse to purchase the item? Most likely, you’ll just buy it without the discount. I think the media literacy lesson here is: Expect to be fooled. Look at how an ad, any ad, is trying to fool you. Chances are it’s doing exactly that.
5.18.2009
Advertising as News
It seems advertising is more and more disguising itself as news. We now have advertisements on the covers of magazines. We have advertisements for network programs inserted into network news stories. And we have advertisements in magazines and newspapers that are designed to look like articles—despite the small print that says “advertisement”.
One of the most misleading occurs on CNBC, a network devoted to financial news. Yet, it allows advertisements on financial issues to appear as if they are just another segment of the ongoing show. The CNBC example is especially disturbing because it seems to me to be directed at people who are anxious about their financial situation and who are consequently more likely to be taken in by the advertiser’s claims, perhaps not evaluating the claims as logically as they might if they were in better circumstances. Shame on you CNBC (and all the other stations and media who allow similar types of advertisements that are disguised as news)! You’re better than that, CNBC.
All of these instances seem to me to be designed to mislead the reader and viewer and are therefore unethical. All provide good examples (and a good project in media literacy) of how the media are looking to make a buck rather than present advertisements for what they are—advertisements. Apparently, money comes before truth and honesty.
One of the most misleading occurs on CNBC, a network devoted to financial news. Yet, it allows advertisements on financial issues to appear as if they are just another segment of the ongoing show. The CNBC example is especially disturbing because it seems to me to be directed at people who are anxious about their financial situation and who are consequently more likely to be taken in by the advertiser’s claims, perhaps not evaluating the claims as logically as they might if they were in better circumstances. Shame on you CNBC (and all the other stations and media who allow similar types of advertisements that are disguised as news)! You’re better than that, CNBC.
All of these instances seem to me to be designed to mislead the reader and viewer and are therefore unethical. All provide good examples (and a good project in media literacy) of how the media are looking to make a buck rather than present advertisements for what they are—advertisements. Apparently, money comes before truth and honesty.
4.16.2008
Stereotyping in Cartoons, etc.
In searching for new cartoons for an upcoming revision, I was struck by the number of cartoons stereotyping men and making them look stupid, boorish, or incredibly selfish. One cartoon that made this especially clear was a New Yorker cartoon where 2 women are talking in the hallway of an apartment house. The one with a suitcase says: “I’m going away for the weekend. Would you mind feeding my husband?” Why do the media (and it’s not only cartoons; television commercials are the worst, I suspect) persist in making men look so grossly incompetent? I don’t find the cartoon funny (well, maybe a little, a very little), only insulting.
When I took General Semantics, Harry Weinberg—one of the greatest teachers I ever had—had us do a scrapbook of misevaluations (fact inference confusion, allness, indiscrimination, intensional orientation, static evaluation, and polarization—the kinds of distortions that I (and probably most others) discuss in the chapter on verbal messages—and which had to come from different media—so there had to be a certain number of cartoons, a certain number of news items, and so on. I would think that a similar project could be built around cultural distortions—stereotyping, ethnocentrism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, racism, insensitivity in communication between people with and without hearing, speech, physical, or visual impairments—from the various media. It would be a good exercise in cultural awareness and in media literacy.
When I took General Semantics, Harry Weinberg—one of the greatest teachers I ever had—had us do a scrapbook of misevaluations (fact inference confusion, allness, indiscrimination, intensional orientation, static evaluation, and polarization—the kinds of distortions that I (and probably most others) discuss in the chapter on verbal messages—and which had to come from different media—so there had to be a certain number of cartoons, a certain number of news items, and so on. I would think that a similar project could be built around cultural distortions—stereotyping, ethnocentrism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, racism, insensitivity in communication between people with and without hearing, speech, physical, or visual impairments—from the various media. It would be a good exercise in cultural awareness and in media literacy.
3.31.2007
Media and Public Speaking
The other night during Crossing Jordan there was a commercial from McDonald’s sponsoring a "recap" that summarized the first half hour of the show. And I wondered why.
• Because the story line is so complex viewers need an internal summary?
• Because people lose attention; they multitask, use their laptops, talk on the phone? Or they doze in and out during the show?
• Because writers and producers want to give the show more focus than it really has by summarizing (and focusing) the main themes?
• Because it’s assumed that viewers surf during the dull parts of the show or don’t return quickly enough from surfing during commercials?
And then I thought, isn’t this the same as what we tell our public speaking students when we suggest transitions and internal summaries? I guess it’s for the same reasons. And I wonder if this going to be a steady type of announcement? Will it become the standard mid-hour commercial? Will we come to rely on it? And if so, is that going to lead us to pay less careful attention, figuring we’ll get the recap soon enough? And if so, is this going to lead us to become less aware of the meaning of media’s messages and less critical of the media generally?
• Because the story line is so complex viewers need an internal summary?
• Because people lose attention; they multitask, use their laptops, talk on the phone? Or they doze in and out during the show?
• Because writers and producers want to give the show more focus than it really has by summarizing (and focusing) the main themes?
• Because it’s assumed that viewers surf during the dull parts of the show or don’t return quickly enough from surfing during commercials?
And then I thought, isn’t this the same as what we tell our public speaking students when we suggest transitions and internal summaries? I guess it’s for the same reasons. And I wonder if this going to be a steady type of announcement? Will it become the standard mid-hour commercial? Will we come to rely on it? And if so, is that going to lead us to pay less careful attention, figuring we’ll get the recap soon enough? And if so, is this going to lead us to become less aware of the meaning of media’s messages and less critical of the media generally?
3.30.2007
An exercise in media literacy
Watching TV the other night, I started thinking of something I see all the time but never gave it much thought and that was the advertisements that include little notes that say, “See our ad in X magazine”. AmbienCR says something like “See our ad in Cooking Light”. Exactly what are these little notes designed to accomplish? What are they telling us? Do they want us to go out and buy the magazine and read their ad? Do they want us to appreciate the fact that they have an ad in a magazine? Do they want us to thumb through the magazines around the house to find their ad? Do they want to suggest that the magazine endorses their product? If I were in the classroom right now, I’d want to ask students what purpose these notes serve.
1.03.2007
Media Literacy and Verbal Messages
Here is a great website for lots of words and the page of a word I was researching (in connection with media literacy)--egocasting.
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