Mass Communication, Culture and Literacy

01 January 2009

Oral Culture

Oral or preliterate cultures are those without a written language. Virtually, all communication must be face-to-face, and this facts help to define the culture, its structure, and its operation.

The following are its characteristics;
• The meaning in language is specific and local
• Knowledge must be passed on orally.
• Memory is crucial.
• Myth and history are intertwined.

Literate Culture

With the coming of literacy – the ability to effectively and efficiently comprehend and use written symbols – the social and cultural rules and structures of preliterate time began to change. People could accumulate a permanent body of knowledge and transmit that knowledge from generation to another. Among the changes that brought writing were these:
• Meaning and language became more uniform.
• Communication could occur over long distances and long periods of time.
• The culture’s memory, history, and myth could be recorded on paper.


Media Literacy

Television influences our culture in enumerable ways. One of its effects, according to many people, is that it encouraged violence in our society.
Media literacy is a skill we take for granted, but like all skills, it can be improved. And if we consider how important the mass media are in creating and maintaining the culture that helps define us and our lives, it is a skill that must be improved.

Elements of Media Literacy

Media scholar Art Silverblatt (1995) identified five fundamental element of media literacy. Media literacy includes these characteristics:
1. An awareness of the impact of media.
2. An understanding of the process of communication.
3. Strategies for analyzing and discussing media messages.
4. An understanding of media content as a text that provides insight into our culture and our lives.
5. The ability to enjoy, understand, and appreciate media content.
6. An understanding of the ethical and moral obligations of media practitioners.
7. Development of appropriate and effective production skills

Media Literacy Skills

1. The ability and willingness to make an effort to understand content, to pay attention, and to filter out noise.
2. An understanding of and respect for the power of media messages
3. The ability to distinguish emotional from reasoned reactions when responding to content and to act accordingly.
4. Development of heightened expectation of media content.
5. A knowledge of genre conventions and the ability to recognize when they are being mixed.
6. The ability to think critically about media messages, no matter how credible their sources.
7. A knowledge of the internal language of various media and the ability to understand its effects, no matter how complex.

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Reference

Introduction To Mass Communication Media Literacy and Culture 4th edition by Stanley J. Baran This page offers an Online Learning Center Web site , www.mhhe.com/baran4, includes additional content and learning tools Note: Important informations are the only visible in this site.