Mil CM 8

MEDIA AND
INFORMATION
LITERACY
COURSE MATERIAL #9
1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 1

WHAT WILL
YOU LEARN?
This module has been

designed to help you:
• analyze
opportunities and
examine possible
threats in media
and information;
• identify and
distinguish the
advantages and
disadvantages of
the Internet; and
• produce a
creative
visualization of
the power of
media and
information to
affect change.
OPPORTUNITIES
AND CHALLENGES
IN MEDIA AND
INFORMATION

WHAT’S INSIDE
THIS
MODULE?
▪ Opportunities in Media
and Information
Economic, Social,
Educational, and Political
Opportunities
▪ Challenges in Media and
Information
Threats, Risks, Abuse, and
Misuse

FOCUS
QUESTIONS
❖ What are the

opportunities in media
Opportunities
and information and
how do we make the
most of them? and Challenges
❖ What are the
challenges in media
and information and
how do we overcome
in Media and
them?
❖ How powerful are

Information
media and information
in effecting change?
The two previous CMs introduced you to some of the terms
you may have encountered somewhere, sometime ago, terms
such as copyright, fair use, the public domain, and the
umbrella term intellectual property, terms you may not
really have a good understanding of about how they work
and how it directly affects you as a consumer of information.
We have also discussed the different kinds of plagiarism and
how grave the consequences can get for a person who
commits that affront to intellectual honesty and integrity.
And just after your Midterm Exams, you have been oriented
about the different conventions of netiquette and some
situations that are present in the digital world that you may
have heard of and experienced, such as the concept of a
digital divide, as well as internet addiction and
cyberbullying.
As highly emphasized throughout this course, gaining access

to information and using the different kinds of media that
convey such information is a powerful attribute of an
information literate person, student or professional alike. But
what exactly are the different opportunities we can get with
the use of media and information, and what could be the
challenges that we can also face with such usage?
You are now going to encounter the economic, educational,

social, and political opportunities, as well as the various
threats, risks, abuse, and misuse of Media and Information.
Let’s get started.
KEY POINT
Economic Access to information and proper

usage of media has opened and is
continuing to open countless
Opportunities opportunities in the field of

business and economics, education,
society, and politics.
Filipinos are born shoppers. We shop for things that we

need and things that we simply want. We are hardline
veterans of the terms “meet-up”, “reserve”, “pre-order”,
and the now-phenomenal catchphrase “PM
(personal/private message) is the key!”. From engaging
with Chinese merchants at what is now called Divisoria in
Binondo, Manila, to the bustling palatial department stores
the Americans introduced at Escolta, the former business
district of the country (names such as the Crystal Palace,
Heacock’s, and La Puerta del Sol should be familiar to your
grandparents), to the construction of large-scale shopping
malls such as Harrison Plaza and Ali Mall, to the dream of
providing goods and services at the convenience of just one
location that Henry “Tatang” Sy, Sr. has envisioned for
Filipinos, we have come very far.
And then there’s the concept of e-commerce. Since the

2000s, websites such as eBay Philippines, Sulit (which had a
twister of a history: renaming as OLX Philippines, buying
its competitor website, AyosDito.PH, then itself being
bought by Singaporean company Carousell), and Multiply
have dominated the way we shop, emphasizing on used
items (pre-loved, as we commonly refer to them). Charging
into the 2010s, two e-commerce giants dominated the scene:
Shopee and Lazada.
The internet has given broader opportunities for people to

transact with other people in exchange of various goods
and services, in terms of supply chain solutions, order
tracing, payment schemes, and refunds and
returns/exchanges. Who would have thought that instead
of going to the mall and painstakingly looking for that one
item you want, you can just browse it on your phone or
tablet PC and have it shipped to you, even choose the way
to pay for it?
Such e-commerce platforms have also enabled MSMEs (or

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) to step up their game
in selling products that they created themselves and to
endorse local commerce to sustain the national economy.
In terms of handling our money, banks have now resorted to

online banking for their clients to monitor their money at the
tap of the touchscreen. Virtual money platforms such as
PayMaya (formerly known as Smart Money, powered by
Smart Telecommunications), and GCash (powered by Globe
Telecom) have also made it possible for people to shop
without a physical credit card, and do more things such as pay
bills for certain utilities like electricity, water, and internet,
remit money to their relatives from far-flung areas, as well as
to make donations for charitable causes, such as the Philippine
Red Cross and UNICEF.
In all these examples, the trend has been towards a more

digital and contactless economy, especially in view of the
pandemic. However, it also begs the question: what do we
gain in the process, and what do we lose in exchange for it?
What are the advantages and

disadvantages of shopping for
your items through e-commerce
platforms?

