Potter, media literacy, 9e. © sage publishing, 2019 chapter 9

Potter, Media Literacy, 9e. © SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 9
News
1
Key Idea: News is not a reflection of actual events; it is a
construction by news workers who are subjected to many
influences and constraints.
Introduction
News is currently undergoing a dynamic change
1
Dynamic Nature of News
Desire for news
Dates back to preliterate culture
Mostly personal and local back then
Spread through interpersonal conversation
Newspapers
Started as pamphlets in 16th century
Evolved into daily newspapers in 17th century first in Germany
and then throughout Europe
2

People have always had a desire for news.
2
Newspapers
Early audience in Europe--elite class
Journalists corroborated facts for greater credibility
3
The nature of news and its transmissio n has changed over time.
Early news was shared through interpersonal communication.
Newspapers did not begin until the 16th century in Italy.
3
Rise and Fall of “Big News”
Amer
model
Rise of big news--peak in the 1980s

4
Following the Civil War, there was increased literacy in the
United States.
This was seen as an opportunity to develop newspapers with
large circulations.
The era of big news was lasted from increased newspaper
readership through the penetration of the radio in the 1920s to
the 1970s when it reached its peak.
4
5
5
Decline of “Big News”--after 1980s
Initially slow and then rapid decrease in numbers of:
Circulation of daily newspapers

Journalists
Local TV newscasts
6
Alternatives:
New blogs
Bulletin boards
Online news websites
Citizen journalism | Paul Lewis | TEDxThessaloniki
7

Shift to Online Sources of News
Initially driven by younger people
Illustrates changes in people’s demands:
More efficient access to news
A different kind of news--local, entertaining, and “useful”
information for people
Evidence: rise of social networking sites for accessing news
8
Some social networking sites used for accessing news:
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook
Traditional news markets have been losing their audience.
They are failing to attract younger people.
They face increased competition from alternative news outlets
on the Internet.
8
Different Perspectives on News
Political Philosophy Perspective
Normative perspective
Built from the first amendment to the U. S. Constitution
Focuses on important events and people in a society
News stories constructed from accurate facts rather than
journalists' opinions
Aim--to educate people and help them make informed decisions

Espoused by philosophers and social critics
9
The political philosophy perspective specifies what news should
be.
This is a normative not descriptive perspective.
News should focus on the most important events and people in a
society in order to keep people up-to-date about what is most
significant.
9
10
Traditional Journalistic Perspective
Journalists believe that their purpose is to inform the public,
rather than persuade the public.
This is a normative not descriptive perspective.
10
Normative perspective

Summarizes the journalists’ view of “purpose and nature of
news”
To inform the public rather than editorialize (persuade the
public)
11
There are seven criteria an event must have in order to be
considered newsworthy: timeliness, significance, proximity,
prominence, conflict, human interest, and deviance.
Timeliness: most obvious criterion for newsworthiness. An even
has to be current in order to be considered news.
Significance: magnitude of the consequences of an event.
Proximity: how close the event is to the news audience.
Prominence: how well-known people and institutions are in the
event being considered as newsworthy.
Conflict: the degree to which the parties in an event disagree.
Human interest: how strongly the event would appeal to human
emotions.
Deviance: the degree to which an event is out of the ordinary.
11

Focuses on seven criteria to consider an event “newsworthy”
Timeliness
Significance
Proximity
Prominence
Conflict
Human interest
Deviance
News-Working Perspective
Nonnormative perspective
Developed by scholars who study what news workers do to
gather and present news
Story formulas

Inverted pyramid
Narrative
Simplified extended conflict (SEC)
Guidelines and story formulas--non-definitive prescriptions
12
Use of sources
Although news workers are aware of normative news
perspectives that tell them what they should do, they frequently
cannot achieve the prescribed standards because of unavoidable
constraints, such as deadlines, limited access to sources, and
limited financial resources.
Over time, journalists develop the “news perspective.”
Story formulas: procedures that journalists learn as shortcuts to
help them quickly select and write stories.
Inverted pyramid: Journalist put the information, one after the
other, ranked according to importance until all the information
is in the story. Developed in the early days of the telegraph.
Narrative: Journalists tell a story told in an entertainment
format. It begins with a heated conflict, a gruesome description,
or an unusual quote--all designed to grab the reader’s attention
in an emotional manner, and then each bit of information is
presented in the narrative like a story.
Simplified extended conflict (SEC): Journalists look for a
simple angle of conflict while covering a story and play it over
for several days. For example, political elections.
12

13
Commercialism
News organizations are in the business of constructing large
audiences so they can rent those audiences to advertisers.
News organizations present the kinds of stories that audiences
want most.
13
Economic Perspective
Focuses on how news organizations operate as to increase
profits and minimize expenses
Salient features
Commercialism
Ultimate goal of news
Journalists driven to construct stories that attract larger
audience

Salient Feature
Marketing
Journalists directed by marketing managers to present these
stories in order to satisfy the existing needs in the market
Reasons of criticism
News confounded with advertising
Change in content of news in a way harmful to the public
14
Marketing
News decisions are made by marketers instead of journalists.
It tends to change the content of news in a way that is somehow
harmful to the public.
14
Consumer Personal Perspective
Current trend--People seek information about information
That does not conform to the old traditional journalistic
perspective on news
Strategically that benefits them
15
People are seeking out information strategically that benefits
them.
15

