Trends in the Media

Trends in the Media

Trends in the Media

Note

The concept of media encompasses a variety of mediums. Based on the definition that media are tools used to store and deliver information, students today are exposed to more media than at any other point in history. The diverse array of influence comes from advertisements on billboards and Facebooktm, who they see in pictures in their childhood story books, the attributes of characters in video games, the portrayal of movie and sitcom characters and much more. These messages from the media often informally teach prejudices and enforce stereotypes based on gender or ethnicity. This lesson increases student awareness of media influences and demonstrates the potential it has to influence student’s (and teacher’s and administrator’s) worldviews. It focuses primarily on gender and ethnic portrayals, but could be expanded to include more on body image.The aim is not to interpret all the messages that media sends, but rather to acknowledge that it does send messages and explore the effects of some of these messages on people in our society.

Grade Level:11

Subject Area:Health & P.E.

Curricular Objectives

11.MH.2- Examine media influence(s) on self-image and behaviour

Human Rights Objectives

Student will critically examine the role of media in influencing Canadian’s ability to achieve the “full development of the human personality”. They will focus specifically on the messages about gender and ethnicity that inhibit people’s equal experience of their human rights.

Article 26 b) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personalityand to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Itshall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial orreligious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for themaintenance of peace.

Materials

• A full newspaper (relatively current) for each student or pair of students or access to online newspapers. This will work best with different editions for each student.
• Student handouts (included)
• Definition of media
• Recording sheet
• Scenarios
• Student Reflection

Activating

Display the definition of media. Lead a class discussion to determine what some relevant media forms in their lives are and what specific examples of the most relevant types of media are.

Have each student write down ten instances where/when they were exposed to media in the last 24 hours. Discuss lists.

Acquiring

Analyze the photos corresponding to newspaper articles in a newspaper in terms of how they portray genders. Have students record their findings using the recording sheet provided. As a class, discuss trends and the following discussion questions.

1. What might a young girl think when this is what she sees in the newspaper? What might a young boy think when this is what he sees in the newspaper?
2. How do these images shape how children grow up to see themselves? How does it influence their sense of ‘normal’?
3. How might men view and treat women if this is what they see? How might women view and treat men?
4. How might this affect both genders ability to freely explore who they are? How might this cause discrimination? How might this affect their self image and their behaviours?
5. How might these messages affect teacher’s and administrator’s ideas about genders and ethnicity and how might that affect a student. (This question is intended to be theoretical, not judgemental.)
6. How might the influence of the media on society affect someone’s right to an education that is “directed to the full development of the human personality?”

Applying

Students will choose a scenario from the list of scenarios that is not something that describes them and put on that ‘lens’ to imagine possible effects of media in that situation. The scenarios focus on both gender and ethnic portrayals. This can be something that is done in class or given as a take home assignment and then discussed in the next class.

After discussing the scenarios, students will reflect on ways that media has influenced how they see themselves and how they see others using the reflection sheet.

Media

Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data

• Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
• Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks
• Mass media, all means of mass communication
• Multimedia, communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing
• New media, a broad term encompassing the amalgamation of traditional media with the interactive power of computer and communications technology
• News media, mass media focused on communicating news
• Print media, communications delivered via paper or canvas
• Published media, any media made available to the public
• Social media, media disseminated through social interaction

List adapted from

"Media." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. <

Trends Recording Sheet

Using tally marks, analyse and record what the photos in the news articles show. Make sure you only include the pictures that go with a news story- not advertisement or authors pictures. For example, if there was a picture of a man having fun in a swimming pool, which would go under the column ‘men’ and in the row ‘non-professional, leisure activity, having fun.’

Trends

Do you notice any trends? Are men and women equally shown working and having fun? Are they both shown displaying emotion?

Think about this...

1. What might a young girl think when this is what she sees in the newspaper? What might a young boy think when this is what he sees in the newspaper?
2. How do these images shape how children grow up to see themselves? How does it influence their sense of ‘normal’? How does it influence our idea of ‘success’?
3. How might men view and treat women if this is what they see? How might women view and treat men?
4. How might this affect both genders ability to explore their individuality? How might this cause discrimination? How might this affect their self image and their behaviours?

