By Renee Hobbs
Media Literacy IN ACTION
Questioning the Media
CHAPTER 8
WhO DECIDES WHAT MAKES MEDIA 'GOOD'?
Learning Outcomes
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Examine how forms of recognition shape the distribution of power in many different professional and creative fields
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Understand how the public plays a role in signaling social values in ways that bring visibility to social issues, conflicts, and controversies
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Recognize the role of ratings and reviews in defining quality and popularity
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Reflect on how social media sharing practices can intensify and amplify social pressure and conformity, which may affect people’s judgments about quality and value
When it comes to media, popularity and quality are socially constructed
I'M AN ORIGINAL CATCHPHRASE
CREATE TO LEARN
Review a YouTuber
Select a YouTube video or a YouTuber who you think offers something of value to audiences and
compose a brief review, either in writing or as a spoken word performance. In the opening of
your review, provide basic information about the YouTuber whose work you are examining. Then
describe and evaluate the video you are focusing on, remembering that your audience has not
yet seen it.
Offer some description to help the audience visualize the video without giving too much away that could “spoil” the viewing experience for them. You should consider the quality of both the content and the format of the video. Give your audience an explicit rationale for why you think this YouTube video has value. You can post and share your work using the #MLAction hashtag.
FLIPGRID
INQUIRY
Reflect on these questions and then make a Flipgrid comment to share your experiences and insight:
• How important are reviews and reviewers to you in shaping your media choices?
• How do people judge or evaluate each other based on the quality of media choices they make? What
are potential consequences of this behavior?
• How do social recommendations from peers influence what you see, watch, listen to, play, and read?
• How do algorithms structure your choices of media content?
INTELLECTUAL GRANDPARENT:
PIERRE BOURDIEU
"Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier."
--Pierre Bourdieu, 1984
Learn more about how Pierre Bourdieu influenced a generation of media literacy educators, researchers & activists
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