Consumer Personal Perspective: Selective Exposure
A psychological concept that says people seek out information
that conforms to their existing belief systems and avoids
information that challenges those beliefs.
The individual determines for himself or herself what is news
rather than relying on an outside authority
16
As the audience for news fragments, news vehicles are getting
more and more specialized, which is known as hyper-localism.
Selective exposure is a psychological concept that says people
seek out information that conforms to their existing belief
systems and avoid information that challenges those beliefs.
16
Consumer Standards for Evaluating the Quality of News
Objectivity
Separateness from the object being observed so that the object
is perceived accurately and that the perception is not distorted
by human limitations
Unrealistic standard for journalists
17

Objectivity
The idea of objectivity is a very general philosophical concept.
It means a separateness from the object being observed so that
the object is perceived accurately and that the perception is not
distorted by human limitations.
17
Ben Goldacre: Battling Bad Science
18
Accuracy
Good criterion for judging the quality of news if a story reports
one fact and that fact is easy to check
Complicated for stories with more than one fact
19
Accuracy as a criterion for news involves truthfulness and
neutrality but there is more.
Full set of facts
19

Accuracy: Completeness
Complicated while judging a partial story, one that is either told
from a single point of view or major story of a story isn’t
covered though events continue to occur
20
Presenting only a partial story is a type of distortion that is not
usually regarded as bias.
One form of partial story is when a major story stops getting
covered, even though important events continue to occur.
Another type of partial story is when a journalist tells a story
from a single point of view.
20
Accuracy: Context
Helps audiences understand the meaning of the event in the
news stories, without which the story has an ambiguous
meaning
21
Context
Context is what helps audiences understand the meaning of the
event in the news stories.
21
22

22
Neutrality
Neutrality means that the story is free from journalistic bias or
editorializing.
Observed in terms of lack of bias and balance
23
Lack of Bias
Bias is a willful distortion on the part of a journalist, but it is
difficult for audiences to recognize when this is occurring
23
Neutrality: Lack of Bias
Lack of bias means truthfulness
Actual bias means when a journalist willfully distorts a news
story and perceived bias means when audiences think that the
story is slanted
24
Truthfulness
Truthfulness means that the story contains no lies, either by the

sources used or by the journalist.
Truthfulness also requires that journalists not make up facts to
fill in the gaps of their stories or to “sweeten” their stories.
24
Neutrality: Balance
Criterion: Journalists present all sides of an issue in an equal
manner
Problems
Determining which issues are equally balanced controversies
and which are not and who should be trusted to determine the
type of issue
25
Balance
Fairness requires that journalists present both sides and try to
do so with equal weight.
25
The future of news media is in our hands | Rickey Bevington |
TEDxPeachtre
26
How Can We Become More Media Literate With News?

Exposure patterns to news are an unavoidable process of
constructing knowledge structures, beliefs, and attitudes
Thoughts on exposure patterns and the implications of those
our favor
Becoming more media literate involves the periodic assessment
of:
exposure
quality
27
27
Exposure matters
Shaped by what we consider news from personal to global
dimension.
Agenda setting theory
Explains that media are selective in what they present as news
and what they emphasize as being the most important news
28
Exposure Matters
Our exposure decisions are likely to be shaped by what we
consider to be news.
Media literacy warns against a narrow focus.

28
Quality matters
Periodic evaluation of quality of news sources to eliminate the
risk of believing we are well informed when in reality we are
not
29
Quality Matters
If we don’t periodically evaluate the quality of our news
sources, we run the risk of believing we are well informed when
in reality we are not.
29
Quality Matters
Makes interactive features available that draw people into news
and make it more useful to them
The complexity of interactive features increases the likelihood
of confusion and frustration.
30
Interactive features of news : searchable archives, hyperlinks,
discussion forums, and easy downloading of information.
30

This Weeks Assignment
Critical Thinking Activity #2: Analysis of Reality Show and
News Show
What emotions were triggered when you watched both episodes?
Do you think these emotions were planned by the producers of
the show?
If so, what language was used to incite these emotions?
Do you feel like you were led to a particular conclusion rather
than left to make up your own mind? How so?
Was information presented in meaningful context when
comparing both shows?
Was the information presented in a way that was factual,
informative, descriptive, persuasive, coercive? Why?
31
Summary
The idea of what is news has undergone many changes over time
and has influenced different perspectives, particularly the
perspectives of political philosophy, traditional journalism,
news-working, economic, and personal. These changes also lead
us to question what is a journalist and how should we judge the
quality of news? These questions are especially important now
that we are in the new media environment where nontraditional
news outlets are so prevalent, so niche oriented, and open to so
much interactive participation among audiences, journalists, and
newsmakers.
31

Chapter 8
Media Content and Reality
1
Key Idea: The media spin reality to make it appear more
exciting and thus attract people away from their real lives
1
Role of Reality in Media Content Formulas
Reality
One of the most difficult concepts to define in any context
Requires a complex judgment
Differs across individuals
2
2
Reality TV Part 1: Introduction to Reality TV
3

Complex Judgment
Distinction between real and media world essential to gain
control over media effects
4
Complex judgment: Magic window
Television
Showed literal reality
Children initially vulnerable to many negative effects till they
learned to tell the difference between reality and fantasy
5
Magic Window
For a long time, people believed that television held a window
up to the actual world when it covered real events and real
people.
Until children were able to distinguish between fantasy and
reality, they were vulnerable to negative effects.
5
Complex judgment: Magic window
Adult discount

