Making Sense of Media: Blog # 11 Media Education Week

Once again, I find myself discovering another event (that I had no previous knowledge of), because of media class! This time it's National Media Education Week. This is a week dedicated to promoting and increasing media literacy. People young and old are exposed to diverse forms of media each day without even realizing or reflecting on it. This is one thing that Media Education Week focuses on. In many ways this week devoted to media literacy is similar to Professor Lipton’s media class. They both seek to educate people about the vast world of media, but they also encourage people to think critically about what they are being exposed to. On the National Media Education Week website it explains that young people are being immersed in media more and more, they “access, absorb, communicate, create and repurpose media content” (http://www.mediaeducationweek.ca/about_overview.htm), often without any reflection or guidance. The more I read the more I understand why such a week even exists. Forms of Media and the technology surrounding them are becoming more prevalent each day. People are exposed to so many mediums and messages and should be informed about what exactly these messages mean and who the target audience is. I believe that Media Education Week will only become more beneficial with time; it will educate youth and help them make sense of the media they are so frequently exposed to.