CONCEPTS OF MEDIA AND
INFORMATION LITERACY
● Media is everywhere and continues
to dominate people’s lives around
the world.
● Along with the constant reliance on
social media comes the risk of
misinformation, fake news, and
disinformation.
MEDIA LITERACY- The ability to access,
analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all
forms of communication.
Information literacy is the ability to find,
evaluate, organize, use, and communicate
information in all its various formats, most
notably in situations requiring decision
making, problem solving, or the acquisition
of knowledge.
Technological literacy (Technology
Literacy) is the ability to use, manage,
understand, and assess technology.
IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA LITERACY
It encourages critical thinking.
With critical thinking, you are able to discern
whether each information that you see
makes sense, why some information hasn’t
been included, and what each idea
contains. You not only get to formulate your
own ideas using the information you’ve
acquired, but also cite these ideas as
examples to support your opinions.
It encourages you to share other
sources of media responsibly.
Having the freedom of liking, commenting,
and sharing posts online also comes at a
great risk. Knowing the impact of each
information that can be produced online
also means you are responsible for
whatever information you choose to convey
with other people, and if done wrong, false
information can spread fast. There might be
a possibility that the post you’re sharing
might either cover just one side of the story.
Or another post might actually offend your
friends, for instance.
It informs readers how the media affect
our culture.
From the billboards to the texts and the
videos that we see around us, media tend to
promote our culture in various ways. Fairy
tales and history around the world, for
example, are preserved through books, oral
tradition, and other forms of media. Films
and TV shows tend to reflect and shape
their viewers’ consciousness as well.
According to the UP College of Mass
Communication, movies are not only mere
sources of entertainment but are also
powerful forces that can shape the
consciousness of a nation. And one gets to
view or listen to music online – an art form
that also tends to reflect the culture it
originated from.
It helps you determine and identify
communication and marketing ploys.
Surely you’ve seen motivational quotes
online that sound so relatable that chances
are you’ve liked and shared it to your
Facebook at a first glance. Or you’ve
probably seen contests featuring your
friends on Facebook that ask for your likes
and shares. And how about those
infographics that tell you to save money?
Sure, these graphics look appealing at a
glance, but did you know that these are
business techniques that sites use to appeal
to your emotions so they can sell you
products? It’s also how advertising works in
order to gain attention.
It teaches you how to not be swayed by
persuasion techniques.
Each story and information that you see
everywhere you go has a side, but being
familiar with only one side gives you a
smaller view of an issue at hand. Knowing
both sides of the story will not only keep you
neutral in issues but will also help you stay
aware of texts or images that are meant to
deceive its readers into picking sides, such
as fake news or propaganda messages.
It encourages you to actively participate
in public affairs as a citizen.
Media involves getting to know what’s
happening in current affairs. Having a voice
in social media alone gives you the ability to
actively engage in public conversations,
where positive and negative reactions in
social media tend to affect the collective
opinions of other people regarding a certain
issue. If done correctly, sending out a voice
or starting a movement through social
media can also make an impact in
government affairs or make a similar
change in the world.
In turn, it teaches you how to create your
own content.
In reality, each Facebook status or tweet
that we compose is already a form of media.
You, in turn, are creating a piece of
information that you’re willing to share, and
each post that you share on social media
contains information that you are
responsible for.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIA
LITERATE
1. Literate individuals demonstrate
independence with text. They can,
independently, with little guidance from
teachers and peers, comprehend varied,
complex print and digital texts,
communicate and build on others' ideas,
and understand and apply academic and
discipline-specific vocabulary and
conventions of English. They know how to
use strategies and employ them when
necessary to comprehend texts and apply
literacy knowledge and skills.
2. Literate individuals build strong
content knowledge. They acquire and
share
knowledge of subject matter through
reading, writing, and speaking as well as
research and study. They read and
understand discipline-specific texts and
become experts in the content.
3. Literate individuals respond to varying
demands of audience, task, purpose,
and discipline. They set and adjust their
communication in relation to audience,
task, purpose, and discipline. They
understand how words affect meaning in
writing and in speech, depending on the
audience and the purpose, and how
different disciplines call for providing
different types of evidence.
4. Literate individuals comprehend as
well as critique. They understand and can
explain what writers, speakers, and visual
and mixed media creators are saying
through their texts, but they also know how
to analyze and examine these texts
critically. They question an author's
assumptions and biases and evaluate the
veracity and logical reasoning of the claims.
5. Literate individuals value evidence.
They can cite evidence to support their
interpretation of text, both verbally and in
writing. They also communicate their
reasoning effectively and know how to
evaluate the reasoning and arguments of
others.
6. Literate individuals use technology
and digital media strategically and
capably. They employ technology
thoughtfully and effectively and can
determine which media are best suited for
their communication goals. They also
synthesize information found through
various media and technologies.
7. Literate individuals come to
understand other perspectives and
cultures. They encounter perspectives and
ways of life that are different from their own
through reading, writing, and listening, and
they are able to work and communicate
effectively with peers of diverse
backgrounds. Through reading multicultural
literature, they have new experiences that
expand their cultural understanding and
sensitivity.