Skepticism developed in children about the literal reality of
media messages, and they were better able to distinguish reality
from fantasy
Age of application varies from 12 and above
6
As children accumulate more experience with the media, they
increase their skepticism and fully embrace the adult discount
by about age 12.
Other research suggested that children base their perceptions of
reality not on the accuracy of portrayals or information but on
the probability that something could occur in their lives.
6
The Moment Bill Hader Realized Reality TV was Fake
7
Complex judgment: Multiple dimensions of reality
Judgment criteria
Factuality
Perceptual persuasiveness
Social utility
Identity
Emotional involvement

8
Multiple Dimensions of Reality
While the beginning point of judging reality is usually with an
assessment of whether a portrayal actually happened, people
frequently use more criteria to judge reality.
People may judge one criterion as realistic while judging the
others as unrealistic.
The criteria include:
Factuality: Does the message show what actually happened?
This is the idea of magic window which asks: Is the media
message an accurate, unadorned view through a window on
actual events and people?
Perceptual persuasiveness: Does the media message present
characters and settings that look real?
Social utility: Does the media message portray social lessons
that can be used by people in their everyday lives?
Identity: Does the way characters are portrayed in media
messages lead people to believe that those characters are very
much like people in their everyday lives?
Emotional involvement: Does the media message engage
people’s feelings so they are pulled into the action and feel it is
really happening?
8
Complex judgment: Multiple dimensions of reality
Judgment criteria
Plausibility
Typicality
Narrative consistency in an independent manner

9
Plausibility: Does the media message portray something that
could happen?
Typicality: Does the media message portray something that
usually happens?
Narrative consistency: Does the plot of the story make people
believe that the sequence of actions is believable?
9
10
The surprising spread of Idol TV
11
Complex judgment: Differences across individuals
Can vary widely even among people of the same age and
experience.
Children less capable than adults in making certain kinds of
judgments about reality; become more sophisticated with age.
Wide range of sophistication in making reality judgments across

adults.
12
Differences Across Individuals
Judgments of reality can vary widely even among people of the
same age and experience.
Voort (1986) reports that perceptions of reality and the degree
of identification with characters vary substantially at any given
age.
Adults wrote to the coast guard telling them to rescue the cast
of Gilligan’s Island.
12
Reality TV Part 2: Hosts and Judges
13
Organizing Principle: Next-Step Reality
Next-step reality
Message is presented as reality to resonate with the audience’s
experience and make it have the potential to be useful in
everyday situations, but has an extra added ingredient that takes
it one step outside of the audience’s everyday existence
14

14
Organizing Principle: Next-Step Reality: Audiences’
Perspective
Audience search for media messages with two characteristics
(a) plausible and probable in real life
(b) present something more than what the person experiences in
his or her daily life.
15
Audience’s Perspective
People expose themselves to the media to find messages that
they cannot get in real life for two main reasons.
It is impossible for them to get those messages in real life.
The costs of getting those messages in the media are far lower
than the costs required in real life.
Audiences search for messages that have two general
characteristics.
Messages must appear real.
Messages must present a little more than everyday reality.
This is what is meant by next-step reality.
People want media messages that are not the same as their
everyday lives, but they also must not be so far removed that
they are not relevant.

15
Reality TV Part 3: Reality vs. Scripted TV
16
Organizing Principle: Next-Step Reality: Programmers’
Perspective
Producers of media messages retain the appearance of a high
degree of reality, but are one step removed from reality to keep
them interesting
17
Programmers’ Perspective
Producers of media messages anchor elements of their messages
in reality and tweak them a bit to make them interesting.
With fiction, producers take ordinary settings and typical plots
and slowly deviate from normal situations one step at a time, so
the audience does not get lost.
Next-step reality also works for persuasive messages because
programs use typical problems and take a step of faith into the
solution.
With information-type messages, the next-step reality comes
from journalists carefully selecting what gets reported and what
gets ignored.

17
Reality TV Part 4: The Audience's Role
18
Reality Programming as a Genre
19
Reality shows are popular because
Appeal to public’s interest in following real people as they
struggle and succeed in competitions
Ordinary people and not actors attain a specific level/position in
life
Reality shows are
realistic to some extent
successfully growing over years through knock-offs and spin-
offs
Preferred by TV programmers as they are less expensive than
other TV shows
Reality programming became a recognizable genre in 2000.
Characteristics of reality programming include real, non-
scripted people in unordinary situations.
Survivor is one of the most popular reality television shows.
Although the characters are real, non-scripted people, they are

more attractive and more prone to conflict than ordinary people.
The audience sees only 2% of what is actually filmed.
19
Why Is Reality TV So Popular?
20
21
Spin-off Series and Knock-off Series
Similarities
Television shows in a series
Progression of episodes using the same settings and characters
(or real people)
Copy formulas used by a previously successful television series
Knock-offs and spin-offs are responsible for the growing
number of reality programs.

