H1N1 Coverage: Why Media Literacy Is Important

Hello, Media Literacy Proponents and Enthusiasts,

Well, have you come out from under your beds, yet, following

repeated photos and other recorded images of people wearing masks in connection with the Swine Flu?  What about the use of  carefully mixed worry-enhancing, panic-producing colors and special effects mixed with the use of intimidating  voice-overs using those authoritative male voices typically used in early television news?  And, let’s not forget all the ads selling us products that promise to protect us from this supposed “scourge spreading at an alarming rate?”  They ask, “Are YOUUUU prepared?”

So, were we,  will we be THISCLOSE to catching this new strain of flu  the next time it rears its ugly head?  ARE we prepared….for the media onslaught relating to it?  And, do we understand  how precaution turns into paranoia?

And related to this, I guess the pork producers are happier this supposedly virulent flu is now being called H1N1.  They know the power of  24/7 television, internet and radio headlines, and about  nomenclature as it relates to such afflictions.

And, did you notice?  Thanks to the flu outbreak, our nation’s banks got a short reprieve … our physical health became a temporary distraction from our economic woes, and financial news, once again, took a back seat to other stories.

Every day we are bombarded with different lessons on WHY media literacy is so important to us.  What we’ve witnessed, just in these past three months, certainly underscores that our well-being– physical, economic civic and social—is highly dependent on our survival skills.  Media literacy translates to survival skill because, throughout our lives, we make public and private decisions based, in part, on what media’s numerous languages are telling us.

Gladly, I see more and more of our community now realizing media literacy translates to being discerning individuals when we are deciphering information on the numerous mass communications channels.  And, with GMLP  leading efforts to prompt media literacy consciousness, in  formal and informal education settings, GMLP institutional  and individual memberships are growing and giving voice to the idea that media literacy represents a nexus for community change, understanding and continued  economic development.   With formal memberships and numerous community collaborations under way, GMLP will  be delighted to present media literacy enlightenment, formal instruction and engaging content at its third annual Media Literacy Week, Oct. 4-11.   We invite the community to participate.  At that time, too, we will offer up a formal report on the state of media literacy in our community.

Please stay tuned!

Cheers,

Jessica Z. Brown