The Remedy

Learn About Advertising & Media Messages

In order to know how the media attempts to manipulate us as consumers, it is our responsibility to increase our awareness of how advertising influences our attitudes and behavior, to increase our ability to think critically about advertisements, and to take the appropriate measures to ensure our attitudes remain intact and strong.

The Media Literacy Clearing House listed some key questions that people should ask about media messages. The questions are:

1. Who is the producer/storyteller of the message?
2. What is their purpose/motive/agenda? (to inform, to persuade, to educate, to call to action, to entertain, to shock)
3. Who is the intended (primary) target audience? How do you know? Is there another (secondary) audience?
4. What does the message say? How does it say it?
5. How do you know what the message means?
6. What format/medium does the producer use?
7. What are the advantages of the format/medium?
8. What methods/techniques does the producer use to make the message attractive/believable?
9. What lifestyle is portrayed in the message? What clues tell you ?
10. Who makes money or benefits from the message?
11. Who/what is left out of the message?
12. Whose interests are served by telling/showing the message in a particular way?
13. Do you agree with the message?
14. How might different people interpret the message differently?
15. What do you know; what do you NOT know; what would you like to know?
16. Where can you go to verify the information or get more reliable information?
17. What can you do with the information you have obtained from the message?

People should ask these questions when they are being exposed to the media but since there are too many to remember, I suggest you briefly review them and try to pick up the questions that hadn’t occurred to you to ask before.