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Media Literacy
- 2. DENOTATION V. CONNOTATION • DENOTATIVE LANGUAGE: explicit definition; the meaning as listed in a dictionary • CONNOTATIVE LANGUAGE: the association or set of associations a word brings to mind; the cultural definition
- 3. CONNOTATIVE EXAMPLES Cars of the 1960’s: Thunderbird, Falcon, Charger, Comet, Mustang, Barracuda Cars of the 1970’s: Rabbit, Pinto, Colt, Civic, Starlet, Gremlin
- 4. WHY DOES WORD CHOICE MATTER? • POSITIVE CONNOTATION: Sarah was an enthusiastic member of her sorority. • NEUTRAL CONNOTATION: Sarah was an active member of her sorority. • NEGATIVE CONNOTATION: Sarah was a fanatical member of her sorority.
- 5. WORD CHOICE • Disabled vs. Handicapped vs. Differently-abled • Thin vs. Slender vs. Slim • Fat vs. Obese vs. Heavy • Republican vs. Conservative vs. Right Wing • Democrat vs. Liberal vs. Progressive vs. Left Wing • Gay vs. Gay and Retard v. Retard
- 6. CX IN MEDIA LITERACY & JOURNALISM Agenda Setting: the theory that media can exert a large influence on audiences through the choice of what stories to consider newsworthy, and how much prominence and space to give them
- 7. AGENDA SETTING (EXAMPLE #1) The Iraq War: • Amount of news coverage on war made it the prominent topic for discussion in the American political arena • However, as war progressed, there was less coverage about the war – making it less important in the U.S. political agenda
- 8. AGENDA SETTING (EXAMPLE #2) The Penn State Child Abuse Scandal: • In the midst of the Republican presidential campaign, the Penn State child abuse scandal was exposed. • Suddenly, Republican presidential race was secondary to the unfolding Penn State story. • Rep. presidential story disappeared from news before story was finished.
- 9. AGENDA SETTING (EXAMPLE #3) Miley Cyrus v. Syria: • The day after the VMAs, Miley Cyrus was mentioned on Facebook 8,454,022 times. • Syria and Obama were mentioned only 2,452,600 times. • Was this reflective of media coverage? Or did the media merely reflect our culture? How can you tell the difference anymore?
- 10. CX IN MEDIA LITERACY & JOURNALISM Priming: “Priming occurs when news content suggests to news audiences that they ought to use specific issues as benchmarks for evaluating the performance of leaders and government.” Scheufele & Tewksbury
- 11. PRIMING (EXAMPLE) The Iraq War: • Invading Iraq – direct response to 9/11. • Most news stories treated the invasion as a necessary response by USA to show it won’t stand down in the face of terror. • Media suggested we judge the effectiveness of President Bush as a leader based on his decisive, swift response.
- 12. CX IN MEDIA LITERACY & JOURNALISM Framing: • Process by which an issue is portrayed in news media • Media frames provide boundaries around a news story, determines what is and is not newsworthy or notable. • Journalists rely on media frames to decide what to include and what to leave out – a process that may be conscious, instinctive, or culture-bound.
- 13. FRAMING (EXAMPLE #1) SCENARIO: Imagine the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) plans to hold a rally on the grounds of the State Capitol Building. STORY #1: • One broadcast does a story on the rally, suggesting the KKK rally may attract protestors, which might result in violence. • A police sergeant is interviewed about how extra security is going to be needed to prevent injuries. • The news reporter has framed this as a public safety issue.
- 14. FRAMING (EXAMPLE #1, CONT.) • STORY #2: • Another news broadcast does a story on the rally focusing on the KKK’s right to assemble in public and to voice their opinions. • A university law professor is interviewed about the KKK’s right to assemble under the protection of the Bill of Rights. • The story is framed as a freedom of speech issue.
- 16. FRAMING (EXAMPLE #2, CONT.)
- 17. YOUR MEDIA BIAS ASSIGNMENT This weekend, locate an example of a biased magazine or newspaper article. On Monday, we will annotate your article in class, looking for specific examples of bias in the writing of the piece.
Editor's Notes
- We work with two types of language in speech and writing; the first is “denotative”, which is the dictionary definition of a term. The second is “connotative”, which is what we think of when we hear that word. For example, “cool” means the temperature dropping or that something is neat, awesome, etc. Easy memory trick: denotative = dictionary (both start with D) and connotative = cultural (both start with C)
- What do the words chosen for the names of cars in the 1960s evoke? (Power, speed, strength, muscle, animalistic, etc.) This was in line with the era of the muscle car. What do the words for the cars of the 1970s evoke? (Small, economical, slower, civic-minded, etc.) This was in line with an influx of women going into the workforce and families needing two cars; economic needs drive our purchases and we want smaller, gas-friendly cars.
- Show each sentence. What does the underlined term mean? In reality, they’re synonyms, but they have different cultural associations (or “connotations”).
- Reveal each phrase one at a time. Which is the positive connotation? The neutral? The negative? For bullet six, the words are exactly the same but the definition has evolved so much over time that we do not use the words denotatively anymore (gay v. gay = happy v. homosexual; retard v. retard = slow down v. mentally challenged)
- Basically, the idea that the media chooses what stories to share with us and which stories are headline stories – choices that essentially determine what’s important to us. If the media blasts us with a story that is a “big deal”, we believe it is a big deal – and vice versa.
- The media gave the Iraq War a lot of attention at first, but as the war continued, it received less attention in the media – which meant it wasn’t as “important” anymore.
- Going along with the mantra that “sex sells”, the media sensationalized the story of the Penn State child and sex abuse scandal. It received more attention than the Republican presidential race (which was going to potentially determine our next world leader) and we rarely heard about the Republican race. Many argue that the media generally leans liberal and provides less positive attention to Republican news than Democrats.
- Miley Cyrus had a sexually charged and highly controversial performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last year. This was the same night Obama announced that chemical weapons were being used against Syria and that the U.S. may be getting involved. Miley Cyrus was mentioned on Social Media more than the issue in Syria. Why? Discuss.
- Basically, the media dictates how we should measure the worth of a leader or person. For example, gay marriage is a hot button issue right now. The media overwhelmingly applauds those that support it and tears down those who don’t – even though that may not be the opinion of everyone listening to / reading that news source. This helps shape public opinion.
- The media presented the decision to invade Iraq as necessary action after the 9/11 attacks; they suggested that we judge whether or not Bush served us well as a President based upon whether he chose to invade Iraq
- Frames are the “lens” through which a story is portrayed in the media; the media has to choose what they can or can’t include and thus chooses the “angle” of the story
- When the Trayvon Martin case became national news, these were the photographs used in the media. What do these images evoke to you? (Many will say that Trayvon looks like a young, innocent boy and Zimmerman looks mean.) Now show them the next slide before reading off the following information: This photo of Trayvon was taken several years prior to the incident and was not a current picture. Many will identify Zimmerman’s shirt as a jumpsuit because of the orange color, which makes this look like a mugshot. However, it is a polo shirt (as you can see by the color and the white button at the top).
- In these photos, we see a different side of the same two people. Trayvon looks tougher, older, bigger, and meaner. (In fact, it should be of note that this photo was the only one taken close to the time of the incident that did not have illegal substances or obscene gestures in it that was available online.) George Zimmerman looks smaller and more pleasant and professional. What information do you know about the Trayvon Martin case? How did the media present it? (Innocent boy with Arizona iced tea and Skittles in his pocket attacked and shot for no reason v. a boy who had two of the three ingredients needed to make “lean” – a concoction used to get high – in his pockets, with a history of violent behaviors and drug abuse… how does that information change perception?) Discuss.