Question

List four ways ways media literacy has changed.

Answer 1

Answer(s):

• Satire/Satirical content (example articles can be found at https://theonion.com)
• Digital Media/Literacy
• The ability of recognize and/or resist Propaganda
• Analyzing Advertising

Explanation: Media literacy is generally considered the ability of understanding different types of media, and the messages that they are sending (persuasive or informative techniques, for example). Satire, which is the use of humor to address specific social issues (politics, fake media, etc.) is one of the big ways that media literacy has developed over the years. It gives the audience a chance to learn about something interesting or take into consideration a serious topic while still being able to enjoy themselves, and is typically considered very powerful in the literary world. Saturday Night Live and Family Guy are both wonderful (and more fun, in my opinion) examples if you'd like to understand the concept more. Moving on, digital literacy is another symbol of pop culture and societal experience through more non traditional sources like; video games, smartphones, and the internet as a whole. My third pick, the resistance of Propaganda, I consider a big change as well. In the 1900s it was typically much harder to recognize someone putting ideas into your head because people assumed that their information was trustworthy, and primarily received news from their radios. For example, during Hitler's reign, there was heavy propaganda such as movies and books that portrayed him (in his country) as the good guy of the whole situation. Finally, understanding how advertisers persuade you to purchase something is a big part of how media today has changed. We now know the different types of ways that a creator can appeal to their audience, for example; emotional tactics, logical reasoning, and/or clear credibility. An ad can appeal to your sense of sympathy through pictures of starving animals or children, a hospital can give statistics of it's death rate during surgeries so that patients can make a final decision on whether or not they want that specific facility/surgery, or a governor could use their time in the military as a way to receive credibility and voting favor from the audience.

Sorry for such a long explanation, I hope this helped! :)