Peering Inside the Tube

Watching television is as easy as pointing and clicking. Truly understanding what crosses the screen is not. The way is being shown by the maturing discipline known as media literacy.

Media literacy is the subject of a UCLA conference this weekend involving educators, writers, doctors, policymakers and others. The purpose of the gathering, hosted by the L.A.-based Center for Media Literacy, is to exchange ideas on applying critical thinking to a media-saturated world.

The ultimate goal of media literacy programs is to turn Americans, particularly children, into critical consumers of television, movies, advertising and more, including what pours over the Internet. Literate viewers question what they are told and are aware of the interplay between content and commercial, the toy tie-in behind the Saturday morning cartoon as well as the harmful message of violence in programming.

Media exposure helps shape society’s tastes, appetites and values; media literacy helps people see how they are being affected. The center’s programs are expanding beyond schools to churches, synagogues, community centers, parent education programs and senior citizen centers. The more the better.