Media Message Deconstruction

This magazine was produced by TheBlaze, the personal digital conservative news website of Glen Beck. It would seem that the headline of the magazine was to bring to light the perceived deficiencies of the common core standards. It was produced in May of 2014, and it showcases the fear some people have over the changing times in America. The target audience of TheBlaze is conservative Christians. The headlines for the magazine are Duck Dynasty and faith, Higher Ed and how college is a waste of money, World and the rising number of Christian persecutions around the world, and Energy and how nuclear power isn’t as bad as we’ve been told. The thing that sticks out most to me is the title of TheBlaze, figuratively living up to its name. The use of the thought bubbles against the background of children in a classroom is a thought provoking picture, as it lends itself to the headline of us losing our freedoms because of common core. Some people may take this article as an attack on their personal believes and values. And media companies that thrive on digital media illiterates would be the ones who benefit from this message.  The message leaves out any of the positive points that there might be to common core. I do not believe it is an accurate and credible representation, and that it only reflects the perspective of Glen Beck, the creator of The Blaze and a far right conservative, and people who agree with his views.

The persuasive techniques the magazine uses are Bandwagon, Celebrity Spokesperson, Emotional Appeals, Glittering Generalities, Individuality, and Loaded Language.

Critical Media Literacy: Core Concepts and Debates

Watching the Cameron Russell TED Talk for me just reinforced that notion that all of the commercial media that we are subjugated to is heavily altered, and is a product in and of itself. It really shows how important media literacy is, because it is used in such an obscuring way that being able to decipher what is real and what is not is becoming more and more difficult. I think that’s how it ties in with Neil Postman’s concerns with “crap detection”. Critical is the key word in Critical Media Literacy. Being able to critically decipher what is real and not real in digital media is extremely important if we want our students to be able to learn and gain information. I think these quotes from the reading really back up this.

 “Through the inclusion of some groups and exclusion of others, representations benefit dominant and positively represented groups and disadvantage marginalized and subordinate ones.”

“Thus, knowing what sort of corporation produces a media artifact or what sort of system of production dominates given media will help to critically interpret biases and distortions in media texts.”

“The USA now has two national media literacy membership organizations that hold national conferences every 2 years, support a variety of media literacy activities, and have about 400 members each.”

A silver lining is that the same critical thinking that was used for print media is still useful when addressing digital media. And a deep knowledge of reading and writing abilities are very valuable with media literacy. As for my own teaching I would have to go with Critical media literacy. It builds on these approaches, analyzing media culture as products of social production and struggle and teaching students to be critical of media representations and discourses, but also stressing the importance of learning to use the media as modes of self-expression and social activism.

Animoto Video

Introduction

Hello!

I am Brandon Haggerty. I am originally from Shinnston, WV but currently reside in Fairmont. I am a music educator and I am currently going for my master's in digital media at FSU. I have also worked at a local music shop for the past five years, as well as working as a local music instructor. I am hoping to find new and inventive ways of teaching music in the classroom using digital media. And this is the first class I have taken for the program.