Media Deconstruction

Media Deconstruction:

Deconstruct the magazine cover below: Click here to get a closer look at this magazine cover. Use the following questions to guide your deconstruction. The answers to this question will require research. 

Authors and Audience:

• Who produced this document, and for what purpose? The “about us” section leads you to believe that this site is run by unbiased Americans, but the last line says that they answer to “God and you” so I think the founders must be a faith-based group.

• When was this produced, and what was its historical context? This document was produced in May of 2014 which makes it relevant to today’s world

• Who is the target audience? I would guess the audience is parents of school children, given the photo & the remarks about education & college.

Messages and Meanings

• What are the messages communicated? There are questions of faith, the value of higher education, and oddly, nuclear energy

• What techniques are used to attract and hold attention? The font and image really grab your attention, making you curious to read the fine print

• How might people interpret this message differently? I raised my skeptical little eyebrow, once I read the fine print at the top. I don’t know how others interpret it, there are all sorts of perspectives that could work here, faith-driven, education-naysayers, etc.

• Who might benefit from (and who might be harmed by) this message? I think the message seems for harmful to people. It seems to deliver some false accusations and opinions right off the bat.

Representation and Reality

• What information or perspective is left out of this message? I think this message seems highly faith-driven, so I think a worldly perspective is left out.

• Is this an accurate and credible representation? No, I do not think opinion can be seen as credible or factual information.

• How does this reflect the perspective or bias of its creator? This is definitely biased by those of faith. It seems mostly to be a little on the brainwashing side, if you ask me.

Text and Subtext

Describe the text and subtext presented in this magazine cover. You can find a example of what this means on p.5 in this Intro to Media Literacy Project. The text here gives you opinions on different subjects, religion, education, and nuclear energy. The subtext, I think, is to ward off all the evil of education from your child & to value Christianity & nuclear energy, of all things.

Language of Persuasion

Starting on P.6 of the Intro to Media literacy document there are 40 persuasive techniques listed and described. Which ones are used in this magazine cover? Association, bandwagon, explicit claims, fear, intensity, maybe, plain folks, glittering generalities, extrapolation, slippery slope, ad hominem, card stacking, cause vs. correlation, group dynamics, majority belief, timing.