Network news…the World Wide Web…contemporary films…the local newspaper…how do you sort through all of the messages that come at us all of the time? The Appleton Public Library and the Appleton Area School District will present a media literacy course called Media Matters this fall at the library to help you make your way through the media maze.

Michael Bergen, master teacher emeritus with the school district and veteran media educator, will present the six-part series free of charge to the general public. Teachers who wish to receive one graduate credit at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, DPI clock hours for re-certification, or AASD points may do so as well. The classes are limited to 20 participants. They will be held in the lower level meeting room of the Appleton Public Library from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Registration is being coordinated through Jacqueline Klimaszewski, Morgan Building, 120 E. Harris St., Appleton, WI.

The class schedule will be:

October 4
All media are constructions. In this session participants will examine how print and electronic media are constructed and how that process influences what we perceive as reality. Participants will examine creating or constructing a film sequence, a commercial, a cartoon, a press release, a news article, a feature article and an editorial.

October 11
The media construct reality; form and content are closely related in the media. Participants will view clips of film sequences, ads, commercials, a cartoon, news articles, editorials, magazines and newspapers to examine how the media reconstruct reality. Participants will examine how form and content and audience expectations limit creativity in the various formats.

October 18
Audiences negotiate meaning in the media. This session will examine how the media appeal to our personal needs and anxieties, the pleasures or troubles of the day, racial and sexual attitudes, as well as familial and cultural background. Participants will view clips of film sequences, ads, magazines and newspapers to examine how they are constructed to assist or limit our construction of meaning.

November 8
All media have commercial implications. Media are the largest employer in the world. In order for the media to survive, they must make money. Participants will examine the role of audiences, advertisers and ratings in each of the media. Ownership, control and related effects will also be explored. Participants will examine the right to know and its commercial implications and potential abuses.

November 15
Media contain ideological and value messages as well as social and political implications. Typical mainstream North American media convey a number of explicit and implicit ideological messages, which include the nature of the good life and the role of affluence in it, the virtues of consumerism, the proper role of women and the acceptance of authority and unquestioning patriotism. Participants will be using media literacy techniques and values education strategies to decode these messages.

December 6
Each medium has its own unique aesthetic form. Media consumers should not only be able to decode and understand media text but also enjoy the unique aesthetic form of each medium. Just as our enjoyment of a speaker is enhanced by an awareness of the pleasing rhymes and literary devices in his/her speech and our appreciation of a novel is enhanced by our awareness of the qualities of the effective use of literary devices, we can also experience greater pleasure in the appreciation of other texts (media) when we understand their technical artistry. Participants will apply their skills and general awareness of any specific media product while applying critical distance.

Call the Library's Community Services Office at 832-1695 for details.