Media literacy matters for artists and amateurs alike
Issue date: 1/18/08 Section: Letters to the Editor
TO THE EDITOR:
(Sarah) Hodges argues that we need to revamp the definition of "art," ("The line between artist and amateur," Jan. 17), yet she fails to explain why we should even value this dubious and subjective term in the first place.
The real digital divide is not about access to the Internet; it is about who has the tools to create their own media.
What Hodges is disparaging is called "media literacy": the analysis and creation of media (through pictures, video, Web sites, etc.). Just as we wouldn't call someone literate if she couldn't write, the media illiterate are those that cannot express themselves through the creation of media.
Years from now, our society will realize that media literacy is just as important as the "old" literacy, but our education systems are already woefully behind.
Rhetoric like Hodges' only prolongs the moment when this problem will finally dawn on our collective consciousness and become an educational priority.
Whether or not the masses on flickr.com are trying to create art is profoundly unimportant. What matters is that they are taking advantage of new technologies to express themselves in creative ways. Not everyone is so lucky.
Mike Nutt
Media Technician
Communication Studies
(Sarah) Hodges argues that we need to revamp the definition of "art," ("The line between artist and amateur," Jan. 17), yet she fails to explain why we should even value this dubious and subjective term in the first place.
The real digital divide is not about access to the Internet; it is about who has the tools to create their own media.
What Hodges is disparaging is called "media literacy": the analysis and creation of media (through pictures, video, Web sites, etc.). Just as we wouldn't call someone literate if she couldn't write, the media illiterate are those that cannot express themselves through the creation of media.
Years from now, our society will realize that media literacy is just as important as the "old" literacy, but our education systems are already woefully behind.
Rhetoric like Hodges' only prolongs the moment when this problem will finally dawn on our collective consciousness and become an educational priority.
Whether or not the masses on flickr.com are trying to create art is profoundly unimportant. What matters is that they are taking advantage of new technologies to express themselves in creative ways. Not everyone is so lucky.
Mike Nutt
Media Technician
Communication Studies
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