A media literate person— and everyone should have the opportunity to become one— can decode, evaluate, analyze, and produce both print and electronic media. The fundamental objective of media literacy is critical autonomy in relationship to all media. Emphases in media literacy training range widely, including informed citizenship, aesthetic appreciation and expression, social advocacy, self-esteem, and consumer competence. Some may use media literacy as a vehicle to understand the economic infrastructure of mass media, as a key element in the social construction of public knowledge. It is ironic and also understandable that the United States is the premier producer of international mass media, but that media literacy education is only beginning in this country. In Ontario, Canada, teachers built on English and Australian media literacy programs and practices, as well as on academic work in cultural studies. Germany’s media education is beset with the usual limitations of a voluntary program, including poor teacher preparedness.
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