(eBook PDF) Introduction to Media

Literacy
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Detailed Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1 • Why Increase Media Literacy?
Our Message-Saturated Culture
Growth Is Accelerating
High Degree of Exposure
Coping
Automatic Routines
Advantages and Disadvantages
Programming Automatic Routines
Increasing Media Literacy
Media Exposure Habits
Product Buying Habits
Applying Media Literacy 1.1—How Much Time Do You Spend
With Media?
What Are Your Needs?
Applying Media Literacy 1.2—What Are Your Product Buying
Habits?
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 2 • How to Think About Media Literacy
Taking Out the Trash: Clearing Away Faulty Beliefs About Media
Literacy
Media Are Harmful
Media Literacy Will Destroy My Fun With the Media
Media Literacy Requires the Memorization of a Great Many Facts
Media Literacy Is a Special Skill
Media Literacy Requires Too Much Effort
Increasing Media Literacy
The Definition
The Big Three
Applying Media Literacy 2.1—Assessing Your Knowledge
Structures
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Chapter 3 • Mass Media Industries: Historical Perspective
Pre-Mass Media

8
 Development of Mass Media
Innovation Stage
Penetration Stage
Peak Stage
Decline Stage
Adaptation Stage
Current Picture
Life Cycle Pattern
Indicators of Peak
Convergence
Profile of Mass Media Workforce
Increasing Media Literacy
Applying Media Literacy 3.1—Thinking About Convergence in the
Mass Media Industries
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 4 • Mass Media Industries: The Economic Game
The Media Game
Applying Media Literacy 4.1—Estimating How Much Money You
Spend on the Media
The Players
The Goal
Advertising Is the Engine
Media Industries’ Strategies
Maximizing Profits
Constructing Audiences
Reducing Risk
Increasing Media Literacy
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 5 • Mass Media Audience: Industry Perspective
Identifying Opportunities
Geographic Segmentation
Demographic Segmentation
Psychographic Segmentation
Attracting Audiences
Appeal to Existing Needs and Interests
Cross-Media and Cross-Vehicle Promotion
Conditioning Audiences
Increasing Media Literacy
Applying Media Literacy 5.1—What Audience Segments Are You

9
 In?
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Chapter 6 • Mass Media Audience: Individual Perspective
Exposure Is Not the Same as Attention
Exposure
Attention
Exposure States
Decisions During Exposures
Filtering Decisions
Meaning Matching Decisions
Meaning Construction Decisions
Increasing Media Literacy
Natural Abilities
Applying Media Literacy 6.1—Personalized Search Results
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Chapter 7 • Mass Media Content
Message Formulas and Genres
Most General Formula: Next-Step Reality
Audience’s Perspective
Programmers’ Perspective
Narratives
Informing
Persuading
Entertaining
Applying Media Literacy 7.1—Analyzing Narratives
Electronic Games
Designing Electronic Games
Experience of Playing Electronic Games
Applying Media Literacy 7.2—Analyzing Electronic Games
Interactive Message Platforms
Social Contact
Sharing
Increasing Media Literacy
Mass Media Message Formulas
Applying Media Literacy 7.3—Analyzing Interactive Message
Platforms
Your Skills
Stronger Knowledge Structures About the Real World
Greater Awareness of Your Needs
Electronic Games and Interactive Message Platforms
Key Ideas

10
 Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 8 • Mass Media Effects
Media Effects Are Constantly Occurring
Four Dimensions of Media Effects
Timing of Effects
Type of Effects
Valence of Effects
Intentionality of Effects
Factors Influencing Media Effects
Increasing Media Literacy
Applying Media Literacy 8.1—Thinking About Media Effects
Applying Media Literacy 8.2—Recognizing Immediate Effects
Applying Media Literacy 8.3—Recognizing Long-Term Effects
Applying Media Literacy 8.4—What Have You Internalized From
the Media Culture?
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Chapter 9 • Springboard
Twelve Guidelines
1. Strengthen Your Personal Locus
2. Focus on Personal Usefulness as a Goal
3. Develop an Accurate Awareness of Your Exposure
4. Acquire a Broad Base of Useful Knowledge
5. Think About the Reality–Fantasy Continuum
Applying Media Literacy 9.1—Testing Awareness of Your
Knowledge Structures
6. Examine Your Mental Codes
7. Examine Your Opinions
8. Change Behaviors
9. Make Cross-Channel Comparisons
10. Become More Skilled at Designing Messages
11. Do Not Take Privacy for Granted
12. Take Personal Responsibility
Examples of Levels of Literacy
Reality Series on TV
Facebook Page
Key Ideas
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Introduction to Appendices: Analyzing Media Literacy Issues
Appendix A. Analyzing Media Issues: Are Professional Athletes Paid

