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Channel one and effectiveness of media literacy.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

A field experiment (N=239) with randomized assignment of 15 seventh- and eighth-grade classes to one of three media literacy lesson conditions (logic, affect-added and control) and random mixing of classes to the extent possible was used to evaluate a media literacy lesson. The findings of this study confirm that personal experience with media affects students' reactions to lessons about the media.

Introduction

Educators increasingly propose that our media-saturated society makes it necessary to expand views of literacy beyond traditional reading and writing. Literacy now also requires the ability to read visual messages and interpret the subtexts of messages communicated through media. Generally, media literacy curricula aim to inform youngsters and allow participants to become more active message consumers (Brown, 1998). Researchers and educators have used media literacy programs to increase teens' knowledge, skepticism toward media messages, and critical thinking regarding media, and to change beliefs about health issues such as disordered eating and tobacco use (Irving, DuPen & Berel, 1998; Levine, Piran & Stoddard, 1999; Austin, Pinkleton, Hust, & Cohen, 2005). Many scholars view media literacy as a basic health communication tool, due to established links between youth's media usage and health risks such as obesity, sexual activity, and drug or alcohol use (Austin & Knaus, 2000; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004; Roberts, Henriksen, Christenson, Kelly, Carbone, & Wilson, 1999).

Despite broad recognition of media literacy's importance, however, its systematic incorporation into schools remains in its infancy. One reason is the dearth of empirical evaluations of the benefits and outcomes of media literacy lessons, including its applicability across differences in culture, media use orientations and pre-existing knowledge. This study therefore examines whether media literacy education results differ among middle-school students depending on their existing attitudes toward media use. It pursues this issue in an especially relevant context, by addressing the costs and benefits of using a controversial, commercially based public affairs program in schools.

Channel One and Media Literacy

An often-criticized public affairs program widely used by schools nationwide provides a useful context for examining these theoretical questions in a realistic situation. The Channel One news program, produced by Primedia, Inc., is shown in 12,000 schools across the country reaching an audience of 8,000,000 teens (Primedia, 2004). Each Channel One segment includes 10 minutes of news, specifically constructed for teens, and two minutes of advertising. Research indicates that the advertisements carried on Channel One are persuasive (Infante, 2003; Palmer & Carpenter, 2006) and scholars have expressed concerns that students who see commercials in a school setting may consider them more credible than commercials they view at home (Wartella, 1995; Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003; Brighouse, 2005a). Watching advertising also increased children's levels of materialism (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003b). They even remembered more ads than news on Channel One and reportedly purchased at least 2.5 items advertised (Austin, Chen, Pinkleton, & Johnson, 2006).

In a survey of students who had viewed Channel One, Bachen (1998a) noted that about one third of students believed that seeing the commercials on Channel One made them want to go out and buy the advertised...

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