The spin-off series is produced by the same people who
produced the previously successful television series on which
the spin-off is based.
The knock-off series is produced by different people who are
copying the formula used by other people who produced the
successful television series on which the knock-off is based.
21
22
Spin-off Series and Knock-off Series
Differences
Spin-off series Knock-off series
Produced by the same people who produced the television series
on which the spin-off is basedProduced by different people
copying the formula used by the producers of the television
series on which the knock-off is based
Real Housewives franchise (spin-off of “The Real Housewives
of Orange County”)Hardcore Pawn (knock-off of “Pawn Stars”)
22

Reality TV Part 5: Confessionals and Producers
23
24
There are many subgenres of reality programming.
Documentary style: Cameras record what happens in everyday
life. (Big Brother, Jersey Shore)
Reality-legal: People’s behavior is recorded as they deal with
legal problems. (The People’s Court, Cops)
Reality competition/game show: People compete for some prize
as one or more contestants are eliminated each episode. (The
Bachelor, Top Chef)
Self-improvement/makeover: Viewers are amazed as a real-
world person or object is drastically improved. (Extreme
Makeover, Pimp My Ride)
Social experiment: People are put in unusual situations and a
camera records their reactions. (Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire)
Hidden camera: People’s actions are recorded without their
awareness. (What Would You Do?, Cheaters)
Supernatural/paranormal: People are put in frightening
situations that purportedly involve paranormal forces. (Scariest
Places on Earth, Ghost Hunters)
Hoax subgenre: People are fooled to believe something false
and their reactions are recorded. (Hell Date, Punk’d)

24
The Importance of Media Literacy
25
Two worlds: Real and media world
Media world
Advantage--Enables us to experience and get information about
the real world
Disadvantage--Blurs the borderline between real and media
world
Higher level of media literacy
Helps us to be flexible and aware
Enables us to tell the two merged worlds apart
Next-step reality is fundamental to media literacy.
Do not ask, “How real are media messages?”
Ask, “Which elements in this message reflect reality and which
elements are removed from reality in some way?”
The key to media literacy is to be flexible and aware.
Being flexible means being willing to traverse the entire
spectrum of messages and being willing to enjoy the full range
of messages.
Being aware means thinking about where you are in the
spectrum and knowing the different standards of appreciation to
apply to different places on the spectrum of reality
25
How Reality TV Changed the World | #ChangedTheWorld

26
Summary
Clearly, the issue of reality entails more than making a simple
decision about whether something actually happened. People are
able to think in terms of degrees of reality, and when they are
assessing the degree of reality, they consider more than one
dimension. It is also important to understand that there is not a
huge gap between children’s ability to perceive reality
accurately and adults’ ability. This is a trap into which adults
frequently fall. Being in this trap gives those adults a false
sense of security that they do not need to think carefully about
the reality of media messages because they are no longer
children and therefore are protected by the adult discount.
Because the degree of belief in reality is associated with higher
negative effects, adults are vulnerable, as are children (Potter,
1986; Rubin, Perse, & Taylor, 1988).
The most useful way to think about reality is with the “next-step
reality” organizing principle. This focuses your attention on the
degree to which media messages are both real and fantasy. This
then sets up more important questions: Which elements in the
message do I regard as real, and how did I arrive at that
perception? Which elements in the message do I regard as
fantasy? To what extent am I attracted to the fantasy and willing
to try to make it my reality? Keep these questions in mind as
you read through the next four chapters on different types of
media content.
26

Media Literacy
Ninth Edition
2
3
Media Literacy
Ninth Edition
W. James Potter
University of California, Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
London
New Delhi
Singapore
Washington DC
Melbourne
4
FOR INFORMATION:

SAGE Publications, Inc.
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E-mail: [email protected]
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China Square Central
Singapore 048423
Copyright © 2019 by W. James Potter

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Potter, W. James, author.
Title: Media literacy / W. James Potter.
Description: Ninth edition. | Los Angeles : SAGE, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018040336 | ISBN 9781506366289
(paperback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Media literacy.
Classification: LCC P96.M4 P68 2020 | DDC 302.23072/1—
dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040336
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Acquisitions Editor: Lily Norton
Editorial Assistant: Sarah Wilson
Production Editor: Bennie Clark Allen
Copy Editor: Christina West
Typesetter: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd.

Proofreader: Sally Jaskold
Indexer: Jean Casalegno
5
https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040336
Cover Designer: Candice Harman
Marketing Manager: Staci Wittek
6
Brief Contents
1. Preface
2. Acknowledgments
3. About the Author
4. Part I • INTRODUCTION
1. Chapter 1 • Why Increase Media Literacy?
2. Chapter 2 • Media Literacy Approach
5. Part II • AUDIENCES
1. Chapter 3 • Audience: Individual Perspective
2. Chapter 4 • Audience: Industry Perspective
3. Chapter 5 • Children as a Special Audience
6. Part III • INDUSTRY
1. Chapter 6 • Development of the Mass Media Industries
2. Chapter 7 • Economic Perspective

7. Part IV • CONTENT
1. Chapter 8 • Media Content and Reality
2. Chapter 9 • News
3. Chapter 10 • Entertainment
4. Chapter 11 • Advertising
5. Chapter 12 • Interactive Media
8. Part V • EFFECTS
1. Chapter 13 • Broadening Our Perspective on Media Effects
2. Chapter 14 • How Does the Media Effects Process Work?
9. Part VI • THE SPRINGBOARD
1. Chapter 15 • Helping Yourself and Others to Increase Media
Literacy
10. Part VII • CONFRONTING THE ISSUES
1. Issue 1 • Ownership of Mass Media Businesses
2. Issue 2 • Sports
3. Issue 3 • Fake News
4. Issue 4 • Advertising
5. Issue 5 • Media Violence
6. Issue 6 • Privacy
11. Glossary
12. References
13. Index
7
8