LEARNING ACTIVITY
Creep through Crypto
Alongside the concept of virtual money platforms, another
economic opportunity that people have found with the use of
technology is cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a method of
acquiring money through the control, purchase, selling, and
exchange of transaction records (the usage of cryptography)
without the intervention of a central authority (such as a
bank). The word bitcoin must ring a bell to you and even
entice you to get into the trade.
Your objective is to fill the concept map with the necessary

information under each bracket. You may also be required to
explain each item you provide.
Advantages/Benefits Disadvantages/Dangers
- -
- -
- -
Cryptocurrency
Vital Terms to Remember Legalities

- -
- -
- -
If you’re going to use resources from the internet, NEVER

FORGET to cite your references!

KEY POINT
Access to media and information
has drastically changed the way
students and the rest of the
Educational
reading public acquire
information for academic as well
as professional and personal
Opportunities
purposes.
Let’s run a “self-diagnostic test” for now, shall we?
Check if you have the following mobile applications on your

mobile device (e.g. smartphone, and/or tablet PC; laptops and
PCs not included):
a.) a dictionary app (e.g. Merriam-Webster, Oxford English
Dictionary)
b.) an encyclopedia app (i.e. Wikipedia)
c.) a word-processing software app (e.g. MS Office, WPS
Office, Google Docs/Sheets/Slides), and
d.) an “assistant” app (i.e. mobile guide on mathematical
formulae, thesaurus, business/financial calculator, etc.)
If you have all four kinds of applications on your gadget,

chances are, you have been using it in a highly academic
nature. If you’re going to look back at how you studied your
lessons a decade ago, how your siblings managed to study
two decades ago, and how your parents studied generations
ago, technology has played a large role in the growth and
development of educational platforms.
The 1980s was considered the decade of the boom of

computers in the household set-up. In the United States alone,
thousands of vocational training institutions offered computer
orientation courses to replace the conventional typewriting
sessions they offer people (particularly women) in hopes of
having a technical diploma to be used to apply for a
secretarial/front desk job. Millions of curious Americans
jumped into the computer craze and learned how to operate
the bulky machines that were far from what we have right
now. Clicking the mouse was highly cumbersome, the
computer screen (or the monitor) was limited to 8 colors at
best, and talking about the memory capacity that their CPUs
used to contain, let’s just say that they were already the
happiest tech-savvy users in the world with the 256 kilobytes
of data they possess. Some of us aren’t even satisfied with our

1 terabyte external hard drives where we store our libraries
of K-dramas and Netflix original series “straight outta
torrents”.
If we are to go back on our lesson regarding the digital

divide, this was seen by many as a sign of the irreversible
transition of the usage of computers as a military-exclusive
application (the Internet, too) to a household staple. It is safe
to say back then that “a house is not a home” if it doesn’t
have a computer unit, like the Apple II, a Commodore
Amiga, or the Atari ST, let alone a gaming console (which
was also converted to information processing units as well).
In the context of children, television networks such as the

American Broadcasting Companies (ABC) launched
countless information drives during their respective
Saturday morning cartoon timeslots to brief children on
what a “computer” is, what it can do for them, how to use
them, and most of all, how to take care of them. As
schoolteachers didn’t even have a definite idea of computers
during that time, it was on another form of traditional
media, television, where they were introduced to the people
who are expected to use them more in the future.
Check out these two commercial break time fillers from
ABC. The first video (from 1984) talks about the various
input devices of computers; the other video (from 1985)
discusses some of the daily real life applications of
computers.
Jumping to the 1990s and the early to mid-2000s, we

managed to drop the encyclopedias and resorted to
computer programs, such as Microsoft Encarta, which is the
most famous multimedia reference in terms of brand
recognition and sales, until they started charging fees to get
into more exclusive content. Because of this, open-source
Wikipedia became the recognized name in free references.
While Encarta came from credible references such as the
former Grolier’s, Funk and Wagnalls, and Compton’s
Encyclopedias, Wikipedia’s content come from different
people, and can be unsuspectingly edited by technically
anyone.
This feature of a wiki (from the native Hawaiian word

