UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY
A.Y. 2018-2019, THIRD QUARTER

INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY, AND THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERATE INDIVIDUAL
• The need for literacy: Being LITERATE is not just about reading and writing. It involves critical thinking and problem-solving. Communication is
our primary means of transmitting information. Technology helps us communicate better.
• The word media refers to the different channels or means of communication. Mass media are communication channels designed to reach a
wide range of receivers or audiences, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and the Internet. Essentially, media are
unavoidable since they are everywhere. Traditional media are those which have been developed prior the rise of the internet (print, broadcast,
and film), while new media refer to everything you can find via the internet, including social media and other online content. Mass media can
also be classified according to ownership, namely:
• Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media.
• Information literacy is the skill that allows a person to recognize when information is needed and how he will be able to access, locate, evaluate,
and use it effectively.
• Technology literacy is the ability to acquire relevant information and use modern-day tools to get, manage, apply, evaluate, create, and
communicate information.

Characteristics of Media: The MIL Framework

1. Media are constructs. All content that you see in media are carefully crafted and created with an intended message in mind.
2. The media industry is mostly a business. Majority of media organizations exist primarily as business entities with the purpose of turning a profit
from their outputs.
3. Audiences negotiate the meaning of media texts. Audiences vary in their socio-economic, educational and political backgrounds. As such, they
interpret media texts differently based on their own contexts and life experiences.
4. Media are social and political. They contain value messages which may serve as observation, reflection or critic of what is happening in the
society where it was created.
5. Various media use varied aesthetics. Different media forms have different content and aesthetical standards.

Select Theories and Approaches in Mass Media

• Base-superstructure model: Based on Karl Marx’s theories on class analysis and class struggle, this model posits that in any given society, the
economic base determines the existing superstructure. The base is determined by the primary mode of real production in society, while the
superstructure is comprised of its politics and culture. While the economy determines politics and culture, politics and culture exist to maintain
and legitimize the economy and the status quo. Media is said to be part of the cultural superstructure.
• Hegemony (Antonio Gramsci): Differentiates between coercion, or the use of direct force and institutions which exhibit and implement force, and
consensus, or a form of control when individuals “willingly” assimilate the world-view or hegemony of the dominant group. Thus, hegemony
refers to the dominant or ruling ideology or world-view in any given society, or the ideology of the elite.
• Ideological state apparatuses by Louis Althusser (1971): The media generate ideologies and beliefs which serve the interests of the economic
and political elite, reinforcing the existing relationships in society and their dominance over the masses. In this theory, Marx’s superstructure is
reconfigured as the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) which are used by the state to control its people without realizing it. Along with these
ISAs, the state also employs repressive state apparatuses which keep people in line, including the police, military and the rule of law. ISAs
include media and educational institutions, along with other social structures and institutions.
• Propaganda model (Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, 1988): Media as “ideological institutions that serve a system-supportive propaganda
function through reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions and self-censorship.” According to this model, news and information from
media are filtered in five ways: (1) according to the media organization’s size, ownership and profit orientation, (2) advertising, (3) mass media
news and sources, (4) flak and enforcers, and (5) ideology and fear-mongering.
• Diffusion of innovations: popularized by Everett Rogers (1962), explains how technology and new developments spread in society.
• Information Society: originated in Japan early as the 1960s, indicating an information economy and the emergence of a thinking class and
increasing global connectivity
• Agenda-setting (Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, 1972): Media producers help shape political reality as they determine which issues are
“important” and thus may set the “agenda” of political campaigns
• Uses and gratifications theory: Audiences choose to consume a media product based on specific needs, including:
a. Personal identity: audiences look for media aligned with their personal values and ideological beliefs.
b. Information: audiences want to learn or seek advice from a medium
c. Entertainment: audiences are looking for diversion
d. Social integration: they want to connect with family, friends and other parts of their social circle

