Critical Media Literacy: Examining News, Advertising & Persuasion

This essay delves into critical media literacy by analyzing various media examples. Part 1 examines the BBC's reporting on ISIS fighters fleeing Raqqa, considering the difficulties faced by journalists and applying Chomsky and Herman's news filters, while also discussing the use of images in news articles. Part 2 focuses on a Lexus advertisement, exploring the unique use of imagery to attract customers and assessing the effectiveness of this advertising method. Part 3 discusses subtle sales techniques used by a website selling books, highlighting the use of low-pressure persuasive language and the importance of carefully chosen words in business communication. The essay concludes by referencing relevant academic sources, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of critical media literacy concepts and their application in real-world scenarios. Desklib offers similar solved assignments for students.

Running head: CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY
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Critical Media Literacy
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Critical Media Literacy
Part 1
Part1 a)
Reporting of the “Secret deal let ISIS fighters flee from Raqqa” by BBC is very difficult.
The BBC journalist who collected the data from the field has to take into risks of insecurity in
order to collect presentable information (Weiss, & Hassan, 2016). It is a tough task for the
reporter to interact with people in a war to collect data and take photos. Reflecting on Noam
Chomsky model of propaganda, five filters anticommunism mechanism shows that individual
involvement into places with conflict can lead to physical danger and enormous difficulties such
as presenting an impartial picture. BBC reporter in the incident is in a position to become a
victim of the war because one can be killed or kidnapped while taking the report from the field
(Moaveni, 2015). Moreover, one can be subjected to permanent disability in case the reporter is
physically challenged while in a line of duty (Gerges, 2017). The reporter can also have
unhealthy life because some of the weapons used in the war are poisonous and would affect a
person’s health standards (Al-Tamimi, 2015).
Part1 b)
The straits times uses the pictures of SDF fighters to capture the thematic concern of the
headline. The picture draws the attention for the target individuals of the information. Use of
picture in a report presented in the article “Secret deal let ISIS fighters flee from Raqqa” captures
the attention of reviewers or the person reading information. This picture draws attention to how
ISIS fighters together with their families had to leave the terror zones Raqqa in Syria. This gives
the BBC expose and an opportunity to bring in to attend to what is happening under a secret deal.

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It holds a person’s mentality to concentrate on retrieving the information that took place during
the war (Adibzadeh & Mohammadi, 2016). The picture of SDF fighters also helped to support
the article content illustrations, introduce and capture the article’s topic message and break up
the article content as an article without the picture may look daunting.
Part 2
Part 2 a)
The reason why Lexus uses mess type of the pictures to sell their car is to draw the
attention of the potential customers as well as maintaining their unique way of advertising. This
type of the picture brings the uniqueness with another brand of cars way of advertisements. The
potential customers will find it easy for them to have a look of the picture and through keen
observation, they will land into the features of the car and through that, they will find much
interest on the car. This is connected to the matter of fact that business is one of the areas where
a lot of technology and creativity is required. Different businesses have different strategies for
satisfying their customers’ needs and attracting them. For instance, the Lexus Company which
manufactures cars for sale uses a special strategy of a mess of lines in form of a picture in
advertising their cars (Shah, 2018). This strategy is vital to the business as it can be justified
according to the taste and preferences of the customers. Through the application of such a unique
and funny way of advertising their cars, many customers will be eager to know more about the
car and by so doing, they will find it more interesting. The mess picture is supported by another
well-drawn car with attractive colours and more details on the car brand to help customers
understand more about the real car. Customers will relate the mess picture with the real car with
the help of a well-drawn picture of the real Lexus car alongside the picture with the aiding
information (Alvermann, Moon, Hagwood, & Hagood, 2018). Through the use of this strategy,