meaning “quick”, as in “quick editing”) is seen as its
Achilles heel. Unless the wiki article regarding Ferdinand
Marcos is “locked” (meaning, can no longer be edited unless
you are a registered member of the site), anyone can edit the

article and write there that he had a clean human rights record
in his 21-year rule as dictator in the Philippines (which we all
know wasn’t the case). This same gripe of wikis being easily
edited by the unsuspecting user of the internet is one of the
greatest reasons why experts in the academe, such as
teachers/professors, do not recommend the use of such online
references.
Granted, however, Wikipedia still has its uses. Let us now

examine how to properly use the fifth most visited website on
the internet for your next essay, article, or even research paper.
Most articles on Wikipedia, especially the locked articles, have
an extensive list of References. Below is a screenshot of the
Reference list on the Wikipedia article regarding Information
and media literacy”. Observe that most of the references used
to build the article can be accessed on its own, so you can
investigate the reference further, and even verify if the content
of the original article is exactly the same as the one you’ve read
on Wikipedia.
In-text article citations, on the other hand, are also used to note
which specific reference was used for the statement on the
Wikipedia article. Take the origin of the name Japan as an
example; the screenshot below shows that the reference for the
name Nippon/Nihon came from a certain Reference 8.
Is using wikis, like Wikipedia,

for your assignments a bad
thing in itself?

When you hover your mouse cursor on the hyperlink with the
number “8” on it, it will show the specific reference where the fact
came from, like so…
Click on the same hyperlink mentioned earlier, and it will direct you
to the article’s References section, and lead you straight to the link to
the original source, as well as show you the other references used to
build the content of the article.
Observe that the reference number you clicked/tapped is

highlighted, to avoid confusion with the plethora of resources used.
Take note: NEVER cite Wikipedia (https://www.en.wikipedia.org)
ON ITS OWN. It is like choosing a secondary source when you can
get the information straight from the horse’s mouth (primary
source). Do not shortchange yourself.
Those articles which do not have references and those whose content
is not detailed and abundant enough to supply the readers with
proper information (called by Wikipedia as a “stub”) are to be
avoided for the obvious lack of credibility behind the content.

LEARNING ACTIVITY
Mr. Wiki
With the Wiki pro tips above, you will be asked to search for
specific information regarding different topics on Wikipedia. Your
objective is to provide such needed information through the
References (and even External Links) that it contains. An
example is provided for you to follow.
Wikipedia Question Answer Reference

Article
X. Breakfast What was present in The Reference 17
cereal every box of Kellogg’s signature Horace B.
breakfast cereal sold, of William Powell, The
specifically his patented Kellogg Original Has
“corn flakes”? This
Signature –
W. K. Kellogg
(1956)
1. Luther Did Vandross get
Vandross married? Did he have
any children to carry on
his legacy as one of the
most revered RnB
singers of all time?
2. Lenovo How did this Chinese
computer and
telecommunications
giant get their name?
3. Jovito What award,
Salonga considered as the Nobel
Prize of Asia, did
Senator Salonga
receive in 2007?
4. Folgers Who owned this
renowned coffee brand
from 1963 to 2009?
And what did they do to
the brand name?
5. N95 mask According to the
American Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention, what are
the different viruses
that the N95 mask can
essentially stop?

KEY POINT
Social and The way we perceive society

has been heavily influenced with
the way media is used and how
Political information is passed around in

certain social circles.
Opportunities
Have you actually wondered how we have managed to perceive
the society we belong to? As you may recall in a previous CM,
perception is one of the four Media Effects. Those who control
media and the information they project using those media have
the power to choose what to show the people and what to cover
up. This is one of the reasons you are undertaking this course as
a 21st century learner: as you belong to the generation where you
were technically born with a gadget beside you, you hold more
power to discern which is true and what is not with what you
see and hear. And you are expected to uphold the best judgment
when it comes to these things, more than anyone else in the
world.
So how exactly does the media control our respective