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• Cultural effects by George Gerbner (1976): media, particularly television, cultivates in its audiences a way of sensing and seeing the world,
thereby shaping their opinions, views, and behavior. This theory has been used by other scholars in analyzing violence in television and
formation of political opinion. Criticism: very mechanical, dismisses other factors in the social environment
• Three Modes of Reading - David Morley (1980):
a. Dominant reading: audiences accept the encoded meaning and reproduces the producer’s preferred reading
b. Negotiated reading: audiences partially accept the encoded meaning and mostly accepts the preferred reading, but modifies some parts
reflecting their own position, experiences, and opinions
c. Oppositional reading: audiences take the oppositional stance to the preferred reading and resists it completely
• Public Sphere and Market Model:
a. Advantages of Market Model: It promotes efficiency, responsiveness, flexibility, and mass products.
b. Limits of Markets: Markets are undemocratic, amoral, and do not meet democratic needs.
c. Public sphere vs. Market model
Market Model Public Sphere Model
Nature of Media To sell products To serve the public through knowledge dissemination
Purpose of Media Generate profit for owners and investors Promote democracy through information dissemination
Advance citizenship through participatory platforms
Treatment of Audiences As consumers and buyers As citizens in a democracy
Intended Action for Patronize its products Learn about issues in their communities and society
Audiences Act to solve problems and issues
View of Innovation As response to popular demand Innovation as essential for effective delivery of messages
As response to new media products Innovation as central to capturing diversity of audiences,
As standard practice to stay ahead of competitors insights and interests
Attitude towards Government regulation interferes with market behavior Government regulation is essential to safeguard public
Government Regulation interest
(Croteau and Hoynes, 2001, as illustrated and adapted by Zarate (2016))

INFORMATION LITERACY AND MEDIA AND INFORMATION SOURCES

Proper Citation of Sources of Information
• American Psychological Association (APA). APA is used in social sciences, such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, economics, and
criminology, business, and nursing.
• The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). CMS has two documentation styles. The Notes-Bibliography System (NB) is used in literature, history, and
the arts. While Author-Date System is preferred in social sciences.
• Modern Language Association (MLA). MLA style is used in liberal a and humanities, such as English studies, language and literature, foreign
language and literatures, literary criticism, comparative literature, and cultural studies.

Media and Information Sources

• Indigenous Sources – naturally occurring in a specific region or environment (e.g. indigenous peoples, tribes with preserved cultures and
traditions)
a. Oral tradition – passing down culture through narratives
b. Legends (Alamat) – fictional tale which explains the origin of something (e.g. Alamat ng Pinya)
c. Folk tale (Kwentong bayan) – a story set in a particular time and place, usually preserving its characteristics (e.g. Bernardo Carpio)
d. Epic (Epiko) – tales of adventure with a hero as its protagonist (e.g. Iliad, Ramayana, Biag ni Lam-ang)
e. Mythology (Mitolohiya) – stories about gods, the creation of the world and mankind (e.g. Greek and Roman mythology)

TYPES OF MEDIA
Media Types According to Ownership
• Mainstream media or those operated as businesses by large corporations
• Independent media, which usually refer to film or cinema, or films produced by independent filmmakers, usually to make a statement about
something or as an expression or art form
• Alternative media, which usually refer to the press or journalism, or small media groups which provide information which do not have space in
mainstream media. Other sub-types of alternative media include community-based media and the concept of citizen journalism.
• State-owned media, or those operated and funded by the government

Media Regulatory Bodies

• Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) – an organization of media institutions and practitioners, which has its agreed ethical manual
and rules for operations
• Movie and TV Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) – a government-mandated institution which is tasked with reviewing all materials prior
broadcast.

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Media Ownership and Its Implications to Information
• Conglomeration – a media group that owns a large number of companies in various media forms, e.g. ABS-CBN
• Syndication – rights to content is bought for local broadcast or consumption (comics, shows), e.g. Foreign shows
• Subsidiaries – a smaller company owned by a conglomerate or bigger company
• Synergy or Convergence – use of multiple media platforms to promote a single product
• Integration:
a. Vertical – a single corporation dominates the entire industry in a single media field; a company’s businesses are in the same production
path
b. Horizontal – a corporation acquires similar corporations in the field; its products and services are both complimentary and competitive
• Ownership affects media as information sources as it becomes a filter due to possible conflicts of interest.

