Part of being literate in our time is understanding how the media can be controlled or manipulated. I teach kids in my classroom how to take photos and edit them for various effects or to show a certain point of view. I teach them how to make videos that show things that are not really there. I teach them to caption photos in different ways to represent different biased opinions.
The reason behind this is simple: I believe that if students know these things are possible, if they have experience working in these ways, they will think more critically about the media they are consuming. Knowing what is possible gives them a “peek behind the curtain.”
Take the two minutes to watch this video below. While I don’t agree with the politics of the Tea Party, being Canadian, I haven’t posted this video to discuss them and what they do. I live on the North side of the border and what they do only effects me indirectly. What I am interested in is the method of media manipulation and control that is being espoused here.
I am not foolish enough to believe that the media was not manipulated in the past before 2.0 tools were available. As well, I believe that this video could probably have been shot from the other political perspective. I presume groups on the left are involved in this same type of work. What is the effect of work like this on public opinion? How much influence do campaigns like this have?
This is another literacy skill that we need to make kids aware of. The possibilities of opinion manipulation are huge. There are ethical questions about teaching skills like this. How do we teach these types of skills without taking part in activities like these? Do we allow students to participate from their own views or do we simply warn them that they need to be aware?
The continuing evolution of needed skills.