perceptions of the society we revolve in? One opportunity that
society can find using media and information is through the
assumptions and conclusions they make using surveys. Surveys
are the quickest way to collect data for a particular topic
involving large groups of people. Those who get picked to
participate in surveys assume the responsibility of representing
the sector they belong to (because it will take a lot of time to ask
for answers from all the people in that sector). You survey three
construction workers from a particular construction site
regarding minimum wage increase. Whatever these three
workers will give as their answers is automatically assumed as
the general opinion of the construction sector (the blue-collar
members of that sector, at least). Surveys are fast, and easy to Said the news anchor to the
do, but this is where the problem lies. Surveys help us develop a viewers at home, “Do you see what
I see?” or “
sense of hasty generalizations on groups of people regarding a
“How control of information can
particular opinion. A good example of this situation is with work”
consumer surveys.
SOURCE:
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/92605336
Suppose you are conducting a test on two prominent, branded 058224870/

dishwashing liquids, Brand A and Brand Z. There were ten
mothers who tried washing a certain dish with both liquid
brands, and eight of them concluded that Brand A is better
than Brand Z. The advertising company then posts this
“result” on television the next day. For the uneducated,
untrained masses who only base their choices on what they
perceive on media, they will automatically assume that Brand
Z is an inferior brand compared to Brand A, even if Brand Z is
cheaper and more environmental-friendly, which can be used
as other considerations consumers can hold on to when
choosing a good product. Similar situations have been used by
companies to advertise their products, the most famous of
which was conducted by Pepsi who, through the years, have
long struggled to topple the king of soft drink beverages: you
know, the one in red with the cursive script logo, and the
curvaceous bottle design?
Other ways that media and information is used in changing

our perceptions of society is through entertainment. The way
people perceive entertainment has profound effects on the
people they see on TV, hear over the radio, and enjoy over the
internet (Neale, 2014). Remember how Miley Cyrus went
through a series of personality changes, now going down in
music history as the “Bangerz Era” (derived from the name of
her fourth album, which was a self-declaration of breaking
free from her bubblegum pop days) upon getting engaged
with Liam Hemsworth? The actress who once portrayed a
larger-than-life rock star figure had managed to show some
skin and express herself some more, albeit a bit over the edge
and shocking for children and parents who looked up to her
as a role model, particularly females who wanted the best of
both worlds, only for those perceptions to be met with a
wrecking ball.
The general opinion of Filipinos perceiving K-pop as an

emerging music genre for the current generation has largely
been influenced by media exposure and internet reach. When
the songs “Sorry Sorry” from Super Junior, and “Nobody”
from Wonder Girls hit the Philippine radio scene in 2007 and
2008, and of course the motherlode 2NE1, everyone went
wondering why these tracks are so catchy and beautiful that
fans started to get caught in the “Korean Wave”(or Hallyu, in
the Korean vocabulary), going to the extent of exploring the
craze behind K-dramas, K-food (samgyupsal after this session,
anyone?), and the visa-free trips to the Land of the Morning
Calm itself. (Just don’t try jumping across the DMZ, please.
You have been warned.)
The rise of YouTube as a personal entertainment platform has
also brought a lot of opportunities for the ordinary person to
showcase their knowledge, competence, and talent. The
popularity of YouTube “influencers” (properly termed as
“content creators”) such as PewDiePie have inspired other
people to unleash their creativity and show viewers across the
world what they can offer, not to mention getting paid by
showing off. The Filipinos, being the ever-innovative people
that we are, have the likes of YouTube sensations Mimiyuuuh,
CongTV, as well as the official channels of the well-applauded
FlipTop Rap Battle League, and the Zumba-oriented interest
group LiveLoveParty.TV (your titas will love this!).
In the political scene, the usage of various outlets of media, as

well as the dissemination of information, has been hotly
debated. Long before the age of social media in the 2000s,
using the triad of traditional media has long been influential in
dictating the course of the nation. During the 1986 EDSA
Revolution, the power of the radio was proven far and wide
when the Archbishop of Manila at that time, the late Jaime
Cardinal Sin, addressed the nation via the only radio station
active at that time, Radio Veritas, to “support our two good
friends”, pertaining to supporting and protecting the two top
government officials of the Marcos dictatorship, Defense
Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, and AFP Chief of Staff General
(and later President) Fidel V. Ramos, who defected to the
opposition, led by Corazon “Cory” Aquino. The fact that Radio
Veritas was the only radio station functioning during the
dictatorship proved as well that the power of the media knows
no political affiliation; Radio Veritas is owned and controlled
by the Roman Catholic Church under the Archdiocese of
Manila, hence being technically immune from the government
interventions and sanctions during the Martial Law era.
The opportunities that the media possess in introducing

names, old and new, for political gains have long been proven
as well. From the catchy jingle that your grandparents
mambo’ed into when President Magsaysay was campaigning
for President in the 1950s, to the jingles of Makati Mayor
Jejomar Binay as a Vice-Presidential candidate, and a
presidentiable and Former Senator Manny Villar that have
made it to Filipino pop culture. (Seriously though, would
anyone really try swimming in a dagat ng basura?) Who are the different YouTube
“influencers” that you follow?
And now, we go to social media. Who can deny the power that And what are their influences to
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube had in endorsing you so far?

