Student media texts: from the inside out.

Abstract

The role of media production in media literacy programs remains a contentious issue. Some educators are concerned that students will merely reproduce dominant media paradigms and that such activities interfere with the field's focus on critical analysis. However, student media texts produced in a UCLA writing class demonstrate students' ability to negotiate between industry models and their alternative visions. Such production activities can enhance rather than detract from critical skills in media literacy and allow students to become insiders in the process of message-making.

The classroom is now in a vital struggle for survival with the immensely persuasive "outside" worm created by new informational media. Education must shift from instruction, from imposing of stencils, to discovery--to probing and exploration and to the recognition of the language of forms.

--Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage

Nearly four decades ago, McLuhan issued this formidable challenge to American educators. Long before the Internet, iPods, and cell phone photography became part of our everyday vocabulary, the prominent communication theorist urged teachers to change their classroom practices in response to the concrete and pervasive impact of the information age on students. McLuhan recognized the need to integrate the new "language of forms" emerging from media technologies into the lexicon of the classroom. In addition, he advocated a transformation in pedagogy that makes students active explorers instead of passive observers of this brave new wired world.

Since the 1970s, U.S. educators have been heeding McLuhan's call to action, bringing film, television, and other forms of popular culture into the classroom in an effort to train students to closely read and interpret media messages. In 1992, during a national conference sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based Aspen Institute, teachers from throughout the United States formulated a working definition of media literacy: "the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms" (qtd. in Hobbs, "Media Literacy" 127).

Media educators use a variety of approaches to teach students these skills--from practicing "deep viewing," a multi-layered process of observing, interpreting, and evaluating linguistic, visual, and aural components of texts (such as film, newscasts, commercials, and newspapers) in order to construct new meanings out of viewer interactions with the text (Paillotet 31-32); to revealing the structure and function of media industries and how the media influences individuals and institutions (Potter 156-240; 258-339); to studying the ways in which media representations portray power relations and the dynamics of gender, race, and class (Kellner 223-226).

Among the many debates emanating from the field is the issue of whether media education should incorporate production of media texts. As described by Rence Hobbs, a Temple University professor who is a leading media literacy advocate, the controversy revolves around a concern that creation of media texts might lead to mere mimicry of the entertainment and news industries. Another concern is that such tasks might become vocational exercises instead of emphasizing critical analysis. On the other hand, "some educators believe that young people cannot become truly critical consumers of mass media until they have had experience making photographs, planning and organizing ideas through storyboards, writing scripts and performing in front of a camera, designing their own web pages, or reporting a news story" (Hobbs, "Seven Great Debates" 20). Hobbs herself advocates "a balance between media analysis and media production activities" ("Media Literacy 128). Lesley L. Johnson, another media educator, agrees that "[m]edia literacy is more than simply reading the media. It involves skills that enable media literate persons to produce their own media messages" (4).

As a former journalist with a Ph.D. in English who now teaches in the UCLA Writing Programs, I strive to inform students about the impact of the media and to teach them how they can critically evaluate information filtered through a diverse range of mediums, each with its own particular agenda. Recently, I have been placing more emphasis on engaging students in the production of their own media texts. I use the term "text" broadly to include presentations of material in the form of scripted performance as well as through use of visual, aural, and digital formats. Based on my own experience of student projects in my classroom, particularly their own reflections about the process of media-making, I contend that creation of their own texts enhances rather than diminishes students' critical awareness of media texts. This aspect of media education is important because it allows students to understand the production of media texts from the inside out. As Gretchen Schwarz, a professor at Oklahoma State University, observes, "[m]edia production enables a deeper student understanding of how the media work and why they work the ways they do" (238).

