This assignment involves taking a critical media literacy approach to a contemporary media product. First, you will need to select a media product to analyze. This may be an advertisement, a television show or movie, a video game, an app, a piece of educational software, newspaper article, viral Facebook post, etc.

When selecting your media product, keep in mind that you will be using strategies to critically analyze the content of your media product. Be sure to choose a form of media that lends itself to this type of analysis.

• Authorship
  • Who made this?
• Purpose?
  • Why was it made?
  • Who is the target audience?
  • What do they want the viewer to do?
  • What do they want the viewer to think or think about?
• Content
  • What are the messages about?
  • What ideas, values, and information are overt? Implied?
  • What is left out that might be important to know?
  • How does this compare/contrast to other media messages on the topic?
• Techniques
  • What techniques are used to communicate the messages?
  • How effective are those techniques? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
  • Why might the creators have chosen those techniques?
• Context
  • When was this created?
  • Where and how was it shared with the public?
  • What aspects of cultural context are relevant to consider?
• Economics
  • Who paid for this?
  • Who might make money from this?
• Effects
  • Who might benefit from this message?
  • Who might be harmed by it?
  • Whose voices are represented or privileged?
  • Whose voices are omitted or silenced?
• Credibility
  • Is this fact, opinion, or something else?
  • How credible is this information?
  • What are the sources of the ideas or assertions?
  • Is this a trustworthy source about this particular topic?
    • Source: Project Look Sharp (2017)