the candidates for President in 2016? The eventual winner,
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Tatay Digong” Duterte, owes
social media for his phenomenal victory, as reflected in the
amount of popularity, or notoriety, he holds as Mayor of
Mindanao’s central area. Social media, on the other hand, has
also been used by the President himself to fuel his campaign
for the drug war that he promised in his presidential
platforms, as well as targeting his critics, and members of the
opposition. Speaking of opposition, it’s also on social media
where the mudslinging and name-calling started between the
staunch supporters of President Duterte, the Diehard Duterte
Supporters (DDS), and the opposition, derogatively termed as
“Dilawan” (after the campaign colors used by the previous
administration of former President Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III).
And during the 2019 general elections, social media was used
voraciously to campaign for the next batch of Senators.
Alongside the catchy TV jingles such as that of Senator Bong
Revilla which is laced with budots (a techno-ish local genre
famous in the provinces), the one from San Juan Mayor JV
Ejercito, which proclaims himself of being the “good one”
over his controversial half-brother Jinggoy Estrada, the
Blackpink-esque flair of Senator Bam Aquino, and the Noel
Cabangon-penned ad of human rights lawyer Chel Diokno,
the internet, especially Facebook, was essentially free estate
for the supporters of the two dominant senatorial blocs at the
time, the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (Faction of Change), and Otso
Diretso (Straight Eight).
Google Philippines released a list of the most searched terms

on the search engine for the year 2019, and under News, the
year’s general elections dominated (marked as Halalan 2019).
Certain political candidates, such as Manila Vice Mayor and
mayoral candidate Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, and
Pasig City Vice Mayor and mayoral candidate Victor Maria
Regis “Vico” Sotto were also looked upon by the curious lot
of Filipinos for one reason: they were considered by the
masses as “giant killers”, effectively toppling political
Curiosity may kill the cat, but it surely dynasties with their victories. Talk about being popular in the
wakes up the information-hungry dog most literal sense.
within all of us!
SOURCE: Point is, media is undeniably a very powerful tool to create
https://pinoytechsaga.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-
google-searches-ph-2019.html dozens of opportunities in every sector. However, there are
also certain caveats, as we will discover in the next section.

LEARNING ACTIVITY
Let’s Snoop
For this exercise, you are going to snoop on your chosen
public figure (celebrity, politician, philanthropist, etc.). Check all
social media accounts that they have (Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, YouTube, even their own blogs) and answer the
following questions:
1. How do they present themselves through social media?

2. How do they use this social media presence to forward
their own agenda, platform, or causes (tourism, etc.)?
3. Do you agree or disagree with this kind of social media
usage? Justify your answer.
Great! We’re not paparazzis but it’s still good to know.

KEY POINT
With the usage of traditional and

digital media being the norm in
Threats and
the 21st century, people with
criminal intentions have also
sought opportunities to act for
Risks of Media
their personal gain.
and Information
Back in the days, deceiving someone to the extent of getting
all of their money and prized possessions took a little bit of
belief in mysticism. Surely, most of us have heard about the
modus operandi of the “budol-budol” gang (probably named
after the bastardized pronunciation of the word “boodle”, a
slang word for anything fake; or the word “bundle”). The
criminals will act and talk very amiably to their potential
victims, particularly senior citizens living in well-off
residential areas, in an effort to talk them into their real
intention of getting their possessions in exchange of
something of the same value. When the trade-off commences,
the criminals will leave bags of what is supposed to be
money, but upon inspection, are actually “boodles” of
counterfeit money. Some would even report that they would
receive bundles of pad paper, with a fake bill on top, to make
it look real.
Fast forward to the Digital Age, a new kind of budol-budol has

