The companies selling products expect their advertisements will pay off at the store cash register with increased sales. A great deal. Often these ideas are accepted without question. They may be internalized as the standard to achieve related to the way we look, speak, act, where we live, what we drive, with who we associate and activities we consider fun. It is important to be media literate.
Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages.
This differs from the traditional concept of literacy because it encompasses much more than the written word. Being media literate allows a critical and thoughtful examination of the media messages you encounter. It is important to become an informed consumer of both ideas and products. Realize the choices you make today can have long term consequences. Media are carefully manufactured products, whether they are nightly news broadcasts or billboards on the street.