Although there has not been extensive research on the effects of involving students in media production (given that media education is a relatively young field), anecdotal evidence suggests that participation in such projects has the potential to deeply affect and empower students. "Teachers who have engaged students in media production in England, Canada, Australia, and the United States will readily report the transformation they perceived in many of these students," notes David M. Considine, who coordinates a media studies program at Appalachian State University. "Provided with tools and techniques, youngsters who had previously been silently submissive or aggressively disruptive, now became cooperative members of production teams capable of creating and sharing their own voices and visions" (313). Such positive assessments are echoed by Steven Goodman, founding director of the Educational Video Center (EVC), who has spent more than 20 years teaching media literacy to New York City high school students. As part of the EVC experience, students produce a documentary on a social issue of their choice. According to Goodman, students experience "a powerful sense of engagement and excitement" from their work interviewing subjects and working cooperatively with their peers to produce the videos (220).

Although the degree to which educators can engage their students in media production depends on curricular objectives and technical resources, projects need not be elaborate to enhance students' skills in critical analysis and communication. Such projects challenge the dichotomy between the outside world of the media and the world inside the classroom--the dichotomy described by McLuhan in the epigram that introduces this article. This dichotomy can be disrupted by making students hands-on learners and insiders in the process of media production. The invisible mechanics of the media's image-making and agenda-setting capacities are rendered transparent when students position themselves as creators of such texts. In addition, students gain a sense of empowerment from controlling the process.

My most elaborate classroom excursion into student-produced media texts occurred this past spring quarter when I taught an upper-division class on Specialized Writing for the Media. Although the class introduces students to the techniques and tactics of journalism, my objective is to help them develop writing practices and a self-reflexive capacity that will strengthen their communication skills in any discipline. As part of the course, students wrote opinion pieces on such issues as the tabloidization of news, lapses in professional ethics, censorship, and the blurring of the line between news and opinion. After critically analyzing media coverage, students were ready for the next step: offering alternative news presentations. I divided students into groups and challenged them to create their own 20-minute news segments, using their own formulations of actual news items, for presentation to the class. Suggested formats included a network television broadcast, a newspaper, a cable news and commentary show, a radio news and interview show, a blog, and an online news service. In the assignment prompt, I encouraged students to see themselves as makers instead of consumers of media texts:

   For this assignment, I'd like you to go beyond criticism of news
   outlets and imagine that you're in a position to change the way news
   is delivered. The objective of this project is for you to experience
   being a producer of news. You will have the opportunity to create
   what you think would be an ideal news segment and to utilize the
   journalistic techniques we are studying in the course.

The operative words in the prompt are the verbs: imagine, change, experience, create. This directive encourages students to see themselves as being in control of the content and format of the news they present. Having studied various techniques of journalism and critiqued the style and content of media presentations, students were well-equipped to formulate their own varieties and versions of news vehicles. This assignment thus established a link between criticism of the media and production of media texts. In addition to planning and executing the news presentations, students were required to complete reports detailing their group's approach to delivering the news (including slogans and station philosophy); how the outlet defines news; and reflections on how the news outlet strives to serve the public interest in ways that are distinct from existing programming. I view such critical reflection as a crucial aspect of the assignment. The same analytical skills they had used in evaluating the performance of media outlets would now be directed toward the texts they generated.

One group project illustrated students' ability to develop a news show that to some extent typifies current programming yet incorporates elements aimed at minimizing the entertainment coverage that permeates many news segments. The students' cleverly compiled morning news show gave its audience a diverse diet of world, local, sports, and entertainment news, with segments presented at specific times each day so regulars would know exactly when to tune in for specific information. Under the slogan "less fluff and more stuff," the group deliberately created a departure from morning news shows that locus on garrulous hosts presenting mostly celebrity gossip and little news.

Producing the show gave student Sean Cacho a realistic picture of the challenges facing news executives confronted with the demands of disseminating information for a mass audience: "I felt the pressure of a news producer, having to instantly make decisions on what constituted real 'news,' how it would best be displayed while maintaining accuracy and the audience's interest at the same time." Cacho's perspective from behind the scenes allowed him to comprehend the impact of deadline pressures and the competing tensions involved in media production. His characterization of the project reveals students' ability to inhabit the role of media producer.

