Week 8: Oppressive to Responsible Societal Norm
What does it mean to be media literate?
As Potter points out, that is a broad and loaded topic that has not yet settled on a set of skills let alone a finalized definition.
I’m not sure that I believe that anyone can be fully media literate considering the pace at which everything changes. What I do believe, is that we can acquire a set of skills that enable us to be as adaptable as possible to what will be presented to us both consciously and subconsciously. I agree that this set of skills should include the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate (as the National Leadership Conference of Media Literacy defines) and I wonder if this will soon become a part of mandatory and mainstream educational practice. The way I see it, the media and digital world are a fully functioning part of any society and should be treated as such. I support the education of digital literacy and citizenship taking place alongside other child-rearing practices such as manners and sharing.
Communal Media Literacy
But how do you implement those media life lessons if you never received them yourself? Aside from in-classroom education, I still stand strong in the notion of communal education. I see a great deal of media misuse and issues coming from those who do not attend an educational institution - adults. I’m not the only one, the NCA (National Communication Association) is also calling for increased media education for adults not only for digital citizenship but to provide education to prevent and lessen the occurrences of scams and other cybercrime.
Cultural Media Literacy
Additionally, media is displayed to draw attention and interest as quickly as possible and hold onto it. Hence doom scrolling and clickbait. Speaking to people’s biases, validating opinions, and appealing to the masses typically means that our Eurocentric world promotes Eurocentric media and therefore further entrenching the invisibility of everyday oppression. Minority groups, or “others” are generally marginalized by the media and/or are not considered by those living outside oppressed boundaries. Our societal norms promote the use of sexism, racism, ageism, and other ‘isms’ to the point of invisibility. In fact, the media takes advantage of these norms by feeding them back to us to further instill them. Of course, rebelling against these norms typically leads to deeper labels such as “angry feminists” or “soft men”. And that’s all before considering the intersectionality of those living outside the “white” classification system.
Being “fully” media literate would involve being able to apply multiple perspectives to the intake of all media in order to best consider how it affects “others” as well as yourself, and how it perpetuates unjust societal norms. Media literacy goes far beyond basic citizenship classroom education and thinking about whether news is real or fake.
Moving Forward
I think, and hope, that media literacy will become a part of a natural education system that embraces the digital world as a primary function of our society - there’s no point resisting it. Learning to appropriately engage with media aspects will normalize its inclusion and perhaps lessen its use for marginalization and fear-mongering. Not that I believe it will happen in my lifetime nor will I stop implementing my practices of “unplugging”, its all about balance, but removing media from a pedestal just might bring it to a level that better serves everyone rather than the masses. Perhaps, in 100 years, responsible and fair representational media could be a new societal norm.