Why Cultural Media Literacy?

Research by Children Now (1998) showed that children found it important to see characters that looked like them. It was also found that seeing those images helped contribute to their sense of self-esteem. As adults, as Dates and Barlow (1993) found, we strongly tend to watch television that reflects who we are. This means that people of European descent (Whites) tend to watch shows that feature Europeans and that Africans (Blacks) tend to watch shows that feature Africans. European viewers have been found to change the channel when they perceive that a program is about Africans (a show that features substantial
numbers of African characters). Individual shows and whole cable channels are geared toward smaller segments of the society. Viewing tendencies are narrowed, hence the opportunity for learning about those not directly like us is decreased. These findings point us to important issues when considering the importance of positive cultural portrayals and the viewing habits of people in a society still marked by racism, classism and sexism.

George Gerbner speaks of the human storytelling process being hijacked with the advent of electronic communication, especially with the development of corporate media conglomeration (companies such as Newscorp/Fox, Viacom, Disney and/or Time Warner). This change is detrimental to the long and short term development of the individual and the collective. In addition, the comprehension and understanding of the value of cultural diversity will not be fully realized until we begin to tell our own stories from and for a human frame of reference rather than a financial one, one championed by the strong influence of the ever-present advertisers. After all, the bottom line should be what is best for you, not what is best for money. The hypothesis I present to you today is that it is media and the capital that drive them that should serve the human, not the human serving media and its advertiser-controlled capital.

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"Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney Company said in a corporate memo, “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective”
("Mickey Mouse Monopoly", Sun & Picker, 2001, Commercializing Children’s Culture section)"
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Understanding the interrelationship between the forces of corporate capital, media content, character portrayals and relationships and media effects is key to gaining the perspective needed by media consumers in a media-heavy society such as this one.