To some extent, the segments of the show reproduce many of the features of typical broadcasts. However, the group went beyond merely mimicking the mainstream media's typical content and format for such morning news shows. Instead, these students negotiated between market demands and their own alternative vision of media offerings.

In another instance of a student product that both reproduces and resists existing media programming, another group focused their efforts on producing a parody of Fox News, the popular cable channel that insists its coverage is "fair and balanced" despite a reputation for a conservative orientation. After studying claims of media bias from both ends of the political spectrum--those claiming a liberal media bias and others criticizing a trend toward conservative spin, the students focused their attention on exposing such bias in news coverage. Concerned about what they consider a scarcity of liberal perspectives in mainstream media coverage, students Kristen Bowen and Christine Vu inspired their group to develop a liberal alternative to Fox News.

Initially, group members faced a dilemma: whether to present the news in a balanced fashion, emphasizing fairness and accuracy, or to adopt the Fox programming format but with a distinctly liberal slant. In a written report, Vu, a communication studies major, reflects on the dilemma:

   The first choice would ultimately be taking the high road. It would
   offer the audience a news source that did not play to any political
   agendas and would allow the audience to make their own decisions
   regarding stories of interest. However, the reality of it all is
   that a news channel of such format would not survive within current
   media as well as it would not prove our point. Fox News is extremely
   popular and its type of reporting does not seem to be dying out as
   stations are mimicking it. Therefore, if we must exist
   in a biased news forum, let it be a balanced biased news forum.

Vu's observations demonstrate her sensitivity to prevailing trends in mainstream reporting and awareness of the corporate pressures that affect media outlets in general. This project demonstrates students' insider perspective on market constraints but also produces a countertext that deliberately responds to existing programming. As Schwarz observes, media production "enables students to express points of view that have not been common in the mass media monopolies in new ways that are exciting to many students" (238).

Group members concocted the Other News Channel, designed to blatantly appeal to a progressive audience. Capitalizing on the successful Fox formula, characterized by flashy graphics and outspoken commentators, students in the group deliberately patterned their news personalities after Fox regulars, peppering their presentation with parody and humor. In a lively string of segments introduced by musical interludes, the group intermittently tallied Iraqi war deaths and compared the accomplishments of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to First Lady Laura Bush. In a voice heavily tinged with sarcasm, their anchor described the two presidential partners: "Hillary--a lawyer. Laura Bush--a librarian." In the course of preparing the news show, students gained first-hand insights about the emergence of bias in the mere selection of news items. In her written analysis of the project, Bowen, another communication studies major, comments:

   I have come to realize that it is necessary for all news
   organizations to go through a selection process on what to
   present to the public. Although Fox News and our invention,
   the Other News Channel, both clearly present specific political
   ideologies, that does not mean that 'objective' news outlets are
   free from bias. The selection process inherently reflects bias of
   some kind, and I think the viewing public often does
   not consider the mass amounts of information that news networks are
   leaving out.

Bowen's comments reflect an insider perspective that emerges from experiencing the kinds of choices laced every day by news producers. Her work on the group project allowed her to realize the subtleties involved in the selection process and how this process controls the public's perception of news events. Her insights demonstrate the ability to reflect critically on both the media text produced in the classroom and the media messages presented in the world outside the classroom.

The most ambitious student project was the debut issue of Etc ..., a monthly magazine aimed at socially conscious young people, particularly college students. In this case, students did not rely on existing models but decided to create a countertext deliberately poised to respond to the kinds of celebrity-oriented publications that dominate newsstands. In creating their own magazine, group members say they were responding to the lack of alternative sources of news tailored specifically to their generation. Instead of being bombarded with stories focusing on fashion, sex scandals, and celebrity gossip, they are seeking news vehicles that locus on significant issues from a global perspective.

