available / bias/ bombarded with/ Communication/ creative language/  critical eye / discussion / Educating/  embedded/ fulfill/ Gatekeepers/ goal/ handling/ mass media / media literate / memorized/ message /messages and symbols/ outlet/  profit and power /reliable/ skeptically/ unlimited space/ vast/  watchdog

Mass … refers to a message transmitted to a large audience; the means of transmission is known as…. Many different kinds of mass media have an effect on culture, behaviors, practices, beliefs, and values.

Media … several roles in culture, including the following:

• Entertaining and providing an outlet for the imagination
• … and informing
• Serving as a public forum for the … of important issues
• Acting as a … for government, business, and other institutions

In the past, the goal of education was to provide students with the information. Students …multiplication tables, state capitals, famous poems, and notable dates. In today’s world, however, … amounts of information are available at the click of a mouse. “Most of what we have called formal education has been intended to imprint on the human mind all of the information that we might need for a lifetime.” But these days “education needs to be … of data rather than the accumulation of data.” Media literacy teaches today’s students how to sort through the Internet’s cloud of data, ferret out … sources, and be aware of … and unreliable sources.

In a world dominated by media, individuals needed to be able to understand and analyze the information they are … every day. This skill of being able to decode and process the … transmitted via media is called media literacy. A person who is … is able to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information. Media literacy attempts to teach people to be informed and guarded consumers, and to evaluate claims with a….The crucial role of media literacy education is to enable all of us to … examine the often-conflicting media messages we receive every day.

1. All media messages are constructed.
2. Media messages are constructed using a … with its own rules.
3. Different people experience the same media … differently.
4. Media have … values and points of view.
5. Most media messages are organized to gain ....

• Propaganda is a message that attempts to persuade its audience for ideological, political, or social purposes. Some propaganda is obvious, explicit, and manipulative; however, advertising and public relations also try to influence audiences.
• Gatekeepers influence culture by deciding what stories are considered newsworthy. Gatekeepers can promote cultural values either consciously or unconsciously. The digital age has lessened the power of gatekeepers as the Internet allows an … to cover any number of events and stories.