Media Literacy: Focusing the lens on Latin America

1
Media Literacy Focusing the lens on Latin America

• Dr. Srividya Ramasubramanian
• Department of Communication
• Texas AM University

2
Global citizenship and media literacy

• Media shape values, influencing our opinions, and
  constructing our worldviews
• Effective, active, and empowered citizens in
  a global multimedia community
• Media literacy focuses on fostering active
  inquiry and critical thinking skills about the
  media messages that we receive and create

3
Global citizenship and media literacy

• Part One Media flows between Latin America and
  U.S television and film industries
• Part Two Critical analysis of U.S media
  representations of Latin America

4
Main Principles of Media Literacy

1. Active inquiry and critical thinking about the
   messages we receive and create.
2. Literacy applied to all forms of media.
3. Builds and reinforces skills for learners of all
   ages.
4. Integrated, interactive, and repeated practice.

Alliance for a Media Literate America
5
Main Principles of Media Literacy

• 4. Develops informed, reflective and engaged
  participation essential for a democratic society
• 5. Recognizes that media are a part of culture
  and function as agents of socialization
• 6. Affirms that people use their individual
  skills, beliefs and experiences to construct
  their own meanings from media messages

Alliance for a Media Literate America
6
What Media Literacy is Not

• Replacing students perspectives with someone
  elses
• Sharing a critique of media without also sharing
  skills to critically analyze media
• Teaching students to think critically without
  also teaching skills of expression or vice versa
• Using media literacy videos, films, books or
  other curriculum materials as a substitute for
  teaching critical inquiry skills

Alliance for a Media Literate America
7
What Media Literacy is Not

• Simply using media in the classroom
• Asking IF there is a bias in a particular message
  (since all media messages are biased), but
  rather, what the substance, source, and
  significance of a bias might be
• About accepting oversimplifications or
  overgeneralizations about media or any other
  topic
• About restricting or reducing complex debates to
  two sides

Alliance for a Media Literate America
8
Key Questions to Ask when Analyzing Media
Messages

• Authors and Audiences
• Authorship
• Who made this message?
• Purpose
• Why was this made?
• Economics
• Who paid for this?
• Impact
• Who might benefit from this message? Who might
  be harmed? Why might this message matter to me?
• Response
• What kinds of actions might I take in response
  to this message?

Messages and Meanings Content What is this
about?
What
ideas, values, information and point of view are
overt? Implied? What is left out of this message
that is important to know? Techniques What
techniques are used? Why were those techniques
used? How do they communicate the
message? Interpretations How might different
people understand this message differently? What
do I learn about myself from my reaction or
interpretation?
Representations and Reality Context When was
this made? Where or how was it shared with the
public? Credibility Is this fact, opinion, or
something else? How credible is this (and what
makes you think that)? What are the sources of
the information, ideas, or assertions?
Alliance for a Media Literate America
9
Part One Media flow patterns between U.S and
Latin America

• The Case of Television and Film Industries

10
Cultural imperialism versus proximity

• Cultural imperialism
• Richer, mightier countries dominate media content
  of subordinating countries
• Cultural proximity
• Media audiences prefer local over foreign
  programs
• Asymmetric interdependence (Straubhaar, 1994)

11
Evidence for cultural proximity

• In 2003, about 60 to 80 of programming was
  locally produced
• U.S media content was only 8 of Brazil, 14 in
  Chile, 13 in Columbia, and 27 in Mexico

12
U.S. TV programs in Latin America

• U.S programs such as The Simpsons and Fresh
  Prince of Belair popular with younger audiences
  in large cities in Latin America, especially
  those in the upper/middle class
• Most of the top 10 popular paid channels are U.S
  based (mainly movies)

13
Media flows within and outside Latin America

• Increase in exports from Brazil, Venezuela, and
  Mexico to other countries in Latin America and to
  European countries
• Venevision headquartered in Miami uses neutral
  Spanish Venezuelan and Mexican actors
• Export to U.S. Brazilian Globo has made
  telenovelas geared toward Hispanic market in U.S.
  that describes Mexican characters living in Brazil

14
Globalization of Latin American TV industry

• Some Latin American media companies are
  collaborating with foreign companies to
  co-produce movies for TV
• Interestingly, many are headquartered in Miami
  (MTV Latino, Telemundo, and Univision)
• Apart from the U.S., Canada, France and
  Spain-based conglomerates own some channels in
  Latin America

15
Support for asymmetric interdependence

• Modeled after U.S. capitalist profit-oriented
  media companies in structure and processes
• Smaller countries such as Ecuador import more
  from U.S. than bigger ones such as Mexico
• In some genres such as movies, sitcoms, cartoons,
  U.S. media dominates

16
Part Two Representations of Latin America in
U.S. Media
17
Group think

• Describe a typical news story about.
• Mexico
• Brazil
• Venezuela
• Colombia
• Argentina
• Cuba

18
Can you guess what 3 themes are discussed the
most in news stories about Latin America?
19
Top Three Themes

• Drugs
• Immigration
• Soccer

Is this information surprising?
20

• How about stereotypes of Latin America in
  entertainment? See Unthinking Eurocentrism book

21
Traditional Latin American stereotypes in
entertainment

• The Greaser
• The Lazy/Stupid Mexican
• The Latin Lover
• The Dark Lady

22
(No Transcript)
23
Social identity theory and media

• Us versus them
• They are all Mexicans (out-group homogeneity)
• The more they are like us, the more we like them
  (prototypical similarity)

24
Assimilation in U.S. culture
http//www.youtube.com/watch_fullscreen?video_idk
mN7qsWApKkl224tOEgsToPDskKPrgJ1V3sjqUbscuI7o3d
-skOCE4wKt3yRLb-JKINQG3agCfs1titleUgly20Bet
ty20-2027A20Tree20Grows20In20Guadalajara27
20Summary205BEp.20225D
In the summary of Ugly Betty - 'A Tree Grows In
Guadalajara' Summary Ep. 22 We see Betty and
her family going back to their roots in Mexico to
solve family problems, yet still maintain their
identity in America
On Ugly Betty, America Ferreras character Betty
has to balance life in her Latino home with life
at work in Manhattan.
25
Popular media as a source of information

• Television is a primary source of information
  about racial and ethnic minorities, especially
  for children from rural backgrounds with little
  to no direct contact with other races (Graves,
  1999)

26
Cultivation of social reality

• Higher TV exposure
• Greater fear of crime
• More mistrust in people
• Higher perceived threat
• Greater support for law enforcement
• (Gerber and colleagues)

27
Immigration Media
How is immigration portrayed in the media?
28

• Can you guess which countries had the highest and
  lowest number of news stories?

29
Mexico 2037
Brazil 1078
Cuba 784
Venezuela 538
Argentina 527
Puerto Rico 343
Colombia 331
Chile 328
Peru 291
Dominican Republic 290
Panama 263
Guatemala 238
Ecuador 197
Bolivia 165
Nicaragua 158
Costa Rica 137
Uruguay 122
Honduras 113
El Salvador 103
Guyana 60
Paraguay 50
Belize 43
Suriname 9
French Guyana 5












30
Media dependency
31
Agenda-setting
32
Episodic versus thematic
33
Illegal immigration

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vdft0s_Noa4U
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vyTYjKxywzvU

34
Venezuelan President article

• Washington Post editorial