Media Literacy Brought to you direct by the letters A, B, C… and the Department of Education (who’ll be testing you on this stuff!)

Media Literacy Terminology

Advertisement A communication form that employs sophisticated, often subtle methods of persuasion to not only get you to part with your money or win your support, but to play on your desires, emotions, and biases to change the way you think. Propaganda is a part of this. Not all forms of advertising are bad

Agenda The plan; goals to be achieved through advertising All media has an agenda!

Bias Is a mental leaning or inclination; partiality; prejudice; bent Media is inherently biased. Nobody can create without inserting a little of themselves, their biases, their likes, their dislikes. Even the evening news and newspapers are biased!

Blog A Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etcetera on a regular basis. The information delivered via this medium ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime

Brochure A small booklet or pamphlet containing pictures and information about a product or service Brochures may be used to advertise a business, to promote an organization, or any such reason

Caption A title or brief explanation appended to an article, illustration, poster etcetera. It appears below the photo/visual

Commercial A type of advertisement A well executed TV commercial has the power to make us experience all kinds of emotion - laughter, sadness, fear even, all in a matter of minutes. An art form in their own right, they showcase the latest trends in design, culture and music. See: The Pony Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekr 05T9Iaio&safety_mode=true&safe=activ e&persist_safety_mode=1 Also: Cow and Gate Baby Food: http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur e=player_embedded&v=YH9YHX7oJXU Or: this one on Family Planning: http://vimeo.com/45876730

Deconstruct Part of being media literate involves being able to deconstruct media text. When you deconstruct a text, you break it down into its components to see what messages and assumptions it carries Awareness Test: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Ahg6qcgoay4&safety_mode=tru e&safe=active&persist_safety_mo de=1

Dove Commerical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Demographic That group of people to whom a message is directed – age, gender etcetera Studies of a population based on factors such as age, race, sex, economic status, level of education, income level and employment, among others. Demographics are used by governments, corporations and non-government organizations to learn more about a population's characteristics for many purposes, including policy development and economic market research

Endorsement A testimonial strategy, where a famous person or organization publicly supports or endorses a product. A form of brand or advertising campaign that involves a well known person using their fame to help promote a product or service. Manufacturers of perfumes and clothing are some of the most common business users of classic celebrity endorsement techniques, such as television ads and launch event appearances, in the marketing of their products

Form/Format Media format eg. web, print…and then how this is designed (8x11, 11x17 etc.)

Headline The heading, title or caption of a newspaper article. Usually very attention-grabbing

Icon A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something: "icon of manhood".

Image A representation of the external form of a person or thing in sculpture, painting, etcetera

Intent Purpose Reason for doing something

Lead Introductory sentence in an article meant to grab the reader’s interest

Logo An identifying symbol used to advertise and promote an organization, event, product or service. Usually, such symbols combine pictorial and textual elements in a distinctive manner. When consisting solely of stylized textual elements, such symbols are referred to as logotypes or wordmarks

Mass Media When media methods are used to communicate to thousands of people at the same time

Media/Medium Forms of public communication (such as newspaper, radio, television, information network, poster, or brochure) that are designed to reach large numbers of people Medium is the singular of media

Message Any thought, idea, or information, whether expressed in plain or in secret language, prepared in a form suitable for transmission by any means of communication

Motive Reason for doing something eg, make money, change opinion

Poster Form of communication that has varied purposes such as promoting events, presenting social commentary, persuading the viewer to purchase etcetera The design of the poster must ensure that message is consistent with purpose

Product Item to be sold, serviced etcetera

Product Placement An advertising strategy in which commercial products or brands are placed within a play, film, broadcast program, video game or print medium for financial gain. Example: If Heinz Ketchup is being used by a character in a movie, it is most likely product placement.

Propaganda An attempt to sway popular opinion and beliefs through distortions of the truth or outright lies. Example: Doublespeak – deselected instead of fired

Dialogue Bubbles/ Speech Balloons

Subliminal Messages Promotional messages the recipient is not aware of, such as those played at very low volume or flashed on a screen for less than a second. Its effectiveness is not supported by scientific evidence, and its use is considered a deceptive business practice in some jurisdictions

Subtext An underlying and often distinct theme or message in a piece of writing, conversation, advertisement, etcetera

Target Audience Consumer group most likely to buy a specific product and identified by region, age, demographics, or economic status. Effective ads are created and placed in media with the target audience clearly in mind.

Web Page

Whitespace Margins and gutters (the white pace formed by the inner margins of the two facing pages in a book) are important in desktop publishing. Larger margins should be reflected by larger gaps between columns and between text and art. Your document should look balanced

Sources: Google Images http://public.wsu.edu/~taflinge/sex.html