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Text Information
and Media

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 Learning Objectives

At the end of the module, the student should be able to:

1. Describe the different dimensions of text and media.
2. Comprehend how text information and media is/are formally and
informally produced, organized, and disseminated.

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 Text Information

Text is defined as a simple and flexible format of presenting information

or conveying ideas – whether hand-written, printed or displayed on-
screen. It is any “human-readable sequence of characters” that can
form intelligible words.

Simply put, text information refers to information presented in the form

of text, regardless of the format it was presented in – written, printed, or
displayed digitally.

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 Uses of Text Information

● Learning/Gaining Knowledge: the spread of information throughout the

years had a lot to do with the use of text. Reading, regardless if it’s in print
or digital form, served a pathway to discover new information and gain
knowledge.

● Entertainment: some readers liked the entertainment value provided by

reading. They enjoy the drama of good stories, or the suspense of
unfolding a good plot page by page. Some get immersed in a new world,
finding themselves escaping the reality by reading stories and novels.

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 Uses of Text Information

● Relaxation: some people prefer reading as their past time. They enjoy a
quiet and peaceful break by reading books, newspapers or magazines, or
simply by browsing various articles or blogs they find online.

● Coverage: Textual information comes in a wide range of topics, which

means that anyone can easily find a text media that can capture one’s
interest. Moreover, textual information on different persons of interest, like
famous Hollywood actors and great athletes, can become topics of
conversation among people.

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 Types of Text and Common File Format

Nowadays, text information comes in various forms and formats.

1. Hypertext - This text serves as a link which allows access to

various electronic documents.

2. Plaintext/Unformatted Text - These are fixed-sized characters

having essentially the same type of appearance.

3. Formatted Text - Simply put, these are characters with format

which can be changed (bold, underline, italic, font size, color, etc.)

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 Types of Text Information

➔ Books

One of the most well-known sources of text information are books. First
introduced in the 1400s, they changed human history by means of
promoting the exchange of ideas and information, which in turn led to
the improvement of literacy throughout the world. Books became the
primary vehicle that helped new generations become educated in their
society’s values, as well as the lessons of the past.

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 Types of Text Information

➔ Newspapers

Newspapers fall into numerous types, the most well-known being tabloids and
Broadsheets.

Broadsheets refer to newspapers that has large pages and that usually contain
serious topics.

People in the newspaper industry defines tabloids, in the professional sense of the
word, as a half-size newspaper that is convenient to hold. While it is not necessarily
sensationalistic, tabloids are often associated with sensationalism in news writing.

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 Types of Text Information

➔ The Digital Text

e-Books

More and more readers turn to e-Books for sources of information and
entertainment. The main advantage of these would be convenience – anyone
can have easy access to thousands of pages’ worth of novels, textbooks, and
references at the palm of their hand. As e-books are more compact compared
to the physical copy of books, you can put an entire bookshelf of various
publications in your phone or laptop and take them wherever you are.

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 Types of Text Information

➔ The Digital Text

Websites

Website is a set of data and information about a particular subject which is

available on the internet. It can also refer to a group of connected pages on the
World Wide Web containing information on a particular subject.

Websites offer a variety of textual, as well as audiovisual and interactive

information which the users can access through the Internet.

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 Niche Publications

Zines

The term zine is short for “fanzine,” which is a self-published, small-

circulation publication of unique work of minority interest. This can be in
the form of books, newspapers, magazines or even websites.

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 Niche Publications

University Press

University press refers to a press connected with a university and is

mainly concerned with the publication of scholarly works.

Just like zines, the university press is mostly non-profit, as its

specialization is mainly academic content. Some of the publications
that they produce include scholarly journals, textbooks, and references
for student use.

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 References

Boots C. Liquigan; Media and Information Literacy; Diwa Learning

Systems Inc.
John Vivian; 2010; The Media of Mass Communication; Pearson.

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