MEDIA AND INFORMATION LANGUAGES, CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Audience and Stakeholders
• Audiences – spectators in a public event, consumers of media products
• Stakeholders – people who have an interest or concern with a group, product or service. Audiences are only among the stakeholders in media
• Producers of media: Authors, journalists and reporters, editors, directors, talents, performers, executive producers, management officials
• Target audience: a specific group of people identified from selected segments of the population as the intended audience of a media product or
service, or the specific audience for which an output is produced
• Shaun Moores (1993): audiences are not homogeneous
• Ralway (1988): audiences now include consumers of electronic media and information
• Common audience attributes: Gender, Ethnicity, Age range, Region or Nationality, or Socioeconomic group
• Broad audience: big film studios often use this targeting to garner more ticket sales
• Niche audience: targets specific or special subset of audiences
• Audience demographics: created by focusing on a particular sector of a population as intended audiences of a media product. Includes age,
gender, location
• Psychographics: largely derived from demographics, but focused on psychological traits such as hobbies, interests, lifestyle

Identifying Audiences: Traditional Segmentation Model

Social Class Social Status Common Occupations
A Upper middle class Managerial, allied with large firms, professionals with steady income base
B Middle class Middle management, administrative or professional
C-1 Lower middle class Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional
C-2 Skilled middle class Skilled manual workers
D Working class Semi-skilled and unskilled workers
E Poorest of the poor Lowest grade or unemployed

Codes and conventions in media

• Codes: systems of signs which create meaning in media and information
• Conventions: the way codes are organized in a media output or product
• Symbolic codes reflect what is beneath the surface of what we see in media texts. They are social in nature, i.e. it exists in real-life beyond the
media output. It may include:
a. Setting: the time and place where a narrative or story takes place. Can apply to the entire story or just specific scenes, can be a specific
geographical location, space, an atmosphere or frame of mind.
b. Mise en scene: French term meaning ‘everything within the frame.’ Originally used in theater, but in media this is used to describe all
elements in a frame, including their arrangement. Includes set design, costume, props, staging and rules of composition.
c. Acting: portrayal of a character through gestures, facial expressions, body language, movement, and vocal qualities, among others.
d. Color: cultural in nature, with connotations and underlying messages. In studying media texts, take note of dominant colors, themes,
contrasts, and symbolisms of colors used.
• Technical code: Ways in which equipment is used to tell the story. These exist only within each kind of media output and not outside of it. Some
examples include:
a. Camerawork: includes angles, kinds of shots, and camera movements
b. Lighting: includes description of lights to be used in each scene
c. Editing: includes transitions and directions in putting together various elements
d. Audio: includes dialogue, music and sound effects (although music can also be symbolic)
e. Print: includes copyediting shorthand and journalism jargon
• Written code: The formal written language used in media outputs.
a. Printed language: text presented within a frame (includes character generation in audio visual outputs)

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 b. Spoken language: includes dialogue and song lyrics
• Form conventions: Ways in which audiences expect codes to be arranged
a. FILM: Title at the beginning, credits at the end
b. NEWS: Headline and lead at the beginning, most important news at the front page
c. VIDEO GAMES: Tutorials at the beginning
• Continuity editing: allows the audience to understand a scene and who is talking to whom
• Story conventions: Common structures and understandings in storytelling, such as:
a. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE: Exposition, inciting incident, conflict, rising action, climax, denouement, resolution and ending
b. CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION
c. POINT OF VIEW: First person, second person, omniscient
d. CAUSE AND EFFECT
e. TYPES OF CONFLICT: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Supernatural, Man vs. Self
• Genre Conventions: Common use of tropes, characters, settings or themes. These are closely linked with audience expectations, and can be
formal or thematic. Examples: Horror genre: common settings are abandoned or isolated locations, color is predominantly dark, use of silence
and creepy sound effects. Romance genre: boy meets girl story, popular urban city locations, pop music soundtrack, voice overs, light-colored
themes and scenes

