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.
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