ABSTRACT
The theory and practice of critical media literacy is grounded in critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy is essentially interested in abolishing injustice and attempts to show how repressive interests are hidden by supposedly neutral formulations of science, myths, or grand narratives. As a pedagogical approach, the theory and praxis of critical media literacy draws its practice from social theory studies of popular culture and from "constructivist" approaches to teaching and to learning. According to Bronner, current issues in critical theory deal with solidarity and the domination of nature, class and cosmopolitanism, interests and autonomy, reification and aethestics, and constraints on democracy and the need to contest arbitrary exercise of power. Social reality refers to the perceptions about the contemporary world that are shared by individuals—their picture of the world around them. This chapter discusses that critical media literacy is concerned with examining the underlying ideological underpinnings to understand how economic, political, and aesthetic force influence the meaning of the messages distributed.
