W. James Potter
Sage (1998)

Reviewer: Lisa R. Barry
Albion College

Which decade saw television introduced into this country? How much money did consumers spend supporting the media indirectly through advertising last year? What percentage of prime-time characters are male? African American? Overweight? How many immigrants will enter the United States this year? What is this country's median household income? What percentage of last year's crimes were violent?

These and other questions comprise the "media literacy quiz" that appears at the beginning of W. James Potter's Media Literacy. Surprisingly, even those of us who consider ourselves to be media literate may have difficulty answering these questions. More likely, we will discover as the result of this quiz that even our perceptions are distorted because of media. Armed with this knowledge, students (and faculty) embark on a journey that results in newly or more fully developed media literacy skills.

Potter begins with two chapters designed to introduce readers to media literacy and its importance in our society. The chapters not only define media literacy, but also discuss important concepts such as message saturation. The next three chapters work to identify and build media literacy skills. This includes discussions about how the human mind works, rudimentary and advanced media literacy skills, and cognitive, emotional and moral development of those skills. The first five chapters serve as the foundation upon which Potter builds the remainder of the text. Arranged in this way, the text allows students to identify and develop?even in their most basic form?important skills that will enable them to engage those concepts covered in the later chapters.

The next eleven chapters work through areas of knowledge that are important for anyone wanting to become more media literate. For instance, chapter six asks "what is news?" while chapter eight asks "what is entertainment?" The remaining chapters discuss commercial advertising, media industries, economic perspectives, media effects and media influence on institutions. Readers are asked "what is an audience" and "who owns and controls the mass media?" Potter also addresses the importance of real-world knowledge. Finally, the last two chapters attempt to put it all together and to offer strategies for increasing media literacy.

An important element of this book is not only the accessibility of the language with which it is written, but the exercises that accompany each chapter. These exercises are designed both to sharpen the skills students learn in each chapter, and to enable them to think critically about what they have learned. For instance, the exercise that accompanies chapter two asks readers to first estimate their exposure to media messages (e.g., how many minutes and hours are spent watching television, films at a theatre, listening to the radio, reading magazines, etc.). Readers are then asked to track their exposures by maintaining a diary for one week, which facilitates the reader's ability to note each instance that s/he is exposed to a media message either directly or indirectly. This involves not only an awareness of direct media interaction (for instance, logos on people's clothing or advertisements on the side of a bus), but also the conversations people have about media (such as friends talking about a particular episode of their favorite sit-com). At the end of the week readers are asked to avoid media messages for one day; that is, they should not turn on the radio or television, read magazines, etc. The goal is to avoid media messages for as long as possible, and then to document how long they were able to go without exposure. Needless to say, this is a difficult activity, but students respond well to it. In fact, many students in my basic mass communication course claimed they would be unable to avoid media messages because they "need" music (or television, or . . .). Students do recognize, though, how pervasive media is.

Media Literacy is a key text for media studies and mass communication instructors who seek to educate students about the impact media has in our lives. It is also an important text for anyone seeking to improve their media literacy skills. We cannot escape media. The best we can hope for is to arm ourselves with the skills necessary to minimize its impact on us.