BEYOND ELECTION THEATRICS
Seeing past the media for the messages empowers us, write Craig and Marc Kielburger
Imagine Stephen Harper or Tom Mulcair as Stuart Little, the talking mouse from E.B. White’s classic children’s novel who pretends to be “king of the world.”
This isn’t a PR agency’s vision for a new attack ad. The analogy, from an old issue of Media & Values, was meant to help children understand politicians by imagining themselves as “rulers of the world.” It was hoped that story could launch a discussion with their parents about elections and media coverage. (Harper and Mulcair are our additions for Canadian content.)
There are many classroom strategies to provoke insights and debate about the election for students. But we wonder how the media literacy of parents is being nurtured?
We’re already being bombarded by commercials, media events and staged meet-and-greets at Tim Hortons, featuring Harper behind the counter slinging double-doubles and doughnuts. Politicians: they’re just like us!
And by the time Canadians hit the polls on Oct. 19 it will have been the longest campaign period since the 1800s. A longer campaign trail raised the Election Canada-approved ceiling on spending for parties, whose total allowable limit jumped to more than $50 million from $25 million — expenses involved in promoting one party or opposing another.
Considering this lengthy spin cycle, everyone could use a lesson in debunking election media — and we can take a page from lesson plans devoted to young people.
Media Smarts is a Canadian non-profit that offers free lesson plans geared to the classroom, including one available online for grades 8 to 12 called Watching the Elections. It asks students to identify political advertising techniques (what strategy is common to a beer commercial and a campaign ad?), analyze the differences between American and Canadian campaigns and create ads for a real or fictional candidate of their choice.
Would adults look at political campaigns with that same level of scrutiny?
“Frequently, no,” says Matthew Johnson, education director at Media Smarts.
This is a problem, since “much of our political engagement now happens through media,” he adds, whether it be commercials, televised debates or newspaper articles. Our civic engagement is also moving online, where we can share our opinion publicly, or sign an e-petition and participate in community activism.
Media literacy is an increasingly important part of our democracy.
Taking a cue from the classroom, we all need to remember that an election is a media event that derives meaning and social implications from the audience, er, the electorate.
Most people realize that a campaign ad is designed to manipulate viewers into believing a certain message, but our reaction to a policy announcement tends to be less skeptical, says Johnson. We tend to take those announcements for granted, as if they are straight-up statements instead of a pitch. But much like the Super Bowl or the Academy Awards, everything about a campaign is carefully planned and performed.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau proposed an income-tax cut for the middle class at a family restaurant surrounded by patrons, forgoing a podium and — literally — wearing a blue collar (loosened at the neck, sans jacket and tie). Mulcair announced an NDP plan for more front-line police officers across Canada in Surrey, B.C., after a series of shootings in the community.
Reading party platforms, attending community debates and meeting candidates in person is time-consuming but critical. And it makes it easier to see past the theatrics. Some voters are sure they are staunch Liberals, then discover after more research that they lean to the right on certain issues, or vice versa.
Not sure which way you lean? Quizzes on sites like isidewith. ca match you to the party whose policies most align with your own views. It’s no substitute for an informed opinion, but it does focus more on the issues than the hype.
Once you can see through the media for the messages, you’ll be an educated, empowered citizen. The next step is to get out there and vote.