Master the Media: How Teaching Media Literacy Can Save Our Plugged-In World

If you’re looking for a polemic about “saving our plugged-in world” from the big, bad mass media, MASTER THE MEDIA isn’t it. Instead, this is an overview of media history and structures that is intended to place a skeptical lens between general audiences and the media they hear, see, read, and play. It would make a great high school text book or a quick prerequisite read for a university level intro course on how to teach media literacy.The tone is conversational and there is plenty of scaffolding for people who don’t do media literacy education for a living, including bullet lists of key takeaways (labelled “Facts to Remember”), QR code links to additional resources, follow-up questions suitable for families and follow-up questions suitable for classrooms. Scattered throughout are quotes from students and Smith is especially thoughtful about how digital media issues play out in families – often summed up in great lines like, “Giving a child a smartphone without conversations about responsibility and potential threats is like giving a teenager a Ferrari without first requiring him to take driver’s ed.” (p. 119)So why the 4-star rating?It was easy to get past some minor annoyances, like inadequate labels for the QR codes that makes it impossible to identify the source without the right smart phone, wireless access, or affordable data plan (as could easily be the case for someone reading this at a public library, for example). Or the fact that the discussion of news sticks to traditional sources, even though young people get most of their news from places like late night comedy shows, Facebook feeds, or online magazines and blogs.It was harder to get past Smith’s failure to acknowledge foundational aspects of her own perspective, e.g., that this book is entirely U.S.-focused. Cultural assumptions, especially in terms of how they influence choice of topics, remain hidden. So readers are left to guess, why, for example, the author looks carefully at the notion that “sex sells,” but provides no discussion of how a social power dynamic like racism is used to sell.Nor is Smith clear about the salience of the media history specifics that she chooses to include. Obviously it’s important to understand the ways that commercial imperatives shape form and content, but I’m scratching my head trying to figure out which analysis, reflection, or production skills are improved by knowing things like the history of the gramophone!Though not anti-media, Smith’s approach occasionally emphasizes the banal without also giving a nod to the amazing. In terms of sheer numbers, mass media have been dominated by the simplistic and formulaic, as Smith points out in her discussion of "I Love Lucy." But alongside the fluff there have always been gems like Rod Serling’s "Twilight Zone" or "Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts."Smith does the same thing with research, using selected examples to underscore the negative without taking the time to actually analyze the research reports as a form of media. For example, in an interesting and important discussion of the ways that media culture has elevated celebrity, she cites a survey of youngsters that found a preference for being a celebrity’s assistant over jobs like Navy Seal, U.S. Senator, or corporate CEO. We’re supposed to conclude that media interactions have disturbingly influenced the digital generation to value only superficial pursuits. The problem is, once you get past childhood fantasies of being a superhero or queen, most human beings don’t want to be leaders, no matter how much or how little media they consume. Leaders are, and always have been, a minority of the population. Most sailors don’t apply to train as Navy Seals and there is no expectation that they should. So why would a researcher decry the fact that a majority of youth don’t share aspirations to be the boss? This sort of alarmist rhetoric not only doesn’t give young people much credit, it’s also extraneous to Smith’s otherwise informative observations. It’s a distraction.For me, the book’s most significant weakness is that Smith wrongly conflates the reasons media get made and the reasons they make it to air. She writes, for example, that “A news product is produced to make money, not to inform.” (p. 57) and “Remember, television programs are not created to deliver entertainment to the audience. They are created to deliver a specific audience to advertisers.” (p. 25) These are misleading overstatements.There is no arguing that on commercial outlets, programs make it to air because an executive believes that advertisers will want to pay for access to the viewers/listeners/players/readers that the programs will attract. But there are a myriad of media professionals – journalists, writers, actors, musicians, producers, filmmakers, and other creative folk – who make media because they earnestly want to entertain, tell a story, express themselves as artists, and yes, even inform. They also want to earn a living, but that isn’t their only purpose. They go to TV and radio and YouTube and various other social media because if you want lots of folks to see your work, those are the available outlets.It’s a mistake to erase the varied and complex reasons that people make media, especially in a world where user-generated content is an increasing part of our media landscape. More importantly, it’s a mistake that’s likely to leave students feeling cynical; if it’s only about making a buck, then why should they trust anything that anyone in media says? That dismissal, rather than critical engagement, is the opposite of the skeptical, discerning lens that media literacy offers.The working assumption of Master the Media seems to be that the general public doesn’t understand the commercial forces behind much of mass media, and that if they did, they’d reject many of its troubling messages and habits. I’m not sure I agree with the latter part of that assumption, but recognizing media structures and their effect on our lives and culture is certainly key to being media literate. Despite its flaws, this book is a pretty good starting place to learn about those forces.

As a former Administrator of a Technical School and an Adjunct Professor at a Junior College, I've witnessed firsthand when students are not trained to question their reality as presented by the general media and many of the unreliable sources found on the Internet. It happens more than most would care to admit.This is actually the second time I've read Professor Smith's book on Media Literacy and regard it as a valuable reference on understanding the motivation and psychology behind what we see and hear as news and sometimes presented to us as fact.I would strongly encourage anyone who aspires to become more than a common lemming to purchase this book. It lays the foundation to empower people to take an educated look at news in an objective way and discern fact from fiction and all those gray areas in between.A must read and valuable reference on your desk if you are willing to question the world around you.

I teach a class called Popular Culture Studies, which is a version of a media literacy class. I've been passionate about media literacy since I started my teaching career and always found ways to work it into my curriculum, even before developing the Popular Culture class. What I found in Smith's book is 100% validation that what I figured out on my own (and then in graduate school) was on point and necessary. Many of her suggestions are things I already do in my classes, plus I found several new ideas for encouraging students to really think about the media they consume. This book is a fantastic addition to any curriculum. I am excited to spend next semester incorporating in my classes what I learned while reading Smith's advice.

It took me 6 days to read this relatively short book because I wanted to make sure I absorbed every bit of information.Julie Smith is a passionate media literacy expert whose writing style is accessible, informative and entertaining. She covers everything - books, newspapers, music, television, cable news, video games, social media and more. Smith provides a history of each medium, how it works (translation: how they try to make money) and plenty of things to think critically about when using.I would definitely recommend to teachers, parents and high school students!

Julie Smith delivers important information about media literacy in an engaging and entertaining manner through her book, Master The Media. Readers will feel like they're having a cup of coffee with an old friend while learning how to think critically about everything they watch, read and click on in the media. You won't just feel smarter, you will be a smarter consumer of media messages after reading this important book. - Paige N. from WriteAway Communications

read for PGPs to renew teachers license. lots of interesting ideas and facts.

Julie weaves a multimedia tapestry of gold. With an easy writing style, she lulls us into in to a conversation about the ubiquitous media around us all. From radio, to television to movies, Julie helps us to decode and discuss media in a way that few of us do naturally. From time to time, we all question the media that we see and hear, as sometimes something strikes us as manipulative. Master the Media gives us the language and tools to do it, in style. A wonderful read. I wish there were more stars, but five will have to suffice.