Book Review
Media Matters: Critical Thinking in the Information Age published by South - Western Educational Publishing, 2000. (National Text-McGraw-Hill) US price: $250.00; Cdn: $375.00 (Canadians should order through Theatrebooks in Toronto.)
Whenever a large conglomerate such as Time - Warner Turner gets involved in media education projects, I suspect that most of us tend to be wary. Will the corporate honchos uncritically celebrate their achievements, silencing other voices? or will they perhaps water down or co-opt the tough - minded programs emanating form Canada, Australia, the UK and a growing number from the United States? Among the greatest challenges to media educators is that of addressing systematically the ideological messages as well as the commercial implications of mainstream media. These were my first thoughts on examining the new CNN - Turner learning package Media Matters: Critical Thinking in the Information Age
The kit consists of a student book, an instructors guide, a choice of using two videos or a DVD , and an audio CD and CD-ROM containing worksheets and further investigations. This learning package is nicely packaged and, on the surface, appears well organized. There are eight mini sections in each unit developmentally organized (One of these is "Key Ideas" which was originally in the instructor's edition page viii. And listed correctly as " Key terms" but was unaccountably changed to "Key Ideas in each Chapter." The workbook sections in each unit consume a lot of space and tend to privilege the video excerpts, many of which I found unrewarding as media experiences. Unfortunately, when all the ingredients of this kit are carefully scrutinized, we often end up with a mixed bag. While there are some interesting activities for students throughout and some of the 13 units hang together nicely, the critical media theory behind Media Matters seems intellectually impoverished and many of the units are a mishmash.
Without trying to contradict that judgment, I was nonetheless pleased that at least six of the units hold together well, and present a range of stimulating student activities. Among the winners I would include Chapter two, "Learning to analyze the media; Chapter 5, News; Chapter Nine, Docudramas and Documentaries; Chapter 8, TV Talk Shows; Chapter 12, Magazines.
In the introduction, a corporate voice addresses us as follows: "We are justifiably proud of our brands, yet we realize that as producers of the very media we have asked students to deconstruct, you may find us suspect in our endeavor. We believe this product speaks for itself...the content has been reviewed by some of the leading experts in media literacy." Now just what does this mean? that we should be suitably impressed and uncritical ? And about that page of contributors, it would appear that several of the expert reviewers are, in several instances, the writers for Media Matters.
So let's deal with Media Matters' treatment of the commercial implications of media. Certainly throughout the book there is information on the costs of making shows, information on advertising rates and the obvious economics of creating a successful media industry thanks to many happy consumers. (Liz Thoman's introduction to media literacy in her article in the teacher's guide deals with the key concepts of media including the media business. Unfortunately, her rendition of the key concepts of media does not adequately permeate the project. Sadly, it is only in the last unit (page 148) that ownership and control becomes a real issue. Here is how it is stated:
"When a corporation owns TV stations, radio stations, magazines, book publishing companies, and newspapers, it can advertise, and recommend its own media products." This observation is followed up by an assignment: "As a class, brainstorm the implications of media monopolies. In groups, consider solutions to the potential problems." There are no suggestions for the teacher about how they might handle the consequences. What might happen, for example, if the class proposed breaking up media monopolies? Would CNN-Turner Inc. banish them to the sidelines or deliver them abruptly to Ralph Nader's doorstep?
Media Matters' subtitle: "Critical thinking in the information Age" cashes in on the good vibes associated with the term but I am reluctant to automatically equate media literacy with critical thinking. The good work in critical thinking associated with the work of leading advocates and researchers is not alluded to in the teachers' guide. And the pleasurable and the subjective components of mediated experience that loom large in the individual's media experience remain outside the domain of most critical thinking skills curricula. Where demanding higher order thinking skills comes to the fore is in deconstructing ideological messages in the media. It is no surprise that Media Matters doesn't use the term but resorts to the a kind of watered down values clarification approach which seems too superficial and suffers from never being systematically modeled. Where intellectual muscle flexing is important is in units such as "Censorship versus Personal Responsibility," a topic included in the last chapter of the book entitled "A Media Literate Society." Discussing hate talk and debating the pros and cons of defending censoring controversial content in the media is potentially an excellent topic for the classroom, but only if the students have been taken through exercises and discussions in the dynamics of power- who gets it and who doesn't and for what reasons and how the struggle for hegemony is created by our interactions with the media. Otherwise, we are in danger of simply confirming existing views and prejudices, leaving students where they were at the beginning. This deficit could have been solved if the insights of the excellent and comprehensive "Deconstruction Tool Box", by Kathleen Tyner in Chapter Two had been sustained throughout and, according to the topic or themes, modified with new and evolving insights.
