ML may include the ability to create media products. Thus, in addition to teaching the technical aspects of handling various media equipment, ML is concerned with helping learners become informed users of media messages. Most people involved in ML share the premise that media are used for specific purposes, including commercial concerns. For example, product comparisons are commonly used to persuade consumers that one brand of product is superior to another. Helping learners understand how codes are used to create desired effects is an essential component of ML education.
Racial stereotypes pose another challenge.
Media mediate reality via the use of recognized codes and conventions, and the credibility or realism of a media text may be judged by the degree to which the audience identifies with what is being portrayed. For example, appropriate setting, clothes and props determine the surface realism of a drama, while credible acting adds to its plausibility, and suitable music enhances the mood. Crowds at a soccer match may thus appear either rowdy and unruly or excited and ardent, depending on the narration and the visual evidence presented. Mediated reality can therefore be controversial. Nevertheless, O'Sullivan, et al. note that audiences generally accord a great degree of credibility to broadcast news and documentaries, perceiving the reporting to be objective and accurate.