This 3-hour workshop offers ideas about how to teach about contemporary propaganda to learners from all around the world. We consider the potential of media literacy to address issues of radicalization and extremism.
9. Media Literacy as a Civic Competency
Media education is an essential step
in the long march towards a truly
participatory democracy, and the
democratization of our institutions.
Widespread media literacy is
essential if all citizens are to wield
power, make rational decisions,
become effective change agents,
and have an effective involvement
with the media.
-Len Masterman, 1985
10. Questioning All Forms of Authority
Media literacy, because it emphasizes a
critique of textual authority, invites
students to identify the cultural codes that
structure an author’s work, understand
how these codes function as part
of a social system, and disrupt the text
through alternative interpretations. In
learning to critically read media messages,
citizens are developing the abilities to
gather accurate, relevant information
about their society and to question
authority (both textual and, by implication,
institutional).
- Renee Hobbs, 1998
11. Effective Creators and Communicators
A truly participatory democracy
relies on citizens’ efforts to develop
and share their unique perspectives on
societal issues, as well as developing
new approaches to creating and
circulating these perspectives.
-Henry Jenkins, 2006
12. Agents of Social Change
When people have digital and media
literacy competencies, they recognize
personal, corporate and political
agendas and are empowered to speak
out on behalf of the missing voices and
omitted perspectives in our
communities. By identifying and
attempting to solve problems, people
use their powerful voices and their
rights under law to improve the world
around them.
-Renee Hobbs, 2010
13. Goals for Today
Gain knowledge and deepen understanding of new forms of
contemporary propaganda
Appreciate the value of new pedagogical approaches that
advance people’s ability to critically analyze propaganda
Learn key strategies for offering professional development
programs in media literacy to educators
Consider how media literacy can combat the rise of extremism
15. What is Propaganda?
• Propaganda appears in a variety of forms
• Propaganda is strategic and intentional
• Propaganda aims to influence attitudes, opinions and
behaviors
• Propaganda can be beneficial or harmful
• Propaganda may use truth, half-truths or lies
• To be successful, propaganda taps into our deepest
values, fear, hopes and dreams
• Propaganda uses any means to accomplish its goal
16. Where is Propaganda Found?
Journalism & Public Relations
Advertising
Government
Education
Entertainment
Advocacy
17. REFLECT
Why Teaching About Propaganda Matters
How did you learn about propaganda when you were in
school?
What new forms of propaganda have emerged in your
lifetime?
What factors have contributed to the decline of teaching
and learning about contemporary propaganda?
30. Message: What is the nature of the information
and ideas being expressed?
Techniques: What symbols and rhetorical
strategies are used to attract attention and
activate emotional response? What makes them
effective
Means of Communication & Format: How did
the message reach people and what form does it
take?
Environment: Where, when and how may
people have encountered the message?
Audience Receptivity: How may people think
and feel about the message and how free they
are to accept or reject it?
CONTEXT
44. All works of human creativity are ‘open’ and
‘unstable,’ susceptible to a wide range of
interpretations. As readers/viewers/listeners, we
are the critical agents in the meaning-making
process.
45. Perhaps the “almost true” is potent precisely
because the audience has to bridge the gap of
truth and in so doing become complicit in its viral
spreading. The almost true needs us in a way that
the actual truth does not. This is an established
principle of theatre, of art, that the audience
completes the illusion—makes it more real than
real.
--Anthony Wing Kosner
46. Find an Example of Propaganda to
Share on Your Social Network
48. Recognizing Sponsored Content
What is it?
• What types of sponsored content do you see on your social media pages?
• What types of native advertising or sponsored content do you find on
other websites you visit?
• How can you tell that is it is sponsored content?
Why is it there?
• How does the sponsored content fit into the overall page?
• Would a user be likely to recognize it as an ad? Why or why not?
• Why did you receive this particular kind of native advertising or sponsored
content?
• What information was gathered about you in order for this content to be
placed here?
49. What impact does it have?
• What do online marketers know about you?
• Does it matter to you how much they know? Why or why not?
• What are the potential consequences of online ad personalization?
• Is sponsored content beneficial or harmful?
Look at your Facebook or social media pages
and find examples of sponsored content.
Take a screenshot and upload it to the Mind
Over Media website.
Recognizing Sponsored Content
51. As both consumers and creators of media, what do
we need to know and be able to do?
• Learn to recognize new forms of propaganda in everyday life
• Practice skills of interpretation, critical analysis & responsible
media-making
• Consider how context shapes the way messages are understood
• Reflect with others on our diverse interpretations of media
messages in ways that promote understanding of and respect for
others’ perspectives
• Shift from passive receivers to critically engaged participants in
global public discourse
52. Some “Good Practices”
1. Choice and Relevance. Crowdsourced digital
media content ensures that examples, topics
and issues are continually relevant to how
learners experience propaganda in everyday
life
2. Beneficial or Harmful. Positioning propaganda
as potentially beneficial prevents demonization
or “othering” of propagandists
3. Respect for Difference. Focus on sharing
interpretations promotes respect for divergent
opinions, attitudes and beliefs
4. Context and Close Analysis. Focus on context
(not only techniques) deepens analysis
competencies and demonstrates the authentic
value of intellectual curiosity and knowledge
54. Personal grievances or need for adventure
Sense of righteousness about the cause
Feelings of personal & political
empowerment
Active participation in social networks
High levels of poverty & unemployment
RADICALIZATION
55.
56. Goals for Today
Appreciate the need for new pedagogical approaches that
advance people’s ability to critically analyze propaganda
Gain knowledge and deepen understanding of new forms of
contemporary propaganda
Discuss some ”good practices" for teaching about propaganda
Learn key strategies for offering professional development
programs in media literacy to educators
Consider how media literacy can combat the rise of extremism
57. Media Literacy as a Civic Competency
Media education is an essential step
in the long march towards a truly
participatory democracy, and the
democratization of our institutions.
Widespread media literacy is
essential if all citizens are to wield
power, make rational decisions,
become effective change agents,
and have an effective involvement
with the media.
-Len Masterman, 1985
59. Renee Hobbs
Professor of Communication Studies
Director, Media Education Lab
Harrington School of Communication
and Media
University of Rhode Island USA
Email: hobbs@uri.edu
Twitter: @reneehobbs
WEB: www.mediaeducationlab.com