Just as there are a variety of emphases within the media literacy movement, there are different strategies and processes to achieve them. Some may use media literacy to understand the economic infrastructure of mass media, as a key element in the social construction of public knowledge. Others may use it primarily to study and express the unique aesthetic properties of a particular medium. But no matter what the project, constituency or site, media educators share some beliefs. Media have commercial implications.
Media have ideological and political implications.
Form and content are related in each medium, each of which has a unique aesthetic, codes and convention. Receivers negotiate meaning in media. Finally, media literacy educators in principle agree on a pedagogical approach. No matter what the setting or project, but particularly for formal learning, media educators insist that the process of learning embody the concepts being taught. Stressing as it does critical thinking, it is inquiry-based.