Reader Response #1

I totally agree with Thoman's idea of questioning what you see, and why you are seeing it. I have been questioning what I see on and in the media for quite a few years now, especially since serving in the military, which gave me the opportunity to see much of what is and isn't reported on by the media, and for all the reasons for each. Now that I am a parent of two young boys this takes media literacy to a whole other level, one that requires me to be extremely vigilant at monitoring what my little boys are able to watch or listen to.

The five ideas that everyone should look out for in media messages really helps bring to light the fact that unlike what my grandparents were taught, you can't believe everything you see or hear in the media. In the early days of media the majority of it was based on information, and what you got was mostly information with very little journalistic flair added, however times have changed drastically. The media of today is, for the most part, a huge money making business that can and will put profit above anything else. Even news programs are looking to up their ratings so that they may raise the price of their commercial spots to keep the money rolling in.

I believe Thoman's recipe for questioning the media really gives a good formula for determining what is really being said, and why. This "recipe" for media literacy is something that should be taught at all ages in schools, all the way from kindergarten to and through

college, because learning to question what the media is telling us also helps in deciphering other messages as we go through

life, and as has been said millions of times, knowledge is power. Media literacy is something that, in my opinion, is a very under-appreciated and under-utilized skill.

I believe that Thoman and Steyr are very much on the same page, neither of them ever stated that media is bad, yet both believe, as I do, that the extreme power of the media can, and will, cause problems and misguide those that do not question it. The worst of those are children whose brains are like sponges, and regardless of a parent or care takers intentions they will soak up whatever they are given the chance to.

One thing that I personally got from this exercise was an additional skill set to assist in determining what my kids should be allowed to watch, or listen to. By nature