Detailed Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part I • INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 • Why Increase Media Literacy?
The Information Problem
Growth Is Accelerating
High Degree of Exposure
Keeping Up
Dealing With the Information Problem
Our Mental Hardware
Our Mental Software
Automatic Routines
Advantages and Disadvantages
The Big Question
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 2 • Media Literacy Approach
What Is Media Literacy?
The Three Building Blocks of Media Literacy
Skills
Knowledge Structures
Personal Locus
The Definition of Media Literacy
The Development of Media Literacy

Advantages of Developing a Higher Degree of Media Literacy
Appetite for Wider Variety of Media Messages
More Self-Programming of Mental Codes
More Control Over Media
Summary
Further Reading
Exercise
Part II • AUDIENCES
Chapter 3 • Audience: Individual Perspective
Information-Processing Tasks
Filtering
9
Meaning Matching
Meaning Construction
Analyzing the Idea of Exposure to Media Messages
Exposure and Attention
Physical Exposure
Perceptual Exposure
Psychological Exposure
Attention
Exposure States
Automatic State
Attentional State
Transported State
Self-Reflexive State

The Media Literacy Approach
Summary
Further Reading
Exercise
Chapter 4 • Audience: Industry Perspective
Shift From Mass to Niche Perspective on Audience
What Is a Mass Audience?
Rejection of the Idea of Mass Audience
The Idea of Niche Audience
Identifying Niches
Geographic Segmentation
Demographic Segmentation
Social Class Segmentation
Geodemographic Segmentation
Psychographic Segmentation
Twelve American Lifestyles
VALS Typology
Attracting Audiences
Appeal to Existing Needs and Interests
Cross-Media and Cross-Vehicle Promotion
Conditioning Audiences
Summary
Further Reading
Exercises
Chapter 5 • Children as a Special Audience
Why Treat Children as a Special Audience?
Lack of Experience

10
Lack of Maturation
Cognitive Development
Emotional Development
Moral Development
Special Treatment From Regulators
Special Treatment From Parents
Re-examining the Case for Special Treatment of Children
Maturation
Experience
Young Adults as a Special Audience
Cognitive Abilities
Field Independency
Crystalline Intelligence
Fluid Intelligence
Conceptual Differentiation
Emotional Abilities
Emotional Intelligence
Tolerance for Ambiguity
Nonimpulsiveness
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercise
Part III • INDUSTRY

Chapter 6 • Development of the Mass Media Industries
Patterns of Development
Innovation Stage
Penetration Stage
Peak Stage
Decline Stage
Adaptation Stage
Comparisons Across Mass Media
Life Cycle Pattern
Indicators of Peak
Decline and Adaptation
Current Picture
Convergence
Special Case of the Computer Industry
Profile of Mass Media Workforce
Summary
11
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Chapter 7 • Economic Perspective
The Media Game of Economics
The Players
The Goal
The Rules

Characteristics of the Game
Importance of Valuing Resources Well
Complex Interdependency Among Players
Digital Convergence
Nature of Competition
Media Industry Perspective
Overview of Success
Film Segment
Music Segment
Book Segment
Video Game Segment
Advertising
Media Strategies
Maximizing Profits
Constructing Audiences
Reducing Risk
Consumers’ Strategies
Default Strategy
Media Literacy Strategy
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Part IV • CONTENT
Chapter 8 • Media Content and Reality
Complex Judgment

Magic Window
Multiple Dimensions of Reality
Differences Across Individuals
Organizing Principle: Next-Step Reality
Audience’s Perspective
12
Programmers’ Perspective
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercise
Chapter 9 • News
Shift to Online Sources of News
Consumer Personal Perspective
Hyper-localism
Selective Exposure

Objectivity
Accuracy
Completeness
Context
Neutrality
Lack of Bias
Balance
Exposure Matters
Quality Matters
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Chapter 10 • Entertainment
Story Formulas
General Story Formula
Genres
Challenges
Different Media
13
Changing Public Taste
Dealing With Risk
Patterns

Character Patterns
Controversial Content Elements
Sex
Homosexuality
Violence
Language
Health
Deceptive Health Patterns
Responsible Health Patterns
Values
Becoming Media Literate With Entertainment Messages
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Chapter 11 • Advertising
Advertising Is Pervasive
Process of Constructing Advertising Messages
Campaign Strategy
Outbound Advertising Perspective
Inbound Advertising Perspective
Becoming More Media Literate with Advertising
Analyze Your Personal Needs
Analyze Ads
Evaluate Ads
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises

Chapter 12 • Interactive Media
Competitive Experiences
Attraction to Electronic Games
Psychology of Playing Electronic Games
Designing Electronic Game Platforms
Marketing Electronic Games
MMORPGs
Cooperative Experiences
14
Friendship
Dating
Living
Opinion Sharing
Acquisition Experiences
Information
Music
Video
Shopping
Media Literacy With Interactive Messages
Personal Implications
Broader Concerns
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises

Part V • EFFECTS
Chapter 13 • Broadening Our Perspective on Media Effects
Timing of Effects
Valence of Effects
Intentionality of Effects
Type of Effects
Cognitive-Type Effect
Belief-Type Effect
Attitudinal-Type Effect
Emotional-Type Effect
Physiological-Type Effect
Behavioral-Type Effect
Macro-Type Effect
Four-Dimensional Analysis
Becoming More Media Literate
Summary
Further Reading
Exercises
Chapter 14 • How Does the Media Effects Process Work?
Media Effects Are Constantly Occurring
Manifested Effects and Process Effects
Baseline Effects and Fluctuation Effects
Factors Influencing Media Effects
Baseline Factors
15
Developmental Maturities

