Media Literacy Perspectives

Media literacy education involves cognitive processes used in critical thinking. Media workshops and curricula emphasize moral values (the defensive, inoculation approach), discriminating responsiveness (the critical viewer), antimedia resistance, and consumer revolution. Inductive media literacy programs promote independent critical thinking. Media content is a limited predictor of potential effects of media exposure. Meaning is situated in what audiences bring to their media experience (selective perception), the context in which they use media (accommodation), and how and why they use the medium (use and gratifications). To succeed, a curricular program of media literacy requires collaboration among teachers, administrators, specialists, and parents.