Several academics in the field of Media Studies have defined Media Literacy in various different ways. Some claim that a comprehensive understanding of how news and program content is produced, including selection, edition and presentation are essential. In the case of news media, for example, without a complete understanding of these behind-the-scene processes, the audience/reader would not be in a position to critically evaluate the quality of journalism. Some of the criteria for measuring quality of journalism are objectivity, editorial neutrality, standard of presentation and detail. It is only a Media Literate person who would be able to evaluate how the medium he/she is using is performing on these counts. Such an evaluation will help him/her in deciding to continue with the medium or switch over to another medium or actively engage with its managers in order to improve its overall standards. (Pavlik & McIntosh, 2011)
It used to be the case when the term Media Literacy was used entirely in the context of print media. But ever since the invention of the Internet and other digital technologies the methods of information transmission have changed greatly. So, where Media Literacy previously meant the ability to “decode, understand and communicate in print”, its scope has now widened to include such abilities as to “decode, understand, evaluate and write through, and with, all forms of media; read, evaluate and create text, images and sounds, or any combination of these elements. In other words literate individuals must possess media literacy as well as print literacy, numeral literacy and technological literacy.” (Tallim, et.al, 2011)
Media Literacy does not stop with evaluating and comprehending media content from various angles. The most important aspect of Media Literacy is the empowering of the audience to make informed choices about their media consumption. Hence, managing one’s own ‘media diet’ by way of decreasing the time spent on watching TV, playing video games, movies and newspapers. This can be achieved by developing a critical faculty to analyze and question what is being presented, how it is being constructed and what has been omitted. This critical faculty is best developed through “inquiry-based classes or interactive group activities, as well as from creating and producing one’s own media messages.” (Tallim, et.al, 2011) And finally, the culmination of Media Literacy is the ability of the audience to probe into deeper social issues that are beneath the façade of the content. Here, such questions as
“Who produces the media we experience—and for what purpose? Who profits? Who loses? And who decides? are asked…This stage of social, political and economic analysis looks at how everyone in society makes meaning from our media experiences, and how the mass media drive our global consumer economy. This inquiry can sometimes set the stage for various media advocacy efforts to challenge or redress public policies or corporate practices.” (Tallim, et.al, 2011)