Technical Codes and Conventions in Journalism

• Inverted pyramid – the structure of straight news, where the most important information can be found at the topmost part (the lead)
• News values – a set of criteria for determining what makes the news, as well as determining which news is more important and requires more
coverage. (Relevance or Impact, Timeliness or Immediacy, Proximity, Prominence, Human interest, Oddity, Currency, and Conflict)
• Kinds of newspaper material: Straight news – 5 W’s and 1 H; News feature; Infographics; Feature; Opinion-Editorial, Investigative
• Scissors test: The news article must make sense and stand on its own even if its lower paragraphs are cut or removed.
• Layout: principles of design
• “Brevity is a virtue”
• Presswork and deadlines
• Legwork – research work in the field
• Beat system – a system of coverage implemented by news agencies
• Scoop – exclusive news
• Kuryente – false alarm, wrong news
• Erratum – issued when wrong information is published
• Libel and slander
• Parts of a newspaper: Masthead, Byline, Volume and issue number, Editorial Board
• Software: Text processing software, MS Publisher, Adobe Pagemaker and Adobe InDesign

TEXT MEDIA AND INFORMATION

• Framing: to construct, compose or imagine something; creating something with a solid plan to follow using a specific structure in mind
• Form and content must be considered in constructing and deconstructing products
• News: communication of information on current events via print, broadcast, internet or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience
• Newspaper: regularly scheduled publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade
paper such as newsprint
• Common sections of the newspaper:
a. Headlines – most important news of the day
b. Opinion – includes editorial and columnists writing essays with specializations
c. Entertainment – pop culture happenings
d. Lifestyle – health and wellness, among others
e. Technology
f. Business
g. Sports
• Journalism: defined as collecting, writing, editing and presenting of news in newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasts or the
internet
• Straight news: 5W’s and 1H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How)
• The lead: the most important part of the news article; the first sentence or paragraph which must contain the most important facts; serves as
hook of the news story
• Newspaper formats: Broadsheets: long paper format; Tabloids: smaller, easy to read and thinner format

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Common issues in Journalism
• Public interest
• Original words and plagiarism
• News and biases: ownership and control (e.g. links with big businesses or political personalities)
• Sensationalism: style designed to produce startling or thrilling impressions or to excite and please vulgar taste
• Tabloidization: Revision of traditional newspaper and other media formats driven by reader preferences and commercial requirements
• Populist content and design, fascination for covering the lives and antics of celebrities
• Tabloid journalism: Text manipulation and story embellishments to sell more copies
• Envelopmental journalism: bribery through cash envelopes to influence them to write news favorable to one side
• Yellow journalism: high-interest stories, sensational crime news, large headlines and reports exposing corruption in business and government,
marketed for shock value

LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

• Article III – Bill of Rights
▪ Section 4: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
▪ Section 7: “The right of the people to information on matters of public concerns shall be recognized.”
▪ Limits of free speech: Clear and present danger
• Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines defines libel as “a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or a vice or defect, real or
imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical
person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.” Issue: Decriminalization, chilling effect
• Art. 354. Requirement for publicity. — Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and
justifiable motive for making it is shown, except in the following cases:
1. A private communication made by any person to another in the performance of any legal, moral or social duty;
2. A fair and true report, made in good faith
• Art. 358. Slander. — Oral defamation shall be punished by arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period if it
is of a serious and insulting nature; otherwise the penalty shall be arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos.
• Misquotation – quoting someone without using exact words spoken, taking quotes out of context, sometimes resulting from lack of recording of
the verbatim quote.
• Mislabeling – mislabeling a person or an organization in a way that is damaging, misleading or hurtful
• The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 8293) is the overall law protecting copyrights and all kinds of intellectual property
creations including patents and trademarks.
• The Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792) which protects mostly financial and commercial transactions online. This also
covers hacking and illegal downloading of copyrighted materials.

