Potter, Introduction to Media Literacy 1e 1
Introduction to Media Literacy, 1st edition
W. James Potter
Chapter 1: Why Increase Media Literacy?
Lecture Notes
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify how our culture is saturated with a constant flow of information from the media.
2. Recognize how you have been navigating through this flood of information
unconsciously with automatic routines that determine what gets filtered into your
attention.
3. Describe the ways in which our mental programming is influenced by parents,
institutions, everyday experience, and the mass media.
Outline:
I. Our message-saturated culture
A. Our culture is saturated with information, most of which is delivered by media
messages.
B. Information is being created at an accelerating pace.
i. There are more people creating and sharing information than ever before.
a. Half of all the scientists who have ever lived are alive today and
producing information.
b. Ordinary people create the largest amount of information.
ii. Technology makes the creation and sharing of messages easier.
a. It is easier for musicians to record and share music through
software like GarageBand.
b. There are 2 billion Internet users online.
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C. There is a high degree of media exposure, especially through computers and video
games.
i. We, typically, use these devices while simultaneously consuming other
media.
ii. Social media is the fastest growing area of media exposure.
D. We cope with all of this information through multitasking.
i. Through multitasking, a person can experience 3 hours of media exposure
on each hour of clock time.
ii. Multitasking will not allow us to deal with all of the information out there.
Therefore, we need other tactics and skills.
II. Automatic routines
A. An automatic routine is a sequence of behaviors that we learn from experience
and then apply again and again with little effort.
i. Automatic routines help us complete day-to-day tasks like brushing our
teeth.
ii. Automaticity is a state where our minds operate without any conscious
effort from us.
attention.
B. There are advantages and disadvantages of automatic processing.
i. Advantages
a. Automatic processing allows us to multitask.
b. Automatic processing increases efficiency.
When you search for information online, Google’s
algorithm filters through millions of web pages to retrieve
the most popular and suitable results for you.
ii. Disadvantages
C. We program our automatic routines through socialization.
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i. Socialization is the process by which our family, teachers, political
leaders, and so on tell us what we should think about.
III. Increasing media literacy
A. Being media literate gives you a clearer perspective on the distinction between the
real world and the world created by the media.
B. You can increase your media literacy by examining your media exposure and
product-buying habits.
i. What media exposure habits do you have?
ii. What product-buying habits do you have?
C. What are your needs?
i. How do your media exposure and buying habits relate to your needs?
a. Are your habits satisfying your needs?
ii. Becoming more media literate puts you in the position to take control.