Media Literacy

In your study of media literacy, you took a look at how mass media can affect public opinion, such as the abuse of drugs by teens and young adults or smoking habits and lung cancer among the American population. By studying the change in public opinion trends and their correlation with changes in media advertising, it is easy to understand the link between media messages and their effect on human behavior.

Media literacy is an important skill, one that involves reading and interpreting media messages just as you do with literary texts. However, with media messages, you must look for additional characteristics such as use of color, product placement, advertising techniques, and special effects. You also must look for viewpoints and biases, and then consider what values or viewpoints might be excluded from the message. As media messages in the advertising world evolve to target America's changing demographic, media messages are on track to be more and more inclusive of diverse viewpoints and lifestyles.