An exploration of media literacy in South Africa and a model for tertiary education

[摘要] Although the discipline of media studies is not new to the broad academic field ofCommunication Science, the phenomenon of media literacy in the media studieslandscape is not so familiar. The state of affairs pertaining to the ever-growing,ubiquitous mass media in the third millennium and its potential effects on individualsand society increasingly preoccupy many researchers and other stake-holders,particularly in view of the fact that it is virtually impossible to separate the presence andpossible effects of the media from society. In short, the mass media create andmaintain popular and mass culture, confirming the traditional theoretical function as.prominent carriers of culture and instruments of socialization .The transactional perspective of communication has been transposed in this thesis tothe context of mass media consumers at the receiving end of mass communication viathe mass media. Studies have waylaid the initial perspective of the hypodermic needletheories, in the sense that these audiences do not always seem to be completelypassive and at the mercy of the mass media as so-called victims, but that theseconsumers actually do play an active role in terms of their selection and choice ofmedia and formats. The latter perspective heralded the user gratification chapters inthe media effects history. Media literacy, however, takes this active role even further,and aims to empower and teach ordinary people, specifically young people who areoften viewed as most susceptible audiences of mass media messages, to criticallyevaluate and mindfully decode the mass media contents.In the face of the overwhelming volume of communication and information messagessurrounding the modern-day citizen, audiences can obviously lose control of theirmedia exposure or diets, consequently affecting their mindful judgment of thesecontents. Aspects such as violence, promiscuity and uninhibited sex, swearing andprofanity, crime and materialism, amongst many others, often seem to be the drivingforce behind the mass media producers who find themselves mostly profit- andconsumer-driven, as most media formats (e.g. newspapers, magazines, radio,television, film, advertisements and the Internet) are indeed and essentially businesseswho can best survive by supplying popular sensation at a price to the avid consumers.Studies on the audience's psychological relationship with the media suggest that theseconsumers often possibly prefer not to critically choose the contents of their media diet,but thrive on a senseless absorbing thereof for various reasons.Media literacy is already an established and independent school curriculum in most ofthe First World countries inter alia Canada, America, Hawaii, Britain, Scotland, France,Finland, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. However, traces of media education withthe desired outcome of media literate media consumers by means of various so-calledmedia literacy approaches and techniques, seem to be sparse in the South Africancontext. If the phenomenon of media literacy is encountered at all, it is where merestrains of the concept are included in other subjects in order to facilitate the learning ofthe primary subjects such as Languages, Cultural Studies, History or Human Sciences;not necessarily comprising knowledge content and skills pertaining to the mass mediaitself.Media literacy is a vital life-skill for any person interacting with the profuse mass mediain modern-day society, and with the necessary knowledge and development of skills,all learners can enhance their enjoyment of the mass media when they are medialiterate. While censorship of detrimental media content is not advised, prolific studiesspeculate about the link between societal problems and the mass media content,leaving media academics and scholars at an impasse with these powerful masscuItural agents.Media literacy activities aim to furnish learners with knowledge about the nature andcharacteristics of the mass media as well as specific issues such as stereotyping,gender portrayals, violence, media hegemony, the creation of mass and popularculture and other effects of the media. Learners can acquire both cognitive andemotional facilities as well as psycho-motor skills in order to access, decode, evaluateand analyze different media formats and contents. The vital conative aspect -implying the conscious choice to manage media exposure - can also be redressedwhen consumers become enlightened about the nature and role of the mass media.Essentially, media literacy is critical thinking applied to the mass media. Its contentsaim to furnish learners with discerning capabilities, in order to eventually improve thequality of individuals' lives and promote social justice by the application of evaluation ofvalues amongst other aspects. Ultimately, a media literate society can produce morecreative, individualistic and independent-thinking citizens, thus raising the standards ofa democracy in the fullest sense of the word, and giving embodiment to many of theclauses of the Constitution such as that of free speech and access to information.Metaphorically speaking, it can be asked why numerous people carefully balance theirfood intake, but are seldom concerned about their media diets. Health warnings aboutthe inherent dangers of smoking, alcohol, fatty foods and cholesterol are rife, whilsteducation for general and ordinary media consumers about the effects of allegedunhealthy media content seems to be rare. In the same manner that parents teachchildren how to navigate the potentially dangerous realm of traffic and roads, youngpeople and future media workers - all ordinary people indeed - should be educatedhow to negotiate the latent dangers of the mass media. Although literature producesmany and various approaches to the teaching of media literacy, there is a prominentlack of South African academic material and research on the subject. The primary goalof this study therefore is the development of a model for teaching media literacy on atertiary level in South Africa, and to elucidate the currently fragmented and youngdiscipline of media literacy on an international level in the face of the many differentperspectives and definitions ascribed to the subject.It is lastly suggested that this study should also be seen as a form of societal criticism,which falls in the cadre of the relationship between the mass media and its consumers.A society with critical-thinking individuals and audiences who can ask pertinentquestions about the content of the mass media, can raise the quality of the massmedia's content and so compel the media industries and professionals to enter into amore transactional and interactional relationship with their audiences via the media,who can learn to maintain a balanced approach to the media as a result of increasedmedia literacy. Education about the mass media industry, its contents and possibleeffects is the only solution to assist consumers in not being misled continuously by themedia.

[发布机构] University of the Free State