I found both videos this week super educational, and interesting to hear Sophie Lui’s perspective on media. It differed from the reading of the teleprompter reporter that I grew up watching on the news as a British Columbian. Although, I found the discussion with Julie Smith about media literacy and its facets very interesting. I had a rough idea of media literacy, but I realized while listening to the debate that I had yet to learn. I thought media literacy is the language spoken to interpret what is being said and communicated in media and online spaces. I was close to the actual definition, as it is a form of communication, but it’s much more complex than I realized. How we have evolved from only interpreting television to the multi-dimensional beast of media and online platforms today has changed at lightning speed.
The term “fake news” has been around for over 500 years; as stated in the Political Economy of Fake News reading, we see the term “Fake News” used in media (Hirst, 2018). It was intriguing to learn how there are so many interpretations of the term, although it has a similar foundational definition at its core. As we evolved with media literacy, this term became used in various settings throughout history. Smith, along with the reading, touched on the term being used in the 2016 presidential election and how it turned this term to be read in media literacy. How there is a way to manipulate the media to echo political motivations like Trump being an outsider and this over-the-top figure that said whatever he wanted was what drew news outlets to him. This caricature he painted was done on purpose as an easy grab for news outlets to have no choice but to report. And when talking about American news and media, since, as Smith mentions, it is a business and not a public service, these news outlets are financially benefiting from Trump’s use of fake news and media manipulation.
I think this same strategy is used by notable figures like influencers every day on social media. I distinctly remember this article or video explaining how Trump has similar tendencies to social media influencers (I don’t have the source, but I can see if I can try to find it). *Future self here, I found the source and have added it to my references below. The typical influencers present themselves as this over-the-top figure manipulating and convincing you to buy a product, go on expensive vacations or promise you the same glamorous life by living vicariously through them. Influencers use psychological persuasion that makes it hard for you to turn away. And once again, at the end of the day, it is a business that influencer profit from influencing. I don’t believe all influencers are like this, I could be biased toward the ones I follow on social media, but I get the sense that there’s a shift toward this “relatability” complex. Then again, it can also be fake and another ploy in the influencing game.
Also, to conclude this post, I found this video made by Crash Course (I am a fan of their content and channel), and they discuss the basics of media literacy and why it is crucial. The video helped me understand the context and concept more before reading the readings, listening to the videos and reading fellow students’ blog posts. The video highlights how we encode, decode and code messages through media literacy, and our level of understanding can affect how it is interpreted. If our coded messages get interpreted and uncoded differently, that is where it creates conflict, and for that reason, our media literacy is essential. Learning about media literacy should be common knowledge if we interact in virtual and online spaces. As Julie Smith mentions, teachers already have a lot to teach, so finding ways to educate people outside the classroom to be inclusive of our day-to-day media literacy should be considered.
References:
“EDCI 338 – MEDIA LITERACY with JULIE SMITH” Youtube. Uploaded by MILLER on June 6th, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57r3-aEnci0
Hirst, M. (2018). Navigating Social Journalism: A Handbook for Media Literacy and Citizen Journalism (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9781315401263
Introduction to Media Literacy: Crash Course Media Literacy #1. (2018). YouTube. Uploaded by Crash Course on February 27th, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7N-1Mj-DU&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtM6jSpzb5gMNsx9kdmqBfmY&index=2.
Versi, M. (2018). Trump: The influencer president?. The Canadian Business Quarterly. https://thecbq.ca/matt-versi-trump-the-influencer-president/
The crash course video was super helpful thank you so much for adding that! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and fully agree that influencers use a psychological persuasion especially because I am 100% the type of person to be so easily influenced by them…
I had never thought of it as being psychological persuasion but that makes so much sense and I will use that in the future when I see the best new product being promoted everywhere!