Media Literacy: An Alternative to Censorship

Media literacy education has come a long way since the 1970s, when the first "critical thinking" courses were introduced in a few American schools. Most educators today understand that with the revolutionary changes in communication that have occurred in the last half-century, media literacy has become as essential a skill as the ability to read the printed word. Equally important, media literacy education can relieve the pressures for censorship that have, over the last decade, distorted the political process, threatened First Amendment values, and distracted policymakers from truly effective approaches to widely shared concerns about the mass media's influence on youth

Breaking Boundaries

Graphic design communication is in constant change. Everyday new technologies emerge and evolve, affecting the way we communicate and deliver messages. For this reason, graphic designers should be able to understand the basic principles of design and effectively apply them to any media. It is my intention with this thesis to analyze the way I work in the design process, my influences, and also, why I make specific decisions based on different media. To illustrate these concepts I will discuss the body of work presented in my thesis exhibition: Breaking Boundaries

Strategic questions in the development of interactive television programs

The aim of this research was to identify questions that a person developing interactive television programs could ask himself. The topic was chosen because it is currently an emerging issue in many of the countries launching digital television. The previous research in this field was reviewed including academic research, field trials in Finland, selected field trials abroad, consumer attitude surveys and expert panels. As it turned out, not much academic work had been done in the subject. The most promising work had been done in the fields of distance education and interactive narration. Five other fields were surveyed as potential sources for suitable ITV development strategies. These fields were linear drama, infomercials and homeshopping, multimedia production, www-production and virtual communities. A group of potential strategies were identified from these fields. Several methodological choices were considered. Among them were predicative methods, scenario analysis, case study method, action research, knowledge brokering and Zetterberg’s method. Finally a combination of knowledge brokering and the Zetterberg’s method was found most suitable for this research. The initial strategies were picked by the researcher from the above mentioned fields. They were then tested with a survey form that was presented to persons involved with the ITV industry. The respondents were identified from various sources and also the snowball method was applied to gather more respondents. Altogether 103 responses were received from persons in significant posts in key companies and institutions of the field. The research can be considered valid and reliable. The main conclusion of this study is that it pays in ITV-development to use the questions that have been found useful in developing film and TV scripts, www-applications, multimedia productions, virtual communities or home-shopping advertisements. Different sets of questions are useful for different ITV-genres. A useful set of questions could be identified for six different ITV genres. These genres were ITV advertising, computer game type of ITV applications, News on Demand applications, Electronic Program Guide (EPG), distance learning applications and background information for TV programs. Other results were also discovered. The following three questions were found important for all genres: 1) How can we make the program aesthetically appealing as possible? 2) How can we make the program visually compelling? 3) What type of an interface should the program have? Another result was that the following two questions that are central in film industry were not considered important for any of the ITV genres: 1) How can we have a three act structure in the program? 2) How can we arrange a happy ending for the program? The identified sets of questions will provide a good starting point for a person developing a program in the respective genre

Depictions of race: An analysis of local television news

This study examined the depictions of African Americans and Euro-Americans aired on four local television stations in Las Vegas, Nevada. The study covered a one-week period with a sample set of 20 newscasts and 1,780 individual camera shots. One hypothesis of this study suggested that there are significant differences in the use of camera composition and the coverage of African Americans and Euro-Americans in local television news. Another hypothesis suggested that there are significant differences in the use of camera angles and the depiction of race. A research question examined the number of crime-related stories aired and depictions of African Americans and Euro-Americans within those stories. Findings suggest that there are differences in how African Americans and Euro-Americans are depicted in local television news

User centered design of new and novel products : case digital television

Product development of innovative new products and applications like digital television is challenging. For new and novel products in general, there is no defined product direction given to the design team at the beginning of the project and there is no clear understanding of user requirements which results in constantly evolving product features. Yet there is a need for new or not-yet-existing hardware and software technologies but no earlier product versions or comparable existing products to benchmark against. User centered design aims to actively involve the users in product development in all phases of the new product design. The limits of user centered design and user research are that the users cannot address any particular future needs without prior experience or knowledge of the subject. Research methods such as usability testing are concerned about existing devices or prototypes but they do not tell directly which new technologies could help meet the users' future needs. New design methods which welcome users' active participation in gathering and interpreting the user data help to shift the point of interest from usability testing in the late phases of usability engineering life cycle to the early phases of product development. Digital television and the new interactive applications enable a transition in the user behavior from straightforward channel surfing to active application usage. This thesis concentrates on user centered design during the early phases of interactive application design for digital television. The aim of research was to find techniques to meet users' future needs and to provide examples of future product concepts. Several techniques were used: a user study based on 'Cultural probes' method, interviews, focus groups, design sessions, usability testing, and storytelling. The work documented here originates from the pre-digital television era in Finland between the years 1998-2003. The author has published her results in seven publications.reviewe