11
Too Much?
Increase in Pay
Pay Now Too High
Non-Sustainability
Ruining the Games
Players
Owners
Fans
Conclusions
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Applying Media Literacy A.1—Analyzing Criticism of Sports
Appendix B. Analyzing Media Issues: Is Media Company Ownership Too
Concentrated?
Consolidation of Ownership
Concentration of Power
Value of Localism
Value of Efficiency
Reduction of Competition
Limitations on Access
Ownership Access
Voice Access
Change in Content
Enriches Few People
Conclusions
Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Applying Media Literacy B.1—Analyzing Criticism of Media
Ownership
Appendix C. Analyzing Media Issues: Is News Objective?
Analyzing the Idea of Objectivity
News Is a Construction
Analyzing the Idea of Quality in News
Avoiding Fabrication
Avoiding Bias
Using the Best Sources
Avoiding Imbalance
Complete Story
Providing Full Context
Considering Standards for News
Journalist Standards
Audience Standards
Conclusions

12
 Further Reading
Keeping Up to Date
Applying Media Literacy C.1—Analyzing Criticisms of News
Appendix D. Analyzing Media Issues: Is There Too Much Violence in the
Media?
High Amount of Violence in the Media
The Public’s Narrow Conception of Violence
Filtering Out and Harm
Some People Are More Vulnerable Than Others
Vulnerable Groups
Third-Person Effect
We Are All Vulnerable
Reducing the Amount of Violence
Conclusions
Further Reading
Applying Media Literacy D.1—Analyzing Criticism of Media
Violence
Test Your Knowledge Answers
Glossary
References
Index

13
Preface

The topic of media literacy is huge. If you do a Google search for “media literacy”
you will get over 16 million hits for websites. If you were to spend one minute
looking at each of these websites for 24 hours a day with no breaks, it would take
you more than 30 years to get to all of them. Clearly, there is too much for anyone to
read and absorb. This situation is likely to leave you asking: What is the core
essence of media literacy?

I asked myself this question about 25 years ago when I was designing my mass
media courses and wanted to take a media literacy approach rather than a
traditional academic approach of simply presenting a long list of facts. The mass
media were a different phenomenon than other college subjects such as a foreign
language, a historical period, or a type of math. The mass media are so integrated
into everyone’s everyday life that we all take them for granted. Also, the media
were so current and changing that it was hard to pin teach some facts that were
going to last for a long time. Thus I needed a different approach to teaching such a
dynamic everyday phenomenon. Because the mass media were so much a part of
everyone’s lives, I needed to present the information in a practical way rather in an
academic theory-based way. I needed to find a way to show students that there was
a lot they were taking for granted so I needed to sensitize them to many things that
were happening every day in their lives. This led to me asking questions such as:
What do students need to know about how the mass media are affecting them? What
do they need to know about the content? What do they need to know about the media
industries? Finding information to answer these questions was not difficult, because
even then there was so much published about the mass media. The challenge lay in
making decisions about what was most important. So I took a couple years getting
my notes ready to teach these courses. I eventually refashioned my notes into a book
which was published in 1994. After the seventh edition came out in the winter of
2013, my editor suggested that I also write a more introductory version, and so I
began working on this book—An Introduction to Media Literacy.

What distinguishes this book from Media Literacy, is that it is much shorter (by
about half) and more practical in its approach, that is, it presents less information
about the media industries, their content, their audiences and their effects. Instead
the focus is much more on the essential facts that students need to know then
translating those ideas into exercises that students can use to develop their
understanding of media literacy.

This book will show you this media literacy perspective and set you on a path to
exercise more power to use the media to achieve your own goals rather than letting

14
the media use you to achieve their goals.

15
Organization of the Book
This book is composed of 9 chapters and four issues appendices. The 9 chapters
will provide you with the essentials of media literacy that you can use to develop
your own perspective on media literacy, then use that perspective to debate the four
issues presented in the appendices.

In Chapter 1, I show you why developing media literacy is such an important thing
to do. Chapter 2 presents what I call the “media literacy approach.” The next six
chapters provide basic information about the four knowledge facets of media
literacy: Media industries, audiences, content, and effects. Chapter 3 helps you see
the media industries from a historical perspective so that you can appreciate the
challenges they have overcome to arrive at their current status, then Chapter 4
shows you why understanding the economic perspective is so important to media
literacy. Chapter 5 focuses on the audience from the industry’s perspective then
Chapter 6 examines the audience from the individual’s perspective. Chapter 7
analyzes media content and shows that all types of content rest on a foundation of
“one-step remove” reality. Chapter 8 will help you expand your vision about what
constitutes a media effect. Finally, Chapter 9 summarizes the book’s most important
ideas by presenting you with a dozen guidelines that you can use in your everyday
lives to increase your media literacy.

Each of these 9 chapter begins with a highlighting of the key ideas that structure that
chapter. The text in the chapter then explains those ideas in enough detail to prepare
you for the concluding section, which helps you to use the information in the chapter
to think in a more media literate manner. Most chapters present exercises to help
you think more deeply about the perspectives presented in the chapter and to use the
information in your own lives. At the end of each chapter is a list of places you can
go to get more information on the chapter topic and to keep up to date as we move
forward into the future.

I have included four appendices—each focusing on a different media issue. The

encountering of these issues can be incorporated at various places as you proceed
through the chapters or can be saved to the end of the course after you have
transformed the information throughout all 9 chapters into your own knowledge
structure on media literacy. Each appendix begins with a statement about how that
issue represents a debate or a controversy. I then briefly lay out the argument that
people typically use when addressing the issue. Next I present a description of the
situation, which is a set of facts that people typically use as evidence for the
controversy and information they site in support of their position. The heart of each
appendix is the analysis section, where I show you how to dig below the surface of

16
the issue layer by layer to reveal its complexity. Because space is limited in each
appendix, I cannot a complete analysis that reveals all the layers and all the
complexity of each issue, but what I do present can be used as a model of how to
proceed when continuing with your own analysis of the issue.

17
How to Get the Most Out of This Book
The first challenge we all face when confronting a new body of information is
motivation. We ask ourselves: Why should I expend all the effort to learn this? How
will learning this help me enough to make all that effort worthwhile?

Our initial answers to these questions are likely to make us feel that learning about
media literacy is not worth the effort because we feel that we already know a lot
about the media. We are familiar with a large number of websites, apps, recording
artists, and celebrities. We are already able to access a wide range of entertainment
and information, so why would we need to learn a lot more about the media?

This book will show you the answer to that question. By presenting you with some
key insights about things you don’t know about the mass media, you will be able to
expand your perspective into new areas. Your growing perspective will allow you
to exercise more control over your media exposures so that you can get more value
from those messages.

When you read each of these chapters, be strategic. Begin with the list of Learning
Objectives to alert you to the purposes of the chapter. Also, answer the Test Your
Knowledge questions at the beginning of the chapter; your answers will let you
know where the strengths and weaknesses are in your existing knowledge
structures. Next, use what you have learned from the chapter objectives and your
answers to the knowledge questions to formulate your own list of questions, which
will then be your reading strategy.

Now you are ready to read the chapter actively. By actively, I mean don’t just scan
the words and sentences; instead, keep your list of questions in your mind and focus
on those parts of the chapter that provide answers to your strategic questions. When
you have finished reading the chapter, close the book and see if you can articulate
the key ideas from that chapter. Check your recall by opening the book and looking
at the list of Key Ideas I have provided at the end of that chapter. Can you
remember only a random mass of facts, or can you envision an organized set of
knowledge structured by your questions?

If all of your questions were not answered in the chapter, then continue reading on
the topic beginning with the Further Reading suggestions presented at the end of
most chapters. Also, you might want to update yourself with fresher information so
check out the Keeping Up To Date suggestions. With many aspects of the mass
media, information changes quickly. As I wrote this book, I tried to site the most
current facts possible, but by the time you read the book, some of those facts and

18
figures may have gone out of date.

Because media literacy is much more about using information instead of simply
memorizing facts, each chapter offers two features to help you internalize the ideas
in the chapter. The Applying Skills questions give you opportunities to employ each
of the seven media literacy skills by engaging more fully with the ideas in the text.
Also, the Applying Media Literacy feature presents you with extended exercises
that take you step-by-step through a process of using the information from the text in
a way that makes it relevant for your own experiences.

Finally, you will get more out of each chapter if you try to incorporate the
information you are learning into your own experience. Do not get caught in the trap
of thinking that it is sufficient to memorize the facts in each chapter and then stop
thinking about the material. Simply memorizing facts will not help you increase
your media literacy much. Instead, you need to internalize the information by
drawing it into your own experiences. Continually ask yourself, “How does this
new information fit in with what I already know?” “Can I find an example of this in
my own life?” and “How can I apply this when I deal with the media?” The more
you try to apply what you learn in this book, the more you will be internalizing the
information and thus making it more a natural part of the way you think.

19
Ancillaries

edge.sagepub.com/potterintro

SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of

tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both
instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. SAGE edge
content is open access and available on demand. Learning and teaching has never
been easier!

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help students

accomplish their coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment.

Mobile-friendly eFlashcards strengthen understanding of key terms and

concepts
Mobile-friendly practice quizzes allow for independent assessment by
students of their mastery of course material
A customized online action plan includes tips and feedback on progress
through the course and materials, which allows students to individualize their
learning experience
Learning objectives that reinforce the most important material
Carefully selected chapter-by-chapter video and multimedia content which
enhance classroom-based explorations of key topics
Chapter-specific study questions are designed to help reinforce key concepts
in each chapter for self-review
EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been
carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each
chapter

SAGE edge for Instructors, supports teaching by making it easy to integrate

quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the

opportunity to edit any question and/or insert personalized questions to
effectively assess students’ progress and understanding
Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer complete flexibility for
creating a multimedia presentation for the course
EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles have been carefully
selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter to

20
encourage students to think critically
Chapter activities for individual or group projects provide lively and
stimulating ideas for use in and out of class reinforce active learning.
Lecture notes summarize key concepts by chapter to ease preparation for
lectures and class discussions
Chapter-specific discussion questions help launch classroom interaction by
prompting students to engage with the material and by reinforcing important
content

21
To Conclude
This book is an introduction. It is designed to show you the big picture so you can
get started efficiently on increasing your own media literacy. It is important to get
started now. The world is rapidly changing because of newer information
technologies that allow you to create and share you own messages in addition to
accessing all kinds of information on just about any conceivable topic.

I hope you will have fun reading this book. And I hope it will expose you to new
perspectives from which you can perceive much more about the media. If it does,
you will be gaining new insights about your old habits and interpretations. If this
happens, I hope you will share your new insights and “war stories” with me. Much
of this book has been written to reflect some of the problems and insights my
students have had in the media literacy courses I have taught. I have learned much
from them. I’d like to learn even more from you. So let me know what you think and
send me a message at wjpotter@comm.ucsb.edu.

See you on the journey!

22
Acknowledgments
Thank you Matt Byrnie for suggesting that I write Introduction to Media Literacy
to serve the needs of a different audience than my Media Literacy book, which is
now going into its eighth edition and has been translated into six languages over the
past two decades. And thank you Matt and Natalie Konopinski, Development
Editor, for steering me through the very challenging task of cutting the size of Media
Literacy in half, while not losing any of the key ideas; for helping me translate
those ideas into more practical expression without disregarding the rigorous base
of research; and for helping me write a book that would appeal to an audience
interested in media literacy but wanting a different approach than I had been
providing up to this point.