surfaced, and this time, it takes form of emails coming from
legitimate organizations, but in reality, it leads you to the site
of the criminal itself. This is known in contemporary parlance
as phishing (a bastardized spelling of the word “fishing”, as
in “fishing for information”). Phishing, especially during
crucial times when money is highly needed (such as the
COVID-19 pandemic) have led to criminals taking to instant
messaging platforms such as Viber, Telegram, and Facebook
Messenger to create fake accounts disguising as the official
account of a financial institution and asking non-suspecting
people about their credit card information and bank
statements.
Phishing is one of the many threats that people face when

using the internet. Most people think that they are not prone
to such threats and risks because of the overconfidence they
bear regarding their security. If all users of the internet
have the same mentality, the concept of cybersecurity will
no longer be put into high regard (and we will not be
talking about this lesson at all).
Check the sample email on the right. Observe that with the
way the text of the email is written, the appearance of the
whole email looks dubious and unprofessional
(considering our lessons in your Reading and Writing
Skills, you are aware that there are only certain cases
where you can capitalize the first letter of words). Also,
observe the tone that is rather desperate about having
your information “verified” by mentioning that your bank
account is “locked” (even if you know to yourself that
nothing is wrong with it), and it is needed to be
“unlocked” by you “verifying” it, which, in reality, is a
gateway to have your personal information unknowingly.
If there’s an appropriate time to say that expression from SOURCE:
YouTube vloggers, this fraudulent email “issaprank!”. https://www.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/6frjux/
ingat_labasan_nanaman_ang_phishing_scams/
And oh, how do you spell the word “account”?
Other kinds of threats and risks you may encounter on the
internet include:
a. identity theft
When you tend to be an open book on the internet,
chances are, online predators will be on the prowl for
the next set of personal information, such as your
real name, address, latest whereabouts, your school,
or workplace, and anything else you will share to
those who constantly rain your posts with likes and
shares. Identity theft is one of the most fundamental
kinds of cybercrime, and one of the easiest to defeat,
provided the presence of mind.
b. exploitation
Anyone of us can be harassed over the internet and
coerced to do favors of an illegal nature. The
moment online predators realize that you can easily
be given orders for their own favor because you tend
to be an open book on the internet, then you will be
exploited. A good example of this is criminals
getting their hands on some nude photos hacked
from personal accounts (or at a lesser degree,
swimming photos from latest beach trips) which
they will post on pornographic sites and make profit
from.

One of the ways to thwart these risks is to remember your
basic rules of netiquette (which we have discussed in the
previous CM). Nothing is better than having your personal
information on the internet secured. Never give your
password to anyone, even if it means your closest and best
friends, your partner, or even your parents (as they will never
do the same to you with their credit card numbers just for you
to use it to splurge on that latest make-up kit, or that pair of
shoes). Also limit your social media activity; as much as
possible, do not expose to anyone your next travel
destination, your latest purchases, as well as posting your
IDs, certification, and even the name of your school, or
company, as online predators will find ways to acquire your
personal information for their personal gain; posting such
documents on social media makes it more convenient for
them and makes it more efficient as well.

LEARNING ACTIVITY
We Shall Overcome
Read the different social media risks listed in this article. Tick
off at least one of them and in three to five (3-5) sentences,
share how you have been able to thwart these risks. If you
haven’t experienced any of the mentioned risks, share one
threat that you experienced as a digital native and how you
have overcome that.

KEY POINT
Usage and exposure to media

and information may lead to
Abuse and
harmful consequences either to
the user or to the receiver if not
used properly or if used too
much.
Misuse of Media
and Information
Suppose you just graduated from your dream degree
program in college and you have been enticed by a relative of
yours in the Middle East, say Saudi Arabia, to work abroad to
gain extensive experience, not to mention a high-paying
salary. You saw a job posting for your dream job on Facebook
and you managed to get in touch with the recruitment officer.
The exchange of information was going smooth and you were
asked to pay a certain fee for your application to be
processed. Months later, your working visa to Saudi Arabia is
approved, and the tickets for your flight have been booked.
The hopes and dreams were about to come into fruition.
There is just one problem: as you landed in Saudi Arabia, the
job description you received in the Philippines does not
match with what you are now tasked to do in the new
country. Worse, the new “job” that you are asked to do is of
an obscene nature. Worst, you can’t get away from it, as your
employer has taken possession of your passport and other
credentials, hence you can’t ask for help.
That is an example of human trafficking, one of the

prevailing problems in the Philippines, a country who takes
pride on the fact that human capital is our greatest export,
with a history of the usage of skilled labor going back to the
American era (Mendoza, 2015). But this same pride we hold
in how we value our workers is being taken advantage of by
those who want to profit from the hard-earned money of
applicants who want to use their education and/or skills to be
productive and maintain a livelihood for their respective
families.
Aside from the issues of cyberbullying and internet addiction

that we have discussed in the previous CM, there are other
ways that the various types of media can be abused. Human

trafficking is one way of abusing the power of the internet
(especially social media). The intention is pure on the
outside (which is for prospect workers to score
employment), but deceptive and vile on the inside (to
make the applicant shell out money for placement fees and
be recruited by criminal organizations to do jobs far from
what was agreed upon during the recruitment process).
In another instance, media and information is abused

when the information is highly manipulated to distort the
belief of those who read it and even those who don’t. A
prominent example of this is an incident of entertainer-
turned-blogger-turned-Communications Executive-
turned-Deputy Administrator of the Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration (OWWA), Esther Margaux Uson,
famously known as Mocha. On her ever-notorious blog,
she posted an appeal for the Filipino nation to pray for the
soldiers embroiled in the Marawi Siege at the time. The
intentions were good, but there was one problem: the
photo that accompanied the appeal were not of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines, but a mere copy-paste of a photo
of soldiers from the Central American nation of
Honduras. She drew flak for this due to her lack of
research on the materials she uses for her blog, which she
proudly brags as “the voice of the ordinary Filipino”,
particularly the portion of the masses who support
President Duterte and in contrast to the prominent
traditional media outlets such as ABS-CBN, GMA, CNN
Philippines, and Rappler. How she handled the criticism
was also lambasted by legitimate media outlets when she
merely shrugged it off by saying that the usage of the
photo of Honduran soldiers were mere “symbolism”
(which, by the way, gave birth to a lot of internet memes).
But then again, the deception has been brought out, and it
was bought very well by those who saw the blog post.
Another way of how media has been misused (and

abused) is the manipulation of so-called “quotation
templates” that news outlets have been using on social
media platforms to highlight a certain item in a news
article. A prominent example is one of Vice President
Leonor “Leni” Robredo purporting a rather absurd piece
of [medical] advice on the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic. She “advised” the general public to “inhale any
potential mucus” so that the virus that causes COVID-19,
SARS-CoV2, will no longer spread and will just be
contained inside the body. This gave birth to the

expression “utak mo, may ubo/plema!” (“your brain is
flooded of phlegm”, used to derail someone in an
argument, and an alternative way to call someone a
dullard). Media outlets who prominently use quotation
templates in their social media posts, such as GMA
News, have discredited the aforementioned post, and
fact-checking authorities such as Vera Files affirmed that
it is fake news, peddled by the DDS (mentioned earlier)
who are not in favor of the Vice President due to
differing political principles with that of President
Duterte.
The problem of fake news is one of misuse of the

information we get from the various outlets of media we
are constantly exposed to. And as you go along with the
lessons in this course, it is highly up to you to discern
and discredit such fake news items and report those who
peddle them in your own special way as a student who
will be the one to build the next generation.
SOURCE:
https://r3.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-
check/254838-robredo-suggests-inhaling-cough-
back-prevent-coronavirus-spread

LEARNING ACTIVITY
Journey into Journo
Citizen journalism is considered to be an opportunity for
those who are adept with the usage of media and distribution
of information. Citizen movements such as ABSCBN’s Bayan
Mo, Ipatrol Mo (“Your Nation, Your Patrol”, originally an off-
shoot of Boto Mo, Ipatrol Mo, which is a vigilance program
conducted during elections), and GMA’s YouScoop encourage
netizens to share the latest events in their respective areas
without the necessity of calling in journalists and broadcast
teams to do the reporting for them. Through the years, we have
proven the effectiveness (and the dangers) of getting involved
with our society with the power of our presence of mind and
our smartphones: the concept of the ‘viral video’ is one of the
most lasting legacies that citizen journalism has introduced in
our lives as digital natives feeding on information coming from
various online sources.
For this activity, you are going to read an article regarding the
basic principles behind citizen journalism. Your objective is to
provide answers to the guide questions below.
1. What are the advantages of Citizen Journalism? Cite some

examples.
2. How does the Internet change the way news is reported?
3. Do media companies limit their stories to their journalists
only? Why/why not?
4. What are the issues of Citizen Journalism? What
mechanisms do they have to prove the accuracy of their
stories?
5. Do you think making ordinary citizens news reporters on
TV or online develops more awareness on news content
and mass media literacy?

LEARNING OUTPUT
Power to Media Literate People
You are now oriented about the different opportunities,

challenges, threats, and risks of using media and information;
also, you are aware of the various instances when media and
information may be abused and/or misused.
With what you have learned from the given topics, you will
now be asked to produce a creative visualization or an
essay regarding the power of media and information and our
role as responsible digital natives, as supported by the topics
you have just encountered.
The following criteria will be considered for grading:
For more articles on the

opportunities and challenges in As with the previous CMs, please post your outputs on your
media and information, you may blog.
click these links:
https://mycebu.ph/article/southern-cebu-tourism-
digital-boost/
https://news.abs-
cbn.com/business/09/18/15/inside-job-senior-
citizen-loses-p159000-unauthorized-online-
transfer
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/05/03/
human-trafficking-in-asia-going-online/
Practice makes for

proficiency!

What are the opportunities in media
and information and how do we make
the most of them?
Some opportunities in media and information include the
use of the internet for financial transactions, for tourism
and citizen journalism, and for widening the reach of
information dissemination. These opportunities can best
be used especially in making transactions and other day-
to-day processes easier and more convenient.
What are the challenges in media and

information and how do we overcome
them?
Some challenges include phishing, the dangers of
human trafficking, and of course widespread
disinformation. The best way to overcome these is to be
on guard with netiquette conventions and use the skills
learned in media and information literacy.
How powerful are media and

information in effecting change?
Media and information go a long way in effecting change
because a little knowledge amounts to a lot especially
when combined with action. Therefore, they must be Citizen journalism
wielded carefully and for the best causes.
Cryptocurrency
Human trafficking
Identity theft
Online banking
Phishing

References
Mendoza, D. R. (2015, June 16). Human Capital: The Philippines' Labor Export Model. Retrieved
from World Politics Review: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/15998/human-
capital-the-philippines-labor-export-model
Neale, C. (2014, October 1). Media's Influence to Society. Retrieved from Shout Out UK:
https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/10/01/medias-influence-society/
This Course Material is made possible through the collaboration of the

NU MOA Senior High School Faculty, AY 2020-2021.


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MEDIA AND

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 1

This module has been

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 2

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 3

❖ What are the

❖ How powerful are

As highly emphasized throughout this course, gaining access

You are now going to encounter the economic, educational,

Economic Access to information and proper

Opportunities opportunities in the field of

Filipinos are born shoppers. We shop for things that we

And then there’s the concept of e-commerce. Since the

The internet has given broader opportunities for people to

Such e-commerce platforms have also enabled MSMEs (or

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 5

In terms of handling our money, banks have now resorted to

In all these examples, the trend has been towards a more

What are the advantages and

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 6

Your objective is to fill the concept map with the necessary

Vital Terms to Remember Legalities

If you’re going to use resources from the internet, NEVER

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 7

Let’s run a “self-diagnostic test” for now, shall we?

Check if you have the following mobile applications on your

If you have all four kinds of applications on your gadget,

The 1980s was considered the decade of the boom of

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 8

If we are to go back on our lesson regarding the digital

In the context of children, television networks such as the

Jumping to the 1990s and the early to mid-2000s, we

This feature of a wiki (from the native Hawaiian word

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 10

Granted, however, Wikipedia still has its uses. Let us now

Is using wikis, like Wikipedia,

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 11

Observe that the reference number you clicked/tapped is

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 12

Wikipedia Question Answer Reference

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 13

Social and The way we perceive society

Political information is passed around in

So how exactly does the media control our respective

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 14

Other ways that media and information is used in changing

The general opinion of Filipinos perceiving K-pop as an

In the political scene, the usage of various outlets of media, as

The opportunities that the media possess in introducing

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 16

Google Philippines released a list of the most searched terms

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 17

1. How do they present themselves through social media?

Great! We’re not paparazzis but it’s still good to know.

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 18

With the usage of traditional and

Fast forward to the Digital Age, a new kind of budol-budol has

Phishing is one of the many threats that people face when

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 20

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 21

1st Term AY 2020-2021 Media and Information Literacy Page | 22

Usage and exposure to media

That is an example of human trafficking, one of the