In a series of meetings, students decided on the philosophy and format behind their magazine. The debut issue included staff-written stories on issues such as global warming, U.S. immigration policies, and abuse of prescription medication; a review of the film Hotel Rwanda; a report on efforts to combat AIDS in Africa; and a calendar focusing on artistic, environmental, and historical events. "'Though it was a challenge, I believe that we were able to successfully present news that is often ignored, to an audience that is often ignored," observes Beatrice Nunez-Bellamy, a political science and communication studies major. "I truly believe that a magazine such as ours could be marketable to a younger generation." In her report on the project, Nunez-Bellamy sums up the strong sense of social responsibility that emerged from working on the magazine:

   We are the future of our world. We therefore need to fully
   understand what is going on in it. We will not be able to do
   this by reading Cosmo, US Weekly or maybe even our local
   newspapers, I believe that our society is in need of a publication
   that not only presents news that is typically ignored, but is also
   user friendly for a younger generation. I believe that this view
   was instilled even deeper in me by my work on this
   project and from what I learned by completing it.

Nunez-Bellamy's comments emphasize the extent to which involvement in such a project can lead to internalization of the lessons learned. She speaks of her views being deeply "'instilled" in her. Implicitly, she also makes a call for greater inclusion in news coverage targeting college-age students. The world outside (including outside the United States), she believes, needs to be brought inside the pages of publications catering to her generation.

Although teaching students to interpret and evaluate the flux and flurry of messages surrounding them is certainly a challenging and formidable objective in itself, the projects described in this article suggest that production activities can serve as a logical extension of the objectives of media literacy and should be incorporated into media literacy classes. The result can be an enhancement rather than diminution in critical analysis skills, particularly when media products are developed in response to assignments that require critical analysis. In addition to gaining a sense of empowerment from controlling the media-making process, students can benefit from the challenge of applying their critical literacy skills to their own creations. Attention to critical analysis of their own work also prevents production activities from simply mimicking existing media models. When given the opportunity to serve as critically conscious producers instead of merely consumers of media texts, students learn to be self-reflexive about the products of their invention and their experiences as insiders in the process of constructing media texts.

Works Cited

Considine, David M. "Media Literacy as Evolution and Revolution: In the Culture, Climate, and Context of American Education." Reconceptualizing Literacy in the Media Age. Ed. Ann Watts Pailliotet and Peter B. Mosenthal. Stamford, Conn.: JAI Press, 2000. 299-327.

Goodman, Steven. "The Practice and Principles of Teaching Critical Literacy at the Educational Video Center." Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education 104.1 (2005): 206-228.

Hobbs, Renee. "Media Literacy in Massachusetts." Teaching the Media: International Perspectives. Ed. Andrew Hart Mahwah, N J/London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998. 127-144.

--. "The Seven Great Debates in the Media Literacy Movement." Journal of Communication 48.1 (1998): 16-32.

Johnson, Lesley L. Media, Education, and Change. New York: Peter Lang, 2001.

Kellner, Douglas. Afterword. Intermediality: The Teachers' Handbook of Critical Media Literacy. Ed. Ladislaus M. Semali and Ann Watts Pailliotet. Boulder, Colo./Oxford: Westview Press, 1999. 223-227.

McLuhan, Marshall and Quentin Fiore. The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. 1967. Corte Madera, CA; Gingko, 2001.

Pailliotet, Ann Watts. "Deep Viewing: Intermediality in Preservice Teacher Education." Intermediality: The Teachers' Handbook of Critical Media Literacy. Ed. Ladislaus M. Semali and Ann Watts Pailliotet. Boulder, Colo./Oxford: Westview Press, 1999.31-51.

Potter, W. James. Media Literacy. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks/London/New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2001.

Schwarz, Gretchen. "Obstacles, Challenges, and Potential: Envisioning the Future." Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education 104.1 (2005): 229-250.

Gina Victoria Shaffer, UCLA

Shaffer, Ph.D., a member of the UCLA Writing Programs faculty, teaches writing courses on such topics as the media, gender and violence, and family dynamics.