Media literacy and the challenges of contemporary media culture: On savvy viewers and critical apathy

Abstract

This article aims to make a contribution to the media literacy movement by focusing on the debate between liberal and more radical approaches. It argues that the media literacy movement is fighting a battle that is already partly won, but that contemporary popular culture has moved into a terrain that anticipates and undermines the supposedly liberating effects of increased knowledge on behalf of the television viewers. Drawing on Andrejevic’s work on reality TV and the author’s own work on dating shows, the article argues that the dominant viewing position can be described as a savvy one. The savvy viewer is not ‘duped’ into a naive belief in the media but literally sees through the text. However, the article concludes that the savvy attitude is essentially a conservative one in which the media are understood but not challenged, leaving the capitalist media industries beyond criticism — a phenomenon described as critical apathy.