critical thinking媒體識讀

在Poynter看到這一篇有關媒體識讀的文章,我覺得其中提到的觀點讓我印象挺深刻的.在讓人眼花撩亂的媒體新聞/評論節目中,怎麼對這些information有自己的critical thinking? 我一直覺得這是台灣較須加油的一環,尤其是在教育單位裏.如果老師自己都沒有這個awareness,老師又怎麼傳達這樣的觀念給孩子? Dr. Roy Peter Clark 在Oprah Winfrey的節目中有一段話我很認同,
“We have to figure out what the world looks like from all these different points of view. This requires skepticism, which is a great democratic virtue, but not cynicism.”

Skepticism和Cynicism,一個是對媒體特質的awareness, 能比較不同立場媒體的報導並做理智的判斷.Cynicism則是犬儒式的質疑,不問證據,不用理智,迴避辯論,很遺憾,台灣似乎較多Cynicism,較少Skepticism. 我很喜歡Dr. Roy Peter Clark對這兩者的詮釋:
A skeptic doubts knowledge. A cynic doubts moral goodness. The cynic says, "All politicians are liars," or "All journalists have a hidden bias." The skeptic says, "That doesn't sound right to me. Show me the evidence."

上學期針對Oprah Winfrey的book club寫了一篇文章,所以對她開始有些較深入的認識.有些人批評她以self-help的方式引導大眾閱讀經典名著其實是將自己的觀點意識輸入大眾的腦袋,名意上是藉著閱讀解放大眾的心靈,實際上仍是一種控制的手段. 我倒覺得這控制大眾思想的工具大概也不差她的book club這一個吧!沒有她的book club,社會大眾是否就免於被無形有形的工具控制?這似乎也是過於簡單化了.

不管對Oprah Winfrey個人的評價如何,她觀察社會現象並創造議題的能力將她和一般脫口秀主持人做了一個分明的切割.以下節錄Dr. Roy Peter Clark在她最近的一個話題-Truth in America的部份內容:
1. Freedom of expression means nothing if you lack the means to express yourself.

2. Recognize the power of framing as a communication device. People may be telling you the truth, but only a part of the truth. They may be framing events to focus on some themes, but not others. In the immigration debate, for example, the "safety of our borders" is a frame, but so is "America opens its arms to immigrants," and so is "there are jobs in America that Americans will not do."

9. A key value of journalism is to make important things (like health care) interesting for the public. Beware of attempts to make interesting things, such as lurid crimes, seem important -- when they are not.

11. Prefer people who want to have a vigorous conversation to those who want to shout at each other.

12. Be not seduced into thinking that every hot-button issue requires to you be on one side or the other. There may be a middle ground. Don't be afraid to be puzzled or uncertain about an issue. It's OK to be working to make up your mind.