Cognitive Abilities
Knowledge Structures
Sociological Factors
Lifestyle
Personal Locus
Media Exposure Habits
Fluctuation Factors
Content of the Messages
Context of Portrayals
Cognitive Complexity of Content
Motivations
States
Degree of Identification
Process of Influence
Thinking About Blame
Becoming More Media Literate
Summary
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Part VI • THE SPRINGBOARD
Chapter 15 • Helping Yourself and Others to Increase Media
Literacy
Helping Yourself
Ten Guidelines
1. Strengthen Your Personal Locus
2. Develop an Accurate Awareness of Your Exposure Patterns
3. Acquire a Broad Base of Useful Knowledge
4. Examine Your Mental Codes
5. Examine Your Opinions
6. Change Behaviors

7. Think About the Reality-Fantasy Continuum
8. Become More Skilled at Designing Messages
9. Do Not Take Privacy for Granted
10. Take Personal Responsibility
Illustrations of Milestones
Cognitive Ladder
Emotional Ladder
Moral Ladder
Aesthetic Appreciation Ladder
16
Examples of Levels of Literacy
Helping Others
Interpersonal Techniques
Interventions
Public Education
Current Situation
Barriers
What Can You Do?
Societal Techniques
Summary
Keeping Up to Date
Exercises
Part VII • CONFRONTING THE ISSUES
Issue 1 • Ownership of Mass Media Businesses
Delineating the Issue
Arguments Against Concentration of Ownership of Media

Companies
Arguments for Concentration of Ownership of Media Companies
Evidence of Concentration
Trend Toward Concentration
Factors Driving the Trend
Efficiencies
Regulation and Deregulation
Evidence for Harm
Increased Barriers to Entry
Reduced Level of Competition
Reduced Number of Public Voices
Changes in Content
Your Own Informed Opinion
Expanding Perspective
Re-examining Evidence
Thinking About Underlying Values
Localism
Efficiency
Informing Your Opinion
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Applying Media Literacy Skills
Issue 2 • Sports
The Money Cycle
17

Players
Owners and Leagues
Television Networks
Advertisers
Public
Olympics
Video Gaming
The Big Picture
Extend Your Knowledge
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Think About Implications
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Issue 3 • Fake News
What Is Fake News?
Delineation by News Criteria
Timeliness
Significance
Proximity
Prominence
Unusualness
Human Interest
Delineation by Type of Sender
By Channel
By Professionalism
Delineation by Intention of Sender

Delineation by Accuracy
Factual Accuracy
Story Accuracy
Delineation by Context
An Irony
Conclusion
Media-Literate Treatment of Fake News
Be Skeptical
Be Analytical
Evaluate Facts
Evaluate the News Story
18
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Issue 4 • Advertising
Faulty Criticisms
Advertising Is Deceptive
Companies Manipulate Us Through Subliminal Advertising
Advertising Perpetuates Stereotypes
Criticisms Based on Personal Values
Advertising Is Excessive
Advertising Manipulates Us Into Buying Things We Don’t Need

Advertising Makes Us Too Materialistic
Criticisms About Responsibility
Advertising Potentially Harmful Products
Invading Protected Groups
Invading Privacy
Altering Needs
Further Reading
Issue 5 • Media Violence
The Public’s Faulty Perceptions
Equating Violence With Graphicness
Ignoring Context
Blind Spot on Harm
Producers’ Faulty Beliefs
Violence Is Necessary to Storytelling
Blame Others, Not Producers
Implications for Individuals
Implications for Producers
Moving Beyond Faulty Thinking
Further Reading
Issue 6 • Privacy
Criminal Threats to Your Privacy

Stealing Private Information
19
Direct Theft
Indirect Theft
Economic Purpose
Political Purpose
Hijacking
Destroying Information
Non-criminal Threats to Your Privacy
Collecting and Selling Information
Controlling
Spamming
Public Opinion and Regulations
Public Opinion
Regulations
Information Assessment
Take an Inventory About What Information Is Publically
Available About You
Map Your Information by Privacy Levels
Threat Assessment
Privacy Strategy
Remove Private Information
Correct Inaccuracies
Continually Monitor Threats

Download Software to Protect Your Computer From Threats to
Your Privacy
Set Up Your Internet Browsers to Disallow Cookies as the
Default
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Glossary
References
Index
20
21
Preface
Most of us think we are fairly media literate. We know how to
access all kinds of media to find the music,
games, information, and entertainment we want. We recognize
the faces of many celebrities and know many
facts about their lives. We recognize a range of musical styles
and have developed strong preferences for what
we like. We can easily create messages through photos, videos,
and text then upload them to various sites on
the Internet. Clearly, we know how to expose ourselves to the
media, we know how to absorb information
from them, we know how to be entertained by them, and we
know how to use them to create our own
messages and share them with others.

