Maureen, I'm not quite sure how how to define "digital literacy," but for what it's worth, MEF does differentiate between the terms "media literacy" and "media education." These terms are often used interchangeably, but, in our view, they are different. MEF defines media education as the analysis of the media industries and the content they produce. Media education works to examine representations, news coverage, and places a particular emphasis on how commercial ownership of the media system affects the images and content we see.
Media literacy, on the other hand, is often simply textual analysis on a media example. As Renee Hobbs (a pioneer in the U.S. media literacy movement) defines it, media literacy is “the process of accessing, critically analyzing media messages and creating messages using media tools.” Because media literacy doesn't necessarily include the emphasis on how ownership affects content, MEF prefers the term media education. While we do see textual analysis as an integral part of media education, we think that in any media system, it's key to question who has the power to create messages, and why. Sut Jhally, the founder of MEF, sums up the difference nicely: "Media literacy should be about helping people to become sophisticated citizens rather than sophisticated consumers. The mass media, in other words, should be understood as more than a collection of texts to be deconstructed and analyzed so that we can distinguish or choose among them. They should be analyzed as sets of institutions with particular social and economic structures that are neither inevitable nor irreversible. Media education should certainly teach students to engage media texts, but it should also, in our view, teach them to engage and challenge media institutions." Best, Alex Alexandra Peterson | Marketing Coordinator Media Education Foundation 60 Masonic Street | Northampton, MA 01060 TEL: 413.584.8500 x2205 | FAX: 413.586.8398 The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical thinking about the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media. Find MEF on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube! On Dec 6, 2011, at 12:19 PM, Maureen Tripp wrote: > I have been asked to talk to faculty about some version of these > “literacies”, and suggest some ways our library help our students become more > media/digital, or trans literate. > My first question: what is the difference between these terms? > And the second is like it: what is the preferred term? > And finally, if anyone has any ideas about programs or services that might > support development of said literacies, I’d love to hear them. Thanks, as > always, o collective wisdom! > > Maureen Tripp > Media Librarian > Iwasaki Library > 120 Boylston Street > Boston, MA 02116 > [email protected] > (617)824-8407 > > > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues > relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, > preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and > related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective > working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication > between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and > distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
