No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Preschool television is a growing segment of children's media, but there is limited research examining the structure of the top preschool content producers. The vast majority preschool programming is promoted as educational by the networks; however no show explicitly lists media literacy education as a primary learning goal even though children 2-6 spend, on average, more than two hours a day exposed to media. This thesis examines preschool programming through political economic theory to determine whether the business models of the top three preschool television networks influences their approaches to media literacy education in media themed episodes of their most popular series for preschoolers. The thesis first examines whether educational media works for preschoolers and how media literacy education can undermine attempts by media institutions to influence behavior. It also examines the history of the preschool series on PBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel to determine how the development of preschool programming on each network has contributed to the content they produce for preschoolers. The thesis then moves onto a study comparing media themed episodes from the top series from each network and a media themed episode from a series that has presented media literacy episodes throughout its history to help compare and analyze the current state of media literacy in preschool television. This study helps build a foundation for future research so we can recognize the best strategies to introduce young children to media literacy education in this increasingly media saturated society. / Mass Media and Communication

This document presents a dissertation research study that examined parents of preteens and the protectionist and empowerment Internet mediation and media literacy strategies they reported using to guide their child's use of the Internet. Parents' use of protectionist and empowerment strategies, their confidence level in enacting these strategies, their attitudes about efficacy of these strategies, and the relationship among their attitudes about children's use of the Internet to these areas were examined. The study used an online survey (N=236) of parents who have preteens with Internet access at home, and parent interviews from a sample of the survey respondents (N=40), to gather data from a nationwide sample of parents. Parents were asked questions about their use of, confidence in, and perceptions of effectiveness of protectionist and empowerment Internet mediation strategies, what topics related to Internet use they have discussed with their child, and overall their attitudes about the Internet and children. The survey results show that the majority of parents use a combination of protectionism and empowerment strategies, but more heavily use protectionist Internet mediation overall. Parents reported high confidence in using most of the strategies, with slightly less (but still notably high) confidence in using empowerment strategies. Even though parents reported feeling confident using empowerment strategies, they used them much less than protectionist strategies. Protectionist strategies were also ranked as more effective than empowerment ones. Parents' attitudes about the Internet were also associated with behaviors. Parents' level of comfort in using the Internet and computers was positively associated with their overall engagement in their preteens' Internet use, whether protectionism or empowerment. Parental attitude about the Internet being a good place for their child was associated with the likelihood to use protectionist strategies. However, parents who did not believe the Internet was a good place for their kids tended to talk about more Internet behavior topics with their child. The interviews with parents revealed a typology of protectionist and empowerment strategies with three major themes and several subthemes. The first theme included strategies for monitoring the Internet, the second illustrated the types of protectionist and empowerment behaviors parents use, and the third theme encompassed the values that emerged regarding parents' family communication and roles, comparisons to other families, and hopes about the potential benefits of the Internet in their child's life. Among the three themes parents voiced their life experiences, feelings, and concerns and how those influenced their decisions around protectionism or empowerment. Similar to the survey results, the interviews show that most parents used protectionist strategies, with the most widely used strategies including "POS" (parent over shoulder), and having the child use the Internet in a public space in the home. Few parents who were interviewed co-surf online with their preteens, ask questions about the websites their kids visit, or encourage their kids to create things online. However, parents who worked in fields related to media and technology were more likely to use empowerment strategies. The interviews revealed that parents' use of protectionist or empowerment strategies is complex, and is interwoven with their attitudes, values, concerns, and hopes for the potential of the Internet for their child. This study challenges the field to consider four myths about parents and Internet mediation, including: 1) Parents are either protectionist or empowerment, but not usually both; 2) Parents who are more confident using Internet mediation strategies will use them more often; and 3) Parents who think the Internet is not a good place for kids are more likely to use protectionist strategies; and 4) Parents who are uncomfortable with technology are more likely to use protectionist strategies. Possible reasoning for these misconceptions about parents, and how this speaks to research in the field, are explored. This study encourages parent media literacy education efforts to include a balance and progression in protectionist and empowerment strategies by proposing a Stair Steps of Parent Internet Mediation framework. This framework explains an aspirational process for parent education around the Internet to guide future efforts for those who work in parent media literacy education. / Mass Media and Communication

Food media such as cookbooks, magazines, and television programs have become enormously popular in the last 15 to 20 years, but they have remained relatively unexamined in empirical media research. The focus of this project is the audience's perception of visual food media, specifically the capacity for critical evaluation of such media by adult women. `Food-media literacy' is the term coined in this work to describe such critical competence. The first phase of this project began to conceptualize food-media literacy with a pair of focus groups in which participants examined a series of print food advertisements. Discussion in the groups was guided by several of the core questions of media literacy. In the second phase, an experiment was conducted to examine the influence of a slick, professionally styled photo on an adult woman's interpretation of the recipe it illustrated. The primary hypothesis was that such an image would make the subject less likely to respond with confidence that she could follow the recipe and produce a similar result - a self-efficacious response. Other data collected in the experiment were the subjects' food-media literacy, cooking experience, food media use, experience using digital imaging technology, and cognitive style. The primary statistical analysis did not detect a significant relationship between the quality of the photo illustration and the subjects' self-efficacious response. Secondary analysis revealed that cooking experience was the only factor that influenced self-efficacy. Additional analyses confirmed the validity of the food-media literacy scale, and revealed important insights regarding the role of experience with digital imaging technology, and subjects' perception of food media as a genre. / Mass Media and Communication

This dissertation contributes to the history of media literacy by tracing the emergence and development of media literacy concepts and practices in Media&Values magazine (1977-1993), which spoke across discourse communities of scholars, teachers, activists and media professionals to build a media literacy movement in the United States. Media literacy evolved in changing contexts of media studies and education discourses as well as changes in media technologies, industries, politics, and popular culture. Taking a genealogical approach to historical inquiry, this study uses discourse analysis to describe how Media&Values constructed media literacy as a means for reform, as a practice of understanding representation and reality, and as pedagogy of social analysis and inquiry. These constructions position media literacy as interventions in power, articulating agency through addressing institutions, demystifying ideology, and negotiating identities. This history provides perspective on debates across diverse strands of practice in the current field of media literacy education. / Media & Communication