Media Literacy

W. James Potter

SAGE Publications, Jan 31, 2012 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 552 pages

This book offers a detailed approach to studying media influences and presents readers with a clear vision of what it means to operate at a higher level of media literacy. W. James Potter argues that the media have a profound influence on the way we perceive the world by shaping our beliefs and expectations. By becoming more media literate, we can avoid the potentially negative effects of those media messages as well as amplify the potentially positive effects. With substantial discussion of media content, audiences, and the media industries, the book tackles key issues related to media ownership, invasion of privacy, piracy of media messages, violence, and sports. Readers will gain a clearer perspective on the borders between the real world and the simulated media world and will become more informed and literate media consumers.

About the author

W. James Potter, professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, holds one PhD in Communication Studies and another in Instructional Technology. He has been teaching media courses for more than two decades in the areas of effects on individuals and society, content narratives, structure and economics of media industries, advertising, journalism, programming, and production. He has served as editor of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and is the author of many journal articles and books, including the following: Media Effects, The 11 Myths of Media Violence, Becoming a Strategic Thinker: Developing Skills for Success, On Media Violence, Theory of Media Literacy: A Cognitive Approach, and How to Publish Your Communication Research (with Alison Alexander).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Media Literacy
• Author: W. James Potter
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, 2012
• ISBN: 145228976X, 9781452289762
• Length: 552 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies