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We live in a media society. Mass communications surround us and influence our world in a variety of ways. They entertain us, they inform us, and they sell us everything from household products to political candidates. In 2001, for example, New York City’s mayoral election was won by billionaire media tycoon Michael Bloomberg, who spent roughly $50 million of his own money on his campaign, most of it for television advertising. That’s about $70 a vote (he got roughly 50.4 percent of the vote, or 718,488 votes). With the pervasiveness of media in modern life, it is more important than ever to understand when and how we are being manipulated by media messages. We must look critically at all media we receive and understand something about how media organizations work as businesses and how they fit into other aspects of society. This chapter explains some basic principles behind media literacy while teaching you to critically analyze the media messages you receive. Finally, it explores some important issues in media ethics, especially in relation to the concentration of media ownership.
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