If Media Matters had dealt with fewer topics and treated them with more depth, the fragmented qualities in some of the units would have been overcome. The mishmash is the result of bringing loosely connected strands together. For example, Lesson Four entitled "American Society as Portrayed in the Media," aims to cover in ten pages the following objectives: identify current celebrities and the media role in their fame; analyze values and stereotypes embedded in many media messages; recognize and evaluate materialistic messages in their culture; create a media message that accurately portrays today's teenagers. Then a short section called "Then and Now" deals with the evolving nature of the American family through watching old shows like "Leave it to Beaver." A section entitled "World View " features commentary and questions on a video clip on Russian fashion revealing how they are trying to break from their past Communist restrictions in dress. The student activities on celebrities asks students to establish criteria for the making of a celebrity and debates the positive and negative dimensions of the celebrity phenomenon. The unit ends with deconstructing the media stereotypes associated with teen beauty pageants, using information from the video clip which features the climax of such a pageant through the crowning of the typical tearful winner. This clip is followed by an interview and our knowing about the young girl’s difficult family life is supposed to make us erase the stereotypes associated with beauty queens. This unit contains such a packed agenda comprising so many disparate pieces, I guarantee your head will be spinning. There are too many topics treated too superficially. Finally, I find it disappointing to assign students ‘spot-the -stereotype’ exercises and then ignore the socio-political reasons that may have created them.
Chapter seven "Print Advertising and Broadcast Commercials" has a similar problem. Two thirds of the way through this unit dealing with commercials we learn about the techniques used by advertisers to gain attention as well as some perspectives on our consumer society. We are then presented with a section called "Ethics in Action - People as Objects" consisting of Jean Kilbourne's description of the ways women are depicted in advertising, e.g. childish clowning, subordination. The context of advertising and representation of women makes some critical sense here but it seems stuck in , lacking any kind of in-depth introduction to gender representation. (That there are no chapters dedicated entirely to media representation - gender, race, class, ageism etc. means that these areas get short shrift.)
Considering the project's access to the huge Time-Warner-Turner film and video library I was disappointed in the selected video excerpts.( OK, we do get a 30 second clip from "Gone with the Wind" of Clark Gable's famous kiss with Vivien Leigh.) Some of these seemed too brief, too bland or were chosen to evoke a kind of respectable political correctness and/or patriotic fervor e.g. Martin Luther King's famous and "I have a Dream" Speech, the Kennedy-Nixon debates, and John Glenn's 1998 return to space travel. Seven different excerpts from the drama "The Day Lincoln was Shot" are used to illustrate film techniques. Here I think they are pushing their luck in retaining student attention span. One wishes there was more excerpts such as the one used about wrestlemania, showcasing Hulk Hogan's theatrics to illustrate the dilemmas arising from our obsessions with escapist entertainment.
Small Quibbles:
Media studies text books and supporting resources are fraught with perils. They may be too difficult and abstract; too obvious, and ultimately unchallenging; too patronizing or merely celebratory of youth culture; too negative and judgmental, spending an inordinate amount of time on the nasties- sex, drugs and violence; or too fragmented and lacking clear assessment rubrics. There are always inherent limitations in any kit that purports to do it all. Media teachers are by necessity teaching in an eclectic circus. Trying to work with today's teachable moments and yet contextualizing them through applying the key media concepts is a challenge. Returning to my assessment at the beginning, I admire many of the units in Media Matters. They can be intellectually challenging and well organized. Media teachers will find them stimulating. I can only hope that astute teachers will not be hampered by some of the shortcomings of this project but will be able to soar past the ubiquitous CNN - Turner satellites girding the universe and look for their own insightful but elusive media truths.