"Media do not present reality like transparent windows or simple reflections of the world because media messages are created, shaped, and positioned through a construction process. This construction involves many decisions about what to include or exclude and how to represent reality."
(Kellner & Share, 2005)
Reflection:
I find this first concept to be an easier one to grasp, but harder to understand the extent media messages are constructed until one decides to actively produce a piece of media.
I immediately thought about the Animoto video I did yesterday. Every decision I made was deliberate, and meant to represent myself in a certain light. For example, I decided to show three pictures of my kids playing in the leaves. I was going for a story arc, first they throw the leaves, then they fall, and then the kids are happy and playing in them. I wanted them to look nice and carefree, having fun. They like to be carefree and have fun, and jump in the leaves…. but the truth is that we played in the leaves one day last year, and it was so Mommy could get their yearly pictures. I dressed the kids up in cute clothes, my daughter's hair went up into pigtails, and my son's unruly hair went under a cap. I have studied photography, so I know that the light was just right and if I got down on their level to take the picture I'd have a better shot.
I chose to focus on my hobbies of gardening and photography. I didn't chose to showcase my rock collection, or the boxes of pinecones I tend to hoard. I didn't show my messy old house, nor my daughter running around with the dirty face she's more fond of than pigtails (darn-it!).
I understand that media - even the media we create via social media websites such as Facebook - is a construction. I constantly have to remind myself when I'm looking at old friend's Facebook pages that life is messier and less glamorous than what's presented to the world - I have to admit, my life is too.
Additional Resource:
I love infographics because they are a simple, visual, and usually a fun way of conveying lots of information. I was thinking about the scary statistic in the reading about how only 5 corporations control the majority of the U.S. media market (Kellner & Share, 2005). I found this infographic, which states 6 companies control 90% of what we watch, read or listen to (I'm not sure about the discrepancy in the number of companies - the infographic was made in 2011, more recently than the 2005 article, so that might be the contributing factor - there is also no mention of the infographic just limiting itself to the U.S. media market).
Source: Frugal dad
(White, 2011)
Citations:
Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: Core concepts, debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 26(3), 369-386. Retrieved from http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/2005_Kellner-Share_TowardsCriticalMediaLiteracy.pdf
White,
J. (2011, November 22). Media consolidation: The illusion of choice
(infographic) [Web log message]. Retrieved from
http://frugaldad.com/2011/11/22/media-consolidation-infographic/