Are we media literate? Yes, of course. We have acquired a great
deal of information and developed remarkable
skills. The abilities to speak a language, read, understand
photographs, and follow narratives are significant
achievements, although we often take them for granted.
While we should not overlook what we have accomplished, it is
also important to acknowledge that we all can
be much more media literate. In many ways, your overall level
of media literacy now is probably about the same
as it was when you first became a teenager. Since that time,
your information base has grown enormously
about some types of media messages, such as popular songs,
Internet sites, and video clips. However, your
information base may not have grown much in other areas—
about the economics of the mass media industry,
who controls that industry, how decisions are made about the
production of content, and how that constant
flow of content affects you and society in all sorts of hidden
ways. Thus, your current level of media literacy
allows you to do many things with the media, but you could be
exercising much more control and getting more
out of your media exposures—if you grew your knowledge in
additional areas.
The more you are aware of how the mass media operate and how
they affect you, the more you gain control
over those effects and the more you will separate yourself from
typical media users who have turned over a
great deal of their lives to the mass media without realizing it.
By “turning over a great deal of their lives to
the mass media,” I mean more than time and money, although
both of those are considerable. I also mean
that most people have allowed the mass media to program them
in ways they are unaware of. And because they

are unaware of these ways, they cannot shape or control that
programming.
The purpose of this book is to show you how the media have
been shaping your beliefs and behavioral
patterns. Until you become aware of how much your beliefs
have been formed by media influence and how the
media have accomplished all this shaping, you will continue to
float along in a flood of media messages—
oblivious to their constant, subtle influence. However, once you
begin to see things from a media literacy
perspective, you can see how this process of influence works,
and this understanding will help you to gain
control over this shaping process.
22
23
How to Get the Most Out of This Book
As you read through this book, think frameworks and be
strategic. If you keep these two ideas in the front of
your mind, you will be able to read faster and at the same time
get more out of your reading.
Frameworks are maps. When you have a map to guide your
reading journey, you know where you are and
where you have to go next. To help you perceive the most
important frameworks, each chapter begins with a
key idea followed by an outline of topics covered. Strategies
keep you focused on what is most important.

When you read through each chapter, be guided by several
important questions, then be strategic in your
reading; that is, actively look for the answers to those
questions. By actively, I mean don’t just scan the words
and sentences; instead, start with an agenda of questions, then
as you read through each section, look
specifically for answers to your questions. After you have
finished a chapter, close the book and see how much
you can recall. Can you remember only a random mass of facts,
or can you envision an organized set of
knowledge structured by your questions?
This book is composed of 15 instructional chapters followed by
six issues chapters. The purpose of the 15
instructional chapters is to provide you with the framework of
ideas to help you organize your knowledge
structures in four areas: knowledge about the media industries,
knowledge about media audiences, knowledge
about media content, and knowledge about media effects. These
chapters also present you with some facts and
figures to hang on those frameworks. To help you acquire more
information to elaborate these frameworks on
your own, the chapters include a list of books, articles, and
websites for further reading; I have selected these
as particularly interesting extensions of what I have presented
in the chapter. Also, because things change so
fast these days with the media, I have also provided several
sources of information (typically websites) where
you can access the most current information available on each
topic. The first time you read through these 15
core instructional chapters, stay focused on the most important
ideas as you build your own knowledge
structures. Then once you have these structures, go back and
reread the chapters to add the detail you need to
elaborate your understanding.

You will get more out of each of the core instructional chapters
if you try to incorporate the information you
are learning into your own experience. The exercises at the end
of each chapter help you do this. But do not
think of the exercises as something that will only help you
prepare for an exam. Instead think about the
exercises as things you can continually do in your everyday life
as you encounter the media. The more you
practice the tasks that are laid out in the exercises, the more you
will be internalizing the information and thus
making it more a natural part of the way you think.
After you have finished with the core instructional chapters and
building your initial set of knowledge
structures, you will be ready to dig deep into the controversies
within media studies. The six issues chapters
give you a chance to use your knowledge structures and increase
the strength of your skills as you take apart
these controversies, appreciate the beauty of their complexity,
and put together your own informed opinion on
each. The first issue unpacks the controversy about whether or
not the ownership of the mass media has
become too concentrated; some critics argue that there are now
too few owners of too many media businesses.
24
The topic of sports is treated in Issue 2 by examining possible
answers to the question: Is there too much
money being spent on sports? Issue 3 examines “fake news.”
Issue 4 analyzes how we criticize advertising and
whether those criticisms are valid. Issue 5 tackles the persistent
controversy over whether there is too much
violence in the media and whether the prevalence of violence in

media content is harming individuals and
society. This section concludes with Issue 6, which examines
the growing concern about privacy and how the
new media environment is making it much more difficult for
you to protect your privacy.
If you engage these issues on a superficial level, then you will
likely be frustrated by what seem like unsolvable
problems. But if you dig deeper and apply your developing
skills of media literacy, you will begin to see how
the complexities of these issues may be causing problems in
your own life. And when you recognize these
problems, you will be able to use your greater level of media
literacy to develop strategies to reduce their
influence. Thus you will be taking more control over issues that
you previously thought were too big, too
complicated, and the fault of other people.
25
Digital Resources
The password-protected instructor resources site at
http://study.sagepub.com/potter9e includes:
Test banks that provide a diverse range of prewritten options as
well as the opportunity to edit any
question and/or insert your own personalized questions to
effectively assess students’ progress and
understanding.
Lecture notes that summarize key concepts on a chapter-by-
chapter basis to help with preparation for
lectures and class discussions.
Chapter-specific PowerPoint¯ slides that offer assistance with

