Media Literacy

In today’s society, the media is available within seconds for anyone who wants it. So many forms of media exist, including television, radio, Internet, and cell phone. People who utilize the media and pay attention to it could be known as media literate. Media literacy is essentially, knowledge about the mass media (Vivian, 6). I suppose one could say that almost all of Americans are media literate because we are fed mass amounts of it each day. The many forms of media help to inform us everyday of what is going on around us.

With television, multimedia phones, and internet, it is quite difficult to avoid communication. “Inescapable Symbiosis”, as John Vivian calls it, is the theory that humans subconsciously, demand the media (Vivian, 4). Our media literacy tells us that we need to find out the weather, we need to watch our favorite show; therefore, we need to turn on the television. Once we touch that remote, we expose ourselves to the world of mass communication.

In conclusion, the mass media has enabled itself to become inevitable. It is one of the most successful industries in America and has made itself a necessity. And the only way we know this information is because we, ourselves, are media literate.