What is Critical Media Literacy?

Media literacy has been defined by a variety of people, from a variety of countries, in a variety of ways. There are also may types of "new" literacies surfacing -- digital, computer, information, visual -- all of which seem to be only a part of a media landscape. Media literacy can be used as an umbrella term since each of the literacies mentioned above deal with an aspect of the media (e.g. computers, art, graphics, images, text, advertising, etc.). Learning how to analyze the media is an important skill that helps to understand the culture that you live in. Consider some of these instances:

• Watching the news on television, reading the newspaper, surfing the Internet can all provide a reader with news and information on various subjects.
  
  Media analysis: Which media resource gives you more content or information?
  Critical media analysis: How accurrate is the content? Is there only one version of the "truth"?
  
  
• Watching a commercial on television, reading an advertisment in a magazine, or a billboard on the highway may each be trying to sell the same product.
  
  Media analysis: Did any of these advertising techniques have an impact on you or someone you know? Why or why not? Are the ads trying to reach the same audiences?
  Critical media analysis: Are there people who are invisible in the media? If so, why is this the case? Are certain businesses more powerful than others?
  
  
• Newspapers and other media reports may tell a different story of events than if you read historical texts from the time period that you are studying, watching a movie on the historical event, or looking at a piece of artwork depicting the historical circumstances.
  
  Media analysis: Is there a "best" way to get your information? Can it be possible that there are multiple histories being told?
  Critical media analysis: What are the implications for society if multiple histories exist? How would this effect various groups of people?
  
  

As the world is becoming filled with greater numbers of messages, desensitization to information overload is a growing concern. Trying to sort out the information and critically research, analyze, and understand the media is becoming more and more important. But not only is it important to be aware of the media, it is also important to have the skills of creating your own media products. Without this knowledge, there is much lacking in the real understanding how images, ideas, and styles are constructed and sold to consumers. Learning to produce your own videos, web pages, newspapers, scripts, billboards, music, etc. can contribute to the learning about our culture. This can be considered the "critical" component of critical media literacy.

Engaging in a critical media literacy activity can be the described as being one or more of the following:

1. a critical analysis of a media selection
2. learning about the technical processes of using media tools and constructing media content
3. combining (1) and (2) in order to critically analyze the media as content via the media as tool

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