lecture and review preparation by
highlighting essential content, features, and artwork from the
book.
Tables and figures in an easily downloadable format for use in
papers, handouts, and presentations.
Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide
suggested models for structuring your
courses.
Discussion questions that help launch classroom interaction by
prompting students to engage with the
material and by reinforcing important content.
Chapter activities for individual or group projects provide lively
and stimulating ideas for use in and out
of class that reinforce active learning.
A course cartridge provides easy LMS integration.
The open access student study site at
study.sagepub.com/potter9e includes:
Mobile-friendly practice quizzes that allow for independent
assessment by students of their mastery of
course material.
Mobile-friendly eFlashcards that strengthen understanding of
key terms and concepts.
Carefully selected chapter-by-chapter video and multimedia
content that enhances classroom-based
explorations of key topics.
Exclusive access to influential SAGE journal and reference
content that ties important research to
chapter concepts to strengthen learning.
Access to online-only appendices.
26
http://study.sagepub.com/potter9e
http://study.sagepub.com/potter9e

To Conclude
It is my hope that this book will stimulate you to think more
deeply about your media habits and become
motivated to increase your control over the process of influence
from the media. The information presented in
these chapters will get you started in this direction. Will the
book provide you with all the information you
need to complete this task fully? No. That would require too
much information to fit into one book. You will
need to continue reading. At the end of most chapters, I suggest
several books for further reading on the topic
of that chapter. Although some of those books are fairly
technical, most of them are easy to read and very
interesting.
This book is an introduction. It is designed to show you the big
picture so you can get started efficiently on
increasing your own media literacy. It is important to get
started now. The world is rapidly changing because
of newer information technologies that allow you to create and
share your own messages in addition to
accessing all kinds of information on just about any conceivable
topic.
I hope you will have fun reading this book. And I hope it will
expose you to new perspectives from which you
can perceive much more about the media. If it does, you will be
gaining new insights about your old habits
and interpretations. If this happens, I hope you will share your
new insights and “war stories” with me. Much
of this book has been written to reflect some of the problems
and insights my students have had in the media
literacy courses I have taught. I have learned much from them.

I’d like to learn even more from you. So let me
know what you think and send me a message at
[email protected]
See you on the journey!
27
Acknowledgments
This book project has traveled a very long distance from its
initial conceptualization in the mid-1990s. Since
then I have had the privilege of using various versions of the
book with more than a thousand students at
Florida State University, UCLA, Stanford University, and the
University of California at Santa Barbara.
These students helped me form the idea into a useful book for a
broad range of undergraduates and refine the
material through eight subsequent editions. I thank them for
every question, every puzzled look, and every
smile of satisfaction from an insight gained. Over the years,
Media Literacy has been translated from English
into seven other languages, which makes it accessible to readers
in many parts of the world. Some of those
readers have provided me with their reactions, and I thank them.
I thank the many reviewers whom SAGE called on to critique
the text in each edition. Some contacted me
directly; others chose to remain anonymous. In all cases their
comments were valuable. SAGE and I gratefully
acknowledge the following reviewers for their kind assistance:
MaryAlice Adams, Miami University
Richard T. Craig, George Mason University
Donna L. Halper, Lesley University

Elizabeth R. Ortiz, Cedar Crest College
Phil Rutledge, University of North Carolina–Charlotte
I am grateful for the support of SAGE with its many highly
skilled staff members over the years. First, I need
to thank Margaret Seawell, who initially signed this project then
shepherded it through three editions, then
Todd Armstrong who took over for Margaret on the fourth and
fifth editions, then Matt Byrnie who took
over for Todd and gave me considerable help with the sixth,
seventh, and eighth editions before turning it
over to Terri Accomazzo for this ninth edition. In the
production department, Astrid Virding skillfully took
the first edition from manuscript to bound book, as did Claudia
Hoffman on the second edition, Tracy
Alpern on the third, and Astrid Virding again on the fourth,
fifth, and sixth editions, Olivia Weber-Stenis on
the seventh edition, Laura Barrett on the eighth edition, and
Bennie Clark Allen on this edition. They made
it look easy, though there must have been days when it was
anything but. I also want to thank Carmel
Withers in Marketing and SAGE salespeople for their
enthusiastic support of the new edition. Finally, I must
thank the many fine copy editors SAGE has assigned to this
project over the years, especially Christina West,
who demonstrated that she is the best of the best with her great
job editing my work on this ninth edition.
If you like this book, then I share the credit of success with all
the people I mentioned above. If you find a
mistake, a shortcoming, or a misinterpretation, it is my fault for
not fully assimilating all the high-quality help
I have been privileged to experience.
28

29
About the Authors
W. James Potter ,
professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, holds
one PhD in Communication Studies
and another in Instructional Technology. He has been teaching
media courses for more than two
decades in the areas of effects on individuals and society,
content narratives, structure and economics of
media industries, advertising, journalism, programming, and
production. He has served as editor of the
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and is the author of
many journal articles and books, including
the following: Media Effects, The 11 Myths of Media Violence,
Becoming a Strategic Thinker: Developing
Skills for Success, On Media Violence, Theory of Media
Literacy: A Cognitive Approach, and How to Publish
Your Communication Research (with Alison Alexander).
30
Part I Introduction
Chapter 1. Why Increase Media Literacy?
Chapter 2. Media Literacy Approach
31

1 Why Increase Media Literacy?
Media literacy increases your ability to exercise control over
the vast array of messages you encounter through
daily media exposure.
iStock/Xavier Arnau
Key Idea: To survive in our information-saturated culture, we
put our minds on “automatic pilot” in order
to protect …

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