Category: Media
Media literacy lesson: Covering story is not the same thing as covering the news.
“We’ll cover the story” You’ll hear that from some news outlets. “Getting the story.” Though some media outlets tend to use the terms interchangeably, getting the “news” and a “story” […]
Media literacy lesson: And So Goes The Nation. How messaging strategists think about political campaigns.
Media literacy is a skill to have – especially when it comes to political messaging. That’s why it’s good to take a really good look at the spin doctors and […]
Media literacy lesson: If media is left or right at its core, Why didn’t Fox News accept MSNBC’s surrender in 2002?
Why liberal and conservative media are nothing more than brands like Coke and 7Up. It wasn’t that long ago (around 2002, just before the Iraq War) that MSNBC, now considered […]
Media literacy lesson: What’s the sound of one person lying. Often, the truth.
Sound like a Zen riddle but true: The best way to lie to people is with hard facts. Ask the spin doctors their little secret. One important for good media […]
Media literacy lesson: Don’t Confuse “That’s outrageous” for “That’s untrue.”
Part of having good media literacy skills is to know when words are being used to imply a statement, when its true meaning does not support it. This is a […]
Mental Obesity. How poor media literacy skills can cause parents to leave children vulnerable.
Is it okay to give a two-year old a bottle of hot sauce to drink? Of course not. If you saw another parent doing so, you’d likely call child services […]
Media literacy lesson: Analysis and opinion versus news. Why opinion dominates cable news.
Analysis and opinion media content is outpacing news content and becoming a bigger and bigger part of the media landscape and our information consumption. Often beating out real news because […]
Media literacy lesson about Prop Proof. An example from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. [VIDEO]
In my book Does This News Make Me Look Fat?, I talk about prop proof. Using a prop to back up of claim that often isn’t supported by what is […]
Why you should skip any news headline that has the word “slam” in it. (‘cept this one).
Some real and recent headlines… “Pink Slams Chris Brown For Lip Synching at Billboard Awards.” “Christie slams Obama’s ‘preening” in Rand Paul Country.” Jon Stewart Epic Slam of Fox News” […]
Media Literacy Lesson: Something tastes funny in my media: Dog whistle words
In my new book Does This News Make Me Look Fat?, “Something tastes funny” refers to when you consume media that has content or an argument with a taste to […]