Chapter 9. Chapter 9
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Media Literacy Activity: Values in Magazine Articles
Activity Objective: Our values are the foundation for what we think is important or unimportant, our preferences, the choices we make, and how we assess others. A culture’s values help determine that culture’s norms for everyday behavior. Magazine articles usually do not explicitly state specific values, however, each article implies that some things are more important than others. In this activity, you will apply the critical process to become aware of the value orientation of articles in two magazines by looking at one issue of each publication.
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Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Reviewing the Critical Process
Developing a media-literate critical perspective involves mastering five overlapping stages that build on one another. Let’s review the critical process you’ll be using below:
Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study
Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage
Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings
Evaluation: arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages
Engagement: taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Description
- Choose one magazine that was a finalist for a 2017 general excellence magazine award ("Ellie" award) in the "News, Sports and Entertainment" category. This includes the following: Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, GQ, New York, or The New Yorker. (Source: http://www.magazine.org/about-asme/pressroom/asme-press-releases/asme/ellies-2017-finalists-announced)
- Choose one 2017 finalist for a magazine “Ellie” award in the “Service and Lifestyle” category. This includes the following: Bon Appétit, Elle, GQ Style, Marie Claire, or Saveur. (Source: http://www.magazine.org/about-asme/pressroom/asme-press-releases/asme/ellies-2017-finalists-announced)
- Make a list of all the articles in each magazine.
- As you read each article, write down the values that you detect in that article. Here are some examples of values that might be relevant: consumerism, capitalism, work, power, wealth, comfort, pleasure, freedom, justice, truth, honesty, trust, equality, individualism, independence, diversity, self-reliance, ambition, beauty, attractiveness, being fashionable, popularity, health, science, technology, efficiency, friendship, family, happiness, romance, love, religion, tradition, nostalgia. Add any other values you perceive.
- Also, note any special features of the article, such as a photograph, graphic, or illustration; placement (cover story? brief article “buried” in the publication); layout; proximity to an advertisement for a particular product, etc.
Use the space below to answer the following question.
Provide a synopsis of your magazine assessment. Include a chart of values you found and the titles of articles in each magazine that fit with each value.
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Analysis
With your assessment in mind, let’s explore what patterns emerge regarding the underlying values of magazines.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. According to the values you found in your research, what ideas or topics are most worthy (or unworthy) of our attention?
2. What values did you find in multiple articles? Are any values more prominent than others?
3. What values did you find in both publications? What values were present in only one magazine? Are there any values that do not seem to be present at all in the articles of either magazine?
4. Group the values you found into categories of types of values.
5. Did you find any patterns related to special features of an article?
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Interpretation
Through the following questions, interpret how the two magazines promote values.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. Do articles in the two magazines promote or reinforce “traditional” values? How?
2. Do articles in the two magazines challenge “traditional” values? How?
3. Why do magazines include the values you found but not other values?
4. What do your results suggest about the nature of magazine articles?
5. What do your results suggest about the role of magazines in American culture or society?
6. Can you relate your results to the idea of specialization in the magazine industry?
7. Do you think your results are related to the target readership for the magazine? Do you think your results are associated with the economics of the magazine?
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Evaluation
Now, assess how magazine values connect with American society and culture.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. How important are magazines in reinforcing or challenging American values?
2. Do you think magazines have more of a negative or positive influence on American society and culture?
3. What might American society (e.g., media institutions) and American culture (e.g., values) be like without the genre?
4. Do you and your classmates and friends (and readers of magazines in general) need to be more aware of values in magazine articles?
Media Literacy Activity:
Values in Magazine Articles
Engagement
Let’s take action! Notice how paying attention to underlying values affects your reading of magazine articles and make it a habit to pay attention to underlying values when you read magazines. Some suggestions for further engagement are as follows:
- Point out values in magazine articles to friends who send links of articles to you.
- Read a more diverse set of magazines than you currently read. Pay attention to the differences in the values promoted in different magazines.
Use the space below to answer the following question.
What are three ways you can engage with the underlying value of magazines moving forward?