Media consumer monsters: Why we need media literary

Everywhere people devour media like Cookie Monsters. Society tends to depend on reading a newspaper daily or habitually tuning into favorite television programs. It seems people consume all media without questioning it and are comfortable being told by the media how to think about concepts like technology, fashion, and celebrities. This mindset of media dependence can be remedied by learning how to become media literate.

Because media is all encompassing as a form of entertainment and education, the line between the two blurs into infotainment. Examples of infotainment include television programs like Entertainment Tonight and magazines that present some information about celebrities as though it is informational news.

It is in the best interest of society to educate themselves on understanding the media’s reasoning behind its messages in order to best decipher the degree of validity from media messages rather than accepting all messages as being valid. Committing to your own Media Literacy 101 program and being a media literacy ambassador to others helps our society to become media literate.

Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, supports Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World fear that what we love (the media) will ruin us in addition to comparing and contrasting it with Orwell’s fear that what we hate (the media) will ruin us. Regardless of loving or hating the media, our society is certainly obsessed with it.

MP3 players have given people license to feel a need to be entertained at every moment of everyday. Or, is it that the media’s messages have put the idea in people’s heads that they need to be entertained at all times to feel fulfilled.

A February 20, 2004 article, “Mini iPod: Size, Style Do Matter”, by CBS’ Larry Magid discusses the pros and cons of some of the Apple Company’s technology. He discusses his frustration with understanding why consumers would need a smaller piece of technology with less storage space, when a device with more storage space already exists.

This concept seems vastly different from the American frame of reference of bigger is better. However, after trying out the product, he appreciated that it was barely noticeable to have with him. Although he claims to not be too picky about the appearance of his electronic devices, he made the statement that, “Deservedly or not, possessing an iPod has become something of a status symbol and the prettier and more elegant the status symbol, the better.” This media message has been reinforced by iPod owners and media consumers.

Messages about iPods and technology fulfilling people by having a certain status and differentiating between the haves and have-nots are certainly evident in the media’s messages to someone who critically thinks about what the media is feeding to him or her.

The article continues to include that although there are less expensive off-brand mp3 players, consumers do not view them to be as sophisticated as the branded iPod. To argue for Apple’s iPod, Magid admits that the thought put in behind the brand name technology is helpful regarding the devices intuitive operational design while the off-brand competitor’s device seemed awkward after using an iPod.

Rather than digesting media without critically thinking about it, a culture of media literacy must be cultivated. By creating this culture that critically consumes media, a system of checks and balances is formed by consumers using discretion to determine the extent to which a message is true. By becoming media literate, we can become conscientious consumers and figure out for ourselves by using the media as an informational tool whether or not a product or service will actually do us good.

Orange You Glad You Can Become Media Literate?

Howard and Matthew’s book, On Deadline, Managing Media Relations, references journalism.org’s Eight Major Trends of Media Relations, one of which regards the convergence of media seeming to become more inevitable. With media messages being blasted from all angles, it becomes difficult to identify what factors influence our decisions and shifts along an influence spectrum.

In studying the patterns of factors regarding the effects media has, I analyzed the potential media effects for a person watching a cooking show.

For example, watching a particular cooking show could lead someone to pick up an organic food item at the grocery store if the show emphasizes healthy and environmentally friendly eating. A person could be influenced consciously or subconsciously by the products used on a program as well. Some shows cover product labels, whereas some cooking show hosts capitalize on product placement and mention or endorse products.

Changingminds.org cites persuasive tactics as an incentive to understand the meaning behind colors. An example being McDonald's using red and yellow as their colors. The use of red to signify fast and yellow to encourage hunger hence, fast food.

Color psychology is evident in the other fast food restaurant’s logos as well as the orange Food Network logo. The psychology of colors is a tool media can use to manipulate audiences. If the consumer is aware or media literate of this tool, he/she would be less likely to be consciously influenced by the sight of “golden arches”, but when the person is not engaged in being media literate of color psychology, the person could be persuaded by the color stimulus of a current or previous media impression.

Other factors contribute to acting on a decision to purchase fast food whether or not a person was immediately and/or previously exposed to a corresponding fast food media impression. Developmental and cognitive abilities move people’s manifestation points as they emotionally and cognitively mature. Sociological and lifestyle factors such as seeing a favorite television character, family member or friend model certain behaviors also influence a person’s habits. Refining these abilities within the scope of exposure to media attribute to developing a more media literate mindset.

When it comes to deciphering what effects the media has on people, the answer lies in determining what effects the individual allows the media to have on him/herself. By strengthening one’s ability to put media literacy into practice, the person can then have more control over his/her own actions and use the media as a tool rather than being used by the media.

I hope to use media literacy to be more conscientious about removing myself from media impressions and act as an impartial third party to analyze my frame of reference in relation to the media’s message. I also hope to develop my personal locus regarding my media exposure habits to make informed decisions regarding to what degree I allow myself to be influenced by the media and why I allow a particular media message to influence me.

Dancing & Singing

The Monday 8 p.m. timeslot works well for ABC’s Dancing with the Stars as it fell in the number 3 ranking according to Nielson ratings for the week of March 24, 2008 and the Dancing with the Stars results shown Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ranked 4th. Dancing with the Stars’ rating of 13 translates into 14,664,000 or 13% of a possible 112,800,000 households tuned into the program. The show works best in its current timeslots because it is a strong program for Monday and Tuesday evenings in comparison to its timeslot competition. The program is also better off earlier in the week rather than competing with Wednesday or Thursday night programming.

Dancing with the Stars came in only behind Fox’s American Idol on Wednesday nights which ranked 1st and on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. which ranked 2nd. It is in ABC’s best interest to avoid going up against American Idol which has a dedicated following and successful longevity over more seasons than Dancing with the Stars. Although there are message boards and options to be able to have information text messages sent to viewer’s cell phones. American Idol viewers even have the option of signing up for an online community on the American Idol Web site, whereas Dancing with the Stars views do not have that option on ABC’s Web site.

It would also work to Dancing with the Stars disadvantage to be in the Thursday night 9 p.m. timeslot because the program would compete with CSI. Although CSI and CSI Miami, ranked 5th with a 10.3 rating according to Nielson ratings the week of March 24, 2008, are different programs CSI probably stands to take away a portion of viewers.

Another strength of the 8 p.m. timeslot is that Dancing with the Stars starts on the hour, whereas the 8th ranked with an 8.6 rating comedy Two and a Half Men begins at 8:30 p.m. Monday nights. However, Two and a Half Men is preceded by Big Bang Theory which works to the advantage of both the CBS programs. College basketball took 6th in the rankings with an 8.9 rating. Having basketball scheduled at 9 p.m. after Big Bang Theory did not seem to hurt the Dancing with the Stars ratings as basketball has a different target audience than Dancing with the Stars audience.

AP Television writer, Frazier Moore’s April 1, 2008 article indicated Fox won last week, averaging 9.93 million viewers (with a 5.9 rating and 10 share) capturing the network's 11th straight weekly success. CBS clipped Fox’s heels with 9.47 million viewers (6.1 rating, 10 share), while ABC had 8.83 million viewers (5.7 rating, 9 share) and NBC had 7.69 million viewers (5.1 rating, 8 share).