The Specialized TV Editorial Market in Brazil: A Study on Fan Culture in Intervalo Magazine

This article analyses all 52 editions of the section "Entreviste seu Ídolo" from Intervalo magazine; based on the survey and analysis of issues published between 1968 and 1969, we discuss questions related to the fans profile chosen to participate in the section, the segment of activity of the idols and the context of the questions answered by the interviewees. In Brazil, despite being a minority, fan culture studies in communication are expanding and covering different areas such as identities, politics, and consumption. In this context, the article starts from a sample that has still not been explored in fan culture studies in the country. The magazine was a project of Editora Abril, published between the years 1963 and 1972; in turn, upon observing this strategic movement of the broadcasters and the consequent interest of its readers, it created several sections that established dialogues and built different relationships with its audience (Magnolo, 2023)

Postmodern Feminism, Hypertext, And The Rhetoric Of Cooking Websites

This study explores the ways cookbooks and their rhetorical dimensions have been re-imagined using hypertext and Web technology. Using the tenets of postmodern feminist rhetoric and Web design theory, the study considers how commercial cooking hypertexts construct users\u27 identities. Although hypertext is a potentially empowering technology, democratizing rhetoric and knowledge making practices, commercial hypertext often circumscribes agency formation and prohibits participation. Participatory, constructive hypertexts are difficult to design and costly to maintain. Of the three sites studied, Epicurious.com, BettyCrocker.com, and FoodNetwork.com, only Epicurious.com encourages meaningful communication between users and between users and designers. In many ways, Epicurious.com conceives of its users as active agents. Most of its content celebrates many knowledge making practices traditionally considered feminine and embodied. In contrast, BettyCrocker.com and FoodNetwork.com rely on closed, proprietary systems designs to maintain their authority. Users have little opportunity to participate as active agents. In small ways, however, users can begin to deconstruct the hypertexts, to resist the standards and strictures of expertly created recipes by reporting variations and opinions. The features that most reflect the tenets of a constructive feminist hypertext make possible some small movements toward agency

An investigation into the effects of local television soap operas on romantic relationships among University of KwaZulu-Natal’s undergraduate students on the Pietermaritzburg campus.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Despite their popularity, few studies have thoroughly investigated the content of local romantic soap operas and their effects on viewers. This study was conducted to address this gap. This study initially explored the effects of local television soap operas on romantic relationships amongst UKZN undergraduate students on the Pietermaritzburg campus. Of particular interest was the way in which university students engaged with soap operas and how they perceived their gender roles within romantic relationships in relation to intimate relationships portrayed in soap operas. The study was positioned within a qualitative research paradigm conducted at UKZN Pietermaritzburg residences. This allowed for the examination, description and interpretation of the data developed throughout the focus groups and indepth interviews. Convenience, purposive and snowballing procedures were adopted to select participants. A total of 30 undergraduate students participated in this study. Ten indepth interviews and three focus groups of 6 to 8 participants were held. The focus group discussions and interviews were recorded and transcribed word-for-word. The data was analysed using a critical thematic analysis to formulate dominant themes within the data. Findings from this study indicated that soap operas have a huge effect on students’ romantic relationships. Further findings were that although soap operas are informative, they can also be over-exaggerated in their portrayal of events. Participants indicated that this is however not entirely bad, as they use the watching of soap operas for relaxation and “escaping” their lives. They also argued that they learn from characters’ experiences and use these lessons when faced with similar situations. Students interviewed stated that a character’s ability to move on, personality characteristics, their earning capacity, physical beauty and relational skills were found to be key influencing factors on the choice of a romantic partner in soap operas. Nonetheless, study participants complained about the portrayal of women in soap operas, describing them as being misrepresented and undermined. Participants indicated that sexual activities on soap operas are over-exaggerated. In short, participants in the study felt that they never get what they expect in relationships when they have based their expectations on soap opera portrayals of relationships. They also pointed out that traditional gender roles and transactional relationships are very popular in soap opera portrayals, and this might unintentionally encourage the viewers to follow similar behaviours. To conclude, the participants indicated that all the themes that emerged from the data have an influence in their relationships

Changing perceptions of seeking help: A test of the effectiveness of an intervention video

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention video designed to promote positive associations with help seeking for mental health concerns. Participants were 290 undergraduates who were randomly assigned to a repeated exposure video intervention, a single exposure video intervention, or a control video condition. Participants completed measures pre-intervention, post-interventions, and at a six-week follow-up. The intervention repeated exposure group improved significantly more than the control group on help-seeking peer norms but not on the other outcome variables. The effect for peer norms was found at each time point, indicating both immediate and longer-term effects. The repeated exposure group also improved significantly more than the single exposure group on peer norms from pretest to Time 3. Effective, empirically supported interventions capable of reaching large numbers of people are necessary to help improve the under-utilization of mental health services. The present study offers some initial support for such theory-based video interventions for changing perceptions of normative behavior of seeking help