Book Review: Master the Media by Julie Smith

Master the Media: How Teaching Media Literacy Can Save Our Plugged-In World by Julie Smith

A big challenge today is the glut of information and entertainment. Not only are news channels available 24/7, but the internet provides a constant stream of up-to-the-second information, from weather to international incidents to local controversies. Options for entertainment are even greater. Cable TV seems like a thing of the past with so many streaming services available. Apple Music is the biggest music retailer offering untold millions of songs. Newspapers, books, and magazines all have their internet equivalents, copies that threaten to make their originals obsolete. The sheer volume of consumable content is overwhelming and people are spending more and more time consuming it.

With a great amount of content comes a great amount of responsibility. Julie Smith's book is a call to be aware of the situation and to use it intelligently, i.e. to have media literacy. Media is crafted to connect advertisers to customers, so they work hard to provide a compelling message to buyers. Note that the message does not have to be truthful, just compelling. Sometimes it is true, or only true from a certain point of view, i.e. from a biased perspective that the consumer may or may not agree with. Awareness of media biases and techniques for persuasion is critical for consumers. The book gives an overview of television, movies, music and radio, news, books and magazines, advertising, the internet, and political media. All of these media present challenges and opportunities for the average person. The book provides a good summary of each and resources to understand more in depth. 

The book includes QR codes to other content that emphasizes points, like videos about on how the media alters images for an effect (one magazine even admits its models don't look like their pictures!) or how a few companies own all the media sources. The book doesn't dwell on negativity, but on being informed and using critical thinking to make more intelligent decisions. The supplements are great and give some direct, practical experience of the points being made in the book.

Highly recommended--Media literacy is an important skill that everyone needs today.