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the customers are able to choose the structure of the vehicle according to their preferences. This
moreover, makes it easier to modify the structure of the car according to the customer’s
requirements before it is manufactured. It is always important to have a customer’s freedom in
selecting the model or structure of the vehicle they wish suits their requirements. Customers can
counter check different structures of the cars and have their comment on the structure (Tanaka,
Tago, & Gleditsch, 2017). This comment can either be the modification of certain parts from
manufactured.
Part 2 b)
In my opinion, the advertising method is effective since it one way of drawing customer’s
attention for the Lexus car advert. In media advertisement, all that is needed is to draw the
attention of the customers following the fact that advertisement is meant to reach many
customers. According to the level of creativity required for the success of any business in the
current world, I support the fact that the method used by the Lexus Company in advertising their
cars to be beneficial. It will capture the attention of many potential buyers and a customer trying
to interpret what is drawn into the mess picture. The advertisement offers the opinions to
customers on any part of the model that demands rectification according to their preferences
before the real car is manufactured. Therefore, it provides more option to the customers in
satisfying their needs as compared to the strategy of only selling directly manufactured cars to
the customers.
Part 3
Based on the information was given by the website, the selling of the book is
characterized by the subtle language which is not aggressive. It uses the low-pressure form of

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persuasive language. The application of the subtle sales technique does not result to the sale at
the first place of the website but according to the information given, it is clear that the bookshop
sells a mixture of different books whose demand is very high. The terms used in the website
clearly indicates that the soft sell is key factor emphasized in selling and giving the information
of the books sold in the book. It does not give the exact book sold either does it give any
particular information about the books but they give general information about the books soft
sold in the bookstore. These books include the poetry book, story books and many more. It
places the quality of their products on the website where the customers can view the information
from different books before the access. It uses terms like the "LOVE" to draw attention to the
customers on the quality of the books they sell. Moreover, its advertisement is more attractive as
it shows how they offer more luxurious books which can satisfy any kind of customers' need. It
claims that its books attract more interest to the readers as they can stack them by their bedsides,
carry them anywhere when they leave houses and also attracts attention to the readers as they
offer more experience. The bookshop, therefore, uses this strategy to attract more customers due
to their desire in knowing more about what the bookshop sells (Gardiner, 2012). The word
"working for" in terms of business is considered more appropriate compared to "serving" or
"selling to". It indicates that the mission of a business is more of the physical or mental effort for
a certain need or money instead of pleasure (Hayhoe, 2014). The aim of the business is to make
money and, therefore, "These are the people we are working for" is used in the business as its
meaning goes hand in hand with the mission of setting a business. On the other hand, "serving"
means that the business is guided or devoted to something (Adibzadeh & Mohammadi, 2016).
Although "selling to" is direct according to the business mission, it, however, doesn't sound
eloquent to the customers.

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References
Adibzadeh, M., & Mohammadi, M. (2016). Key factors of the business with purpose of
maximization of profit value. International Journal of Advanced Biotechnology and
Research, 7(4), 1982-1989.
Al-Tamimi, A. (2015). The evolution in Islamic State administration: The documentary
evidence. Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(4), 117-129.
Alvermann, D. E., Moon, J. S., Hagwood, M. C., & Hagood, M. C. (2018). Popular culture in
the classroom: Teaching and researching critical media literacy. Routledge.
Gardiner, J. (2012). Reformulating the Reader: Internet bookselling and its impact on the
construction of reading practices. Changing English, 9(2), 161-168.
Gerges, F. A. (2017). Isis: A History. Princeton University Press.
Hayhoe, G. F. (2014). Writing a Strategic Plan for a Small Business. Technical
Communication, 41(2), 344-347.
Moaveni, A. (2015). ISIS women and enforcers in Syria recount collaboration, anguish and
escape. The New York Times, 21.
Shah, A. (2018). Does Upward Product Line Extension Hurt or Benefit a Firm's Competitive
Advantage? The Case of Honda's Acura, Nissan's Infiniti, and Toyota's Lexus
Brands. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 12(1), 28-36.
Tanaka, S., Tago, A., & Gleditsch, K. S. (2017). Seeing the Lexus for the Olive Trees? Public
Opinion, Economic Interdependence, and Interstate Conflict. International
Interactions, 43(3), 375-396.
Weiss, M., & Hassan, H. (2016). ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (updated edition). Simon and
Schuster.

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