See a Scene through a Different Lens

Choose a scenario from the list that does not relate to you (ie. If you are female, you can’t choose anything with females). Imagine yourself as the person described. On the back of this paper, answer the question(s) from the scenario and explain why that would be the answer.

Scenario #1

You are a five year old immigrant from Kenya. You enjoy school, especially reading stories. Sometimes you get to go shopping at a nearby Safeway and your favourite part is looking at the candy and magazines by the checkout counter. Who do you think gets to be famous and appreciated in society? What does a ‘normal’ family do? What do they look like?

Scenario #2

You are an eight year old girl who loves dolls- especially Barbie! For Christmas, you always ask for anything from Disney. What does beauty look like for you? What are some ‘normal’ things for girls to like and care about?

Scenario #3

You live in a primarily homogeneous Caucasian neighbourhood. You hang out with people who look like you and do the same things as you. The only time you see people who look different than you are on movies, tv shows, and in the news. How do you view people from different ethnic backgrounds?

Scenario #4

You are a new Caucasian police officer and excited to start your new job helping keep people safe and upholding the law. You have studied hard and finished up all your training. You don’t have any friends who are from a different ethnic background than you. You are starting to work in an area of the city is predominantly non- Caucasian. All you know about these people, you have learned from the media. What do you think you know?

Scenario #5

You are a 15 year old male and you spend a lot of time on the internet playing video games. When you are not playing video games or at school, you also like to read the newspaper. What do you need to do and be to be considered successful and manly?

Reflection Sheet

Media is an inescapable force in our society. No matter your age, gender, ethnicity, or socio economic status, you will be exposed to media. Now that you have examined the messages that media sometimes portray and how that might affect people, consider how media has affected people’s rights.

Can you think of any situations where someone’s rights were compromised because of the effect of media?

Can you think of messages that you have internalized about who you ‘should’ be or look like that come from media?

Write down your thoughts.

Lesson Extension Ideas:

• Have students keep a media influence diary for a week where they identify the media around them and the effects it has on them
• Talk specifically about the how women are portrayed in film using the Bechdel Test for Women in Movies
• The Bechdel Test is a simple test which identifies the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man.
• Do video game reviews about messages being sent to gamers
• Write letters to local newspapers talking about who is under represented or poorly represented in the media and what action they would like the newspaper to take.
• Lateral thinking puzzle: A man and his son are in a car accident and the man is killed. The boy is rushed to hospital. The doctor takes one look at him and says "I can't operate on this child, he's my son!" How is that possible? Solution: The doctor is the boy's mother. The puzzle plays on people's tendency to assume certain gender roles unless explicitly told otherwise. Equally effective is the gender-flipped variation, where it is the boy's mother killed and a nurse objecting to the operation.

Taken from "Stock Lateral Thinking Puzzle - Television Tropes & Idioms." Home Page - Television Tropes & Idioms. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. <

Further Resources

: Media Awareness Network

“MNet is a Canadian non-profit organization that has been pioneering the development of media literacy and digital literacy programs since its incorporation in 1996. Members of our team have backgrounds in education, journalism, mass communications and cultural policy. Working out of Ottawa, we promote medialiteracyand digital literacy by producing education and awareness programs and resources, working in partnership with Canadian and international organizations, and speaking to audiences across Canada and around the world.

MNet focuses its efforts on equipping adults with information and tools to help young people understand how the media work, how the media may affect their lifestyle choices and the extent to which they, as consumers and citizens, are being well informed.”

: Media Watch

“Our mission is to challenge abusive stereotypes and other biased information commonly found in the media through education and action. Media Watch endorses media literacy as part of standard curriculum in our K-12 educational system. We provide monthly ACTION newsletters to help create more informed consumers of the mass media. We do not endorse in any form of censorship, especially the continued silencing of marginalized groups. Corporate owned media is known to use any image or story to manipulate buying power and sway public opinion, regardless of the harm engendered by their information and images. We believe people’s health and safety must always take priority over profit.”

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