Media Literacy is the understanding of media of mass communication and it's significance in life. The higher one’s level of media literacy is, the better one will be able to handle the immense amount of media that surrounds their life. People don’t even realize how indulged they are in mass media because of how wide spread it is. Media is apart of our lives for about 68.8% of the time we are not sleeping. That is more than half. People don’t realize how high that percentage is because when they are reading the newspaper while searching the web, the radio is on and the television news channel is informing the world of recent events.
People depend on the media for a number of reasons. Personally, they want to know what the weather is like outside so they can determine what to wear. Also, because need information about the latest illness or what foods are being recalled. Entertainment is found in the media as well, but one can find some elsewhere. In the 1400’s villagers would sing and swap stories. As mass media communication develops, people become more dependent on facts and ideas, not stories. Media is used to persuade people.
As if individuals depending on media for one direct reason isn’t enough, a whole web of dependence develops throughout businesses and other lifestyles called symbiosis. Symbiosis is an interdependence. To survive financially, a publisher needs an audience to buy their books. Movie studios need people at the theaters or rental store.
Media Literacy is having the knowledge to understand mass media. It is the ability to see the difference between one-on-one messages and a mass message. It requires the ability to distinguish between the message and the messenger. Media Literacy would be impossible without the understanding and appreciation of media and it’s traditions.
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