Today, marketers know intimate details about consumers. If marketing companies are using heuristics – or patterns of behavior – to sell products and services, we need to provide everyone with heuristics, or habits of mind, to filter the media messages and be better equipped to decide for ourselves.
Media literacy education is gaining recognition around the world, and international partnerships and cooperation stand to benefit the field globally. From Latin America to Azerbaijan, educators see how essential media literacy is to preparing for life in a media-driven culture.
Public health has long been a topic addressed through media literacy - whether the issues are violence prevention, sexuality, smoking cessation or any other health concern. Interviews with Erica Rosenthal from Hollywood, Health and Society and Narges Dorratoltaj from Ctrl+S explore how public health and media literacy intersect.
In this issue, we celebrate the passage of media literacy legislation in states around the country with special focus on California and Washington. We interviewed two individuals who played (are playing) pivotol roles in this effort -- Marilyn Cohen, a top media literacy researcher and advocate from Washington State; and Jennifer Howeter, from the California Department of Education.
In this issue, we explore new notions of identity from a sociological and psychiatric perspective. How we represent ourselves – to ourselves and to others – is essential to our humanity. By better understanding the impact of our mediated selves on our interactions and our self-image, we see how media influences the essence of our being. Includes interviews with two cultural sociologists: Professor Joseph E. Davis explains the commodifying of self, and Dr. Andreas Bernard discusses the changing science of profiling.