I thank the following reviewers for their thoughtful contributions and the
manuscript: Teresa Bergman, University of the Pacific; Michael A. Cavanagh, East
Carolina University; Lori Dann, Eastfield College; Tom Grier, Winona State
University; Rachel Alicia Griffin, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Rachael
Hanel, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Nina Huntemann, Suffolk University;
Frank Nevius, Western Oregon University; Michael Plugh, Fordham University; Jeff
Shires, Purdue University North Central; Beatriz Wallace, Duke University; Ken
Wolfe, University of Missouri–St. Louis; Catherine Wright, George Mason
University; Jingsi Christina Wu, Hofstra University.

I also thank the many other talented people at SAGE that made this book possible. I
am especially grateful for Matt’s Editorial Assistant Janae Masnovi who did the
photo research; for Gabrielle Piccininni, the e-Learning Editor, who created the
many digital ancillaries that go along with this book; and for Ashlee Blunk,
Marketing Manager. Last but not definitely not least, I thank two people who did the
detailed work that readers often take for granted but who are responsible for the
quality of how the book looks and the words sound—Production Editor Laura
Barrett and Copyeditor Megan Markanich.

23
About the Author

W. James Potter,
professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, holds one PhD in
communication studies and another in instructional technology. He has been
teaching media courses for more than two decades at Indiana University;
Florida State University; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA);
Stanford University; and Western Michigan University. He has served as
editor of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and is the author of
well over 100 scholarly articles and over two dozen books, including Media
Literacy (now in its 8th edition), Media Effects, The 11 Myths of Media
Violence, Becoming a Strategic Thinker: Developing Skills for Success, On
Media Violence, Theory of Media Literacy: A Cognitive Approach, and How
to Publish Your Communication Research (with Alison Alexander).

24
1 Why Increase Media Literacy?

Media literacy strengthens your ability to exercise control over the vast array of
messages you encounter through daily media exposure.

©iStockphoto.com/scanrail

25
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
General description and date of
structure:—
No. 10 was not built by 20th November, 1777, for a lease[723] of
No. 9, granted on that date, refers to the northern boundary as
“ground contracted to be built upon.” It does not find a place in the
parish ratebooks until 1781.
This house is the northernmost of the eastern block. The plan
has been considerably altered, especially on the ground floor.

The alterations made on that floor include the removal of the

partition at the rear of the front room, the formation of a passage to
the modern premises at the rear, the closing of the windows in the
rear wall, the shifting of the fireplace from the flank to the rear wall,
and the construction of a large bay window in its place. On the first
floor a portion of the external wall has been removed, and a small
addition constructed for use as offices.
Fortunately the beautiful ceilings on this floor have been
preserved. That to the front room is segmental in shape and
ornamented with plaster decorations and three painted circular
panels (Plate 74). The frieze and ceiling of the rear room are similar
to those of No. 1, Bedford Square,[724] even to the painted panels. The
paintings are well preserved. The central panel, reproduced below,
should be compared with that illustrated in Plate 68.
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The names of the occupants of the house during the latter part of the
18th century are given by the ratebooks as follows:—

1781–83. —— Lande.
1783–89. —— Lyde.
1789–90. Chas. Shaw Lefevre.
1790–97. John Lefevre.
1797–98. Chas. Lefevre.
1798– Henry Davison.

The “Chas. Shaw Lefevre” and “Chas. Lefevre” shown in the parish
ratebooks as occupying the house in 1789–90 and 1797–98[725] respectively
was Charles Shaw, a barrister, who, on his marriage with Helena, only
daughter of John Lefevre (possibly the occupier in 1790–96), assumed the
additional name of Lefevre. His eldest son, Charles, afterwards Viscount
Eversley, was born in 1794, and, therefore, while the family was not resident
here; but the birth of his second son, John George (afterwards Sir John
George Shaw-Lefevre) took place at this house on 24th January, 1797.[726]
John George had a distinguished career as a public official. He had a
passion for acquiring languages, and mastered fourteen. He died in 1879.
In the Council’s collection are:—
[727]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[727]General view of front room on first floor showing paintings on
ceiling (photograph).
[726]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in rear room on
first floor (central panel reproduced) (photograph).
LXXIII.—No. 11, BEDFORD SQUARE.[728]
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessee, George Frederick
Hatfield, Esq.
General description and date of
structure.
This house (Plate 76) is situated at the south-eastern end of
Gower Street, with its entrance in Montague Place. It has no
connection with the Bedford Square blocks. The boundary between
the parishes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and St. George, Bloomsbury,
passes through the house, and is indicated by two tablets fixed to the
flank wall.
The house has an interesting plan (Plate 75). The small hall is
entered through a semi-octagonal bay, and beyond is the staircase
lighted by a lantern. To the left is the original dining room with a
cleverly screened serving door at the head of the basement stairs.
The white marble and inlay chimneypiece in this room is a fine
specimen of carving (Plate 77).
The room to the right is now used as the dining room. It has
been considerably altered in appearance by a modern partition, but
its original form can be seen by the plan. The eastern side is circular,
and has a casement window affording access to a verandah, which is
screened by the two small rooms on either side. A curious feature to
note is that the northern room impinges upon the first house in
Gower Street.
The drawing room on the first floor has a sculptured white
marble chimneypiece, and an enriched frieze and cornice (illustrated
below).
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The ratebooks show that the occupants of this house before 1800
were as follows:—

