Media Literacy

Q1 What is media literacy?  Discuss at least three ways consumers can become more media literate and the benefits or drawbacks of this.  How would you describe your own media literacy and how has this helped or hindered you?
Media Literacy can be defined as the ability think critically about the information whether news, entertainment and advertisements as presented by the media by asking important questions such as which interests do they represent, who are they targeting and what tools and techniques the media uses to influence or persuade the targeted audience. Lack of media literacy among consumers presents a challenge as consumer make their decisions to buy based on how the media presentation of a certain product. Some of the most effective ways in which consumers can become more media literacy is through varying their source of information.   This enables consumers not to become media slaves as they seek information from other sources.   It is important for the consumers to listen the radio, read newspaper, test other different outlets as well as seek expert’s opinions. Another way is to embrace bias.
A benefit of becoming media literature is that consumers are able to make their decisions without unnecessary influence by the media as they are able to evaluate the intentions of the media behind their advertising. However, becoming a media literate is also a challenge to the consumers as they tend to criticize and question the media too much to the extent that they are not able to use it as a source of reliable information. I would describe my media literacy as quite high. I feel that it has helped me to make informative decisions as I am able to view the information presented by the media from different perspectives. By not relying on one media as a source of information, I have become more knowledgeable in using different sources of information.

Q2   In what ways, whether positive or negative, is electronic technology impacting the newspaper or magazine...