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• The Optical Media Act of 2003 (Republic Act No. 9239) wanted to ensure the protection of specific media products subjected to illegal
duplication or piracy.
• The Anti-Camcording Law (Republic Act No. 10088) aims to prevent the illegal video camera recording of movies currently shown in theaters.
• The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10175) covers all other online anomalies such as identity theft, child pornography,
data misuse, cybersquatting, and other computer-related and internet-facilitated practices.
• Anti-obscenity law – Article 201 RPC, covers immoral doctrines, obscene publications or exhibitions and indecent shows; glorifies criminals,
promotes violence, lust or pornography, offends race or religion, promotes use of prohibited drugs, encourages unlawful acts
• Sedition – subversive acts such as rebellion and insurrection – endangers security, safety and stability of the state (Bill of Rights – right to
freedom of speech, right to organize)
• Contempt of court – disobedience to direct orders of the court, opposing its authority, justice, and dignity
• Intellectual property: The output of intellectual pursuit: literary works, art, inventions, logos, symbols, signs, names and images, often used
commercially. It is the blanket term which covers different forms of intellectual property rights or IPR
• © is the symbol for copyright, ® for Trademark
• Patent: exclusive rights for an invention
• Trademark: signs associated with a brand of goods or services
• Ethical Use of Information
• Citation. This is used to inform readers that certain texts or ideas came from another source.
• Plagiarism. A person is charged with plagiarism if he/she uses someone’s work and ideas without observing proper citation.
• Copyright. This protects the owner, who can either be the author or the publisher of printed materials, of his exclusive rights for the use and
distribution of an original work. The duration of the copyright covers the author’s lifetime plus 50 years after his death. Copyright: protected
material cannot be reproduced without permission (except in FAIR USE cases). In the Philippines, permission to use copyrighted works may be
obtained from the National Library
• Intellectual Property (IP). Inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and symbols, and names and images used in commerce are governed
by IP. Through IP, a person is credited as the rightful and original owner of his work.
• Public domain and fair use. Once the duration of the copyright ceases, the work becomes available for public domain. However, proper citation
should still be credited to the rightful owner. Fair use, on the other hand, refers to the limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by
copyright law of a creative work. This means that when a copyrighted material is used for certain circumstances, such as quoted verbatim for
purposes namely criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, there is no need for the researcher to ask permission or pay the copyright
owner for its use.
• Media advocates and communication rights activists believe that creative work should be free. They created the Free and Open Source
Software movement (FOSS) and Creative Commons Licensing.
• Copyleft: the right to freely use, modify, copy and share software, works of art, etc. on the condition that the same rights be granted to
subsequent users or owners.
• Fair Use Doctrine: No need to secure permission from copyright owner if: you are copying material for review, commentary, critic or parody
(humorous ridicule of another work); using some lines from a song in a book; using the material for nonprofit and/or educational purpose; the
material is completely transformed from original, or used for a different purpose and audience
• Netiquette: InterNET + ETIQUETTE; Etiquette: proper decorum or conventions of behavior; Proper conduct and behavior while using the
internet
• Digital Divide: refers to the socioeconomic and educational disparity or inequalities which bar some people from accessing the internet; gap on
accessibility of information in different countries. In the Philippines, main issues include slow connection speeds and limited public access
• Virtual self: Our online representation in the virtual world; commonly through the use of avatars, e.g. in MMOs (massively multiplayer online
games); Emoticons or emojis are also used to express emotions and ideas virtually
• Censorship - suppressing material that is considered morally, politically or otherwise objectionable
• Online dangers
a. Cyber addiction: losing control over your behavior and becoming self-destructive, to the point it affects other aspects of your life
b. Cyberbullying: ridiculing or hurting someone online through offensive or derogatory remarks and gossiping, among others
c. Hacking: white hat and black hat; to break into a server/website/etc. to steal or damage data
d. Scamming, Identity Theft/Fakers (Posers),
e. Cybercrimes: leaks, invasions of privacy, ransomware, scamming
f. Piracy: unauthorized distribution and reproduction of copyrighted material
g. Flaming: to send angry, critical or disparaging messages in the internet
h. Phishing: a form of hacking wherein a legitimate website is spoofed in the attempt to collect private data such as credit card information
i. Trolling: to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board.

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