1782–84. Dr. Tye.

1784–86. Hon. John Cavendish.
1786– Hon. Henry Cavendish.

Henry Cavendish was the elder son of Lord Charles Cavendish,

brother of the third Duke of Devonshire, and was born in 1731. His only
interest in life seems to have been in natural philosophy, and his manners
were characterised by extraordinary reticence and timidity. His scientific
discoveries were remarkable, and his work was not only exceedingly wide in
scope, but marked by extreme accuracy. In 1766 he began a brilliant series
of communications to the Royal Society on the chemistry of gases,
containing amongst others his discoveries of the compound nature of water
and the composition of nitric acid. He apparently anticipated Black in the
discovery of latent heat and specific heat; and he will ever be known to fame
as the first man to determine accurately the density of the earth. He died on
10th March, 1810. Most of his time seems to have been spent at his
residence near Clapham Common, No. 11, Bedford Square serving as a town
house. In 1904, the Duke of Bedford affixed on the latter house a bronze
tablet commemorative of Cavendish’s residence.
In the Council’s collection are:—
[729]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[729]Exterior(photograph).
General view of staircase from entrance hall (photograph).
[729]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
Rear room on ground floor (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in drawing room on first floor (photograph).
[729]Detail of frieze and cornice in drawing room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXIV.—No. 13, BEDFORD SQUARE.
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee,
Halsey Ricardo, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.
General description and date of
structure.
Thomas Leverton, the architect, took the building lease of
these premises in 1775,[730] and subsequently resided here. The
house, however, is not mentioned in the parish ratebooks until 1781.
It has been much altered by the original staircase having been
removed, and a wooden one substituted, enabling some small rooms
to be formed at the front and rear.
The front room on the ground floor has a white marble
chimneypiece with Ionic columns, having Siena marble shafts. The
frieze is omitted in this case with good effect. The cornice of the room
is similar to that of the ground floor back room of No. 1, being
decorated with diminutive Greek Doric columns, suspended by their
capitals, as in No. 1.
The first floor front room has a white marble chimneypiece of
19th-century design, but the ornamental plaster ceiling (Plate 78) is
original. It has painted panels after the manner of Antonio Zucchi or
Angelica Kauffmann, and is probably by the latter artist.
Condition of repair.
The premises are in good repair.
Biographical notes.
The occupants of this house during the end of the 18th century were,
according to the ratebooks, as follows:—

1781. Jas. Richardson.

1782–83. Richard Walker.
1784–91. Marchant Tubb.
1791–95. Mrs. Royal.
1796– Thos. Leverton.

Thomas Leverton, son of Lancelot Leverton, a builder, was born in

1743 at Woodford. He became an architect and gradually acquired an
extensive practice. His share in the design of houses in Bedford Square has
already been noticed.[731]
Before settling at No. 13, Bedford Square, his chief residences seem
to have been in Great Queen Street and Charlotte Street.[732] He died at the
house in Bedford Square in 1824.
In the Council’s collection are:—
Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor (photograph).
[733]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in front room on
first floor (photograph).
LXXV.—No. 14, BEDFORD SQUARE.
Ground landlord and lessee.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee,
Arthur Rhuvon Guest, Esq.