Chapter 15. Chapter 15
Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
Media Literacy Activity: Blaming Media
Activity Objective: In this activity, you will apply the critical process to reflect on an opinion piece written by a pop culture icon who became a scapegoat in an infamous school shooting.
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Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
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:
Blaming Media
Description
Read “Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?” by the heavy metal singer-songwriter Marilyn Manson. Mason wrote this piece for Rolling Stone Magazine after some people blamed him for the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. The piece was published on June 24, 1999 (pp. 23-24) and is available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624. Manson followed up several months later with an essay published on his Web site: “Is Adult Entertainment Killing Our Children? Or Is Killing Our Children Entertaining Adults?” The essay is available at: http://www.mansonwiki.com/wiki/ Is_Adult_Entertainment_Killing_Our_Children%3F_Or_Is_Killing_Our_Children_Entertaining_Adults%3F.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. What does Marilyn Manson have to say about violence in our society and the connection between media and violence?
2. What does he write about public reactions to the Columbine tragedy and the way it was covered by journalists? What does he write about freedom and responsibility? How has he responded to the tragedy and the attack on him and his music afterward?
Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
Analysis
Now, identify the patterns in the coverage about Columbine.
Use the space below to answer the following question.
What patterns do you see in news coverage and commentary about Columbine that mentions Manson?
Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
Interpretation
Next, let’s dig deeper into the patterns you identified to interpret your findings.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. What does the media coverage tell you about how Americans view media, especially media content or artists whom they don’t know or don’t understand?
2. Manson doesn’t deny that media might have a role in societal violence. Why?
3. What does your research tell you about media in our culture and society?
Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
Evaluation
Through the following questions, express your views as you assess the role of media coverage in our culture and society.
Use the space below to answer the following questions.
1. Do you think Marilyn Manson is right or wrong? About what? Is he completely right or completely wrong?
2. What are the issues that need to be addressed by media professionals and institutions? How should they address these issues?
3. In general, in what ways do you think media are good or bad for our society and our culture? "good" or "bad?" For media? society? culture? democracy? us? What do you think might happen in the future?
Media Literacy Activity:
Blaming Media
Engagement
Let’s take action! Marilyn Manson engaged by writing an opinion essay for Rolling Stone Magazine, writing a follow-up essay, and putting out an album, “Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death),” that addressed the school shooting and its aftermath. Possibilities include posting your views on social media, or creating a petition.
Use the space below to answer the following question.
How might you act to express your views about the roles that media play in our society and culture?