FIVE KEY QUESTIONS OF MEDIA
LITERACY
The Five Key Questions flow from the Five
Core Concepts which have evolved from
traditional categories of rhetorical and
literary analysis. We can crystallize them
with the following keywords:
1. Authorship
2. Format
3. Audience
4. Content
5. Purpose
Here are the five key questions of media
literacy:
1. Who created this message?
2. What creative techniques are used to
attract my attention?
3. How might different people understand
this message differently than me?
4. What values, lifestyles and points of view
are represented in, or omitted from, this
message?
5. Why is this message being sent?
Who created this message?
To explore the idea of ‘authorship’ in media
literacy is to look deeper than just knowing
whose name is on the cover of a book or all
the jobs in the credits of a movie. Key
Question #1 opens up two fundamental
insights about all media – “constructedness”
and choice.
What creative techniques are used to
attract my attention?
The second Key Question explores the
‘format’ of a media message and examines
the way a message is constructed, the
creative components that are used in
putting it together – words, music, color,
movement, camera angle and many more.
The goal of Key Question #2 is to help
students build an internal checklist that they
can apply to any media message anytime.
How might different people understand
this message differently than me?
How do audiences interact with the media in
their lives? Our bodies may not be moving
but in our heads, we’re constantly trying to
connect what we’re hearing, seeing or
reading with everything else we know. Key
Question / Core Concept #3 incorporates
two important ideas: first, that our
differences influence our various
interpretations of media messages and
second, that our similarities create common
understandings.
What values, lifestyles and points of
view are represented in, or omitted from,
this message?
In looking at the content of a media
message, it is important to understand that
there is no value-free media and never will
be. All media carry subtle messages about
who and what is important.
Why is this message being sent?
With Key Question #5, we look at the motive
or purpose of a media message – and
whether or how a message may have been
influenced by money, ego or ideology. To
respond to a message appropriately, we
need to be able to see beyond the basic
content motives of informing, persuading or
entertaining.
ROLES OF MEDIA
● Media and other information
providers play a central role in
information and communication
processes
● Media can mesh with a variety of
non-media information providers,
such as libraries, museums,
archives, Internet information
providers, other information
organizations and citizens who
produce their own content.
IBON FOUNDATION- Research -
education - information and advocacy
organization committed to serve the
marginalized sectors.
HARIBON FOUNDATION- Committed to
nature conservation through community
empowerment, and scientific excellence.
● Act as channels of information and
knowledge through which citizens
communicate with each other and
make informed decisions.
● Facilitate informed debates between
diverse social actors.
● Provide us with much of what we
learn about the world beyond our
immediate experience.
● Are means by which a society learns
about itself and builds a sense of
community
● Function as a watchdog of
government in all its forms,
promoting transparency in public life
and public scrutiny of those with
power through exposing corruption,
maladministration and corporate
wrongdoing.
● Are essential facilitators of
democratic processes and one of
the guarantors of free and fair
elections.
● Are a vehicle for cultural expression
and cultural cohesion within and
between nations.
● Function as an advocate and social
actor in its own right while respecting
pluralistic values.
TYPES OF MEDIA
Print Media - are traditional mass media
published on paper. The oldest media forms
are newspapers, magazines, journals,
newsletters, and other printed material.
These publications are collectively known
as the Print Media.
Broadcast Media- describes all media that
is broadcast. That means that it is
transmitted as a signal and in 99% of cases
this is referring either to television or to
radio.
New media - These are forms of media that
are computational and rely on computers for
redistribution. Some examples of new
media are computer animations, computer
games, human-computer interfaces,
interactive computer installations, websites,
and virtual worlds.
EVOLUTION OF MEDIA
PREHISTORIC AGE- Prehistoric refers to
the time before the existence of written or
recorded history.
● As prehistoric men learned how to
sharpen their tools and use them for
hunting, they also acquired the
knowledge on how to use these
materials in carving stones.
● Prehistoric Art is considered
as the earliest form of
Traditional Media.
2 KINDS OF ROCK ART:
PETROGLYPHS - Can be carvings or
engravings in rocks or caves using stone
chisel and hammerstone.
PICTOGRAPHS- Represent words or
phrases through symbols painted onto the
surface.
MEGALITHIC ART- To honor gods/
religious.
INDUSTRIAL AGE- Began in the 18th
century in Great Britain when the country
made drastic reforms to improve their
economy.
● In a lot of ways, the Industrial Age
has improved the people’s way of
living, especially in transportation.
● When the steam press was
invented, the printing of materials
like newspapers became much
faster, cheaper and easier.
ELECTRONIC AGE- Electronic refers to an
object that has electronic components, such
as sensors, microchips, which functions
once it is connected to an electrical outlet.
INFORMATION AGE- The Information Age
has upgraded what it can offer to
consumers in terms of gadgets and devices.
MEDIA CODES AND CONVENTIONS
Media Codes and Conventions are like the
building blocks of all the media around us.
Media codes generally have an agreed
meaning, or connotation, to their audience.
There are three types of media codes,
symbolic codes, technical codes and written
codes. Conventions are expected ways in
which codes are organized in a product.
Symbolic Codes
Symbolic codes are social in nature. What
this means is that these codes live outside
the media product themselves, but would be
understood in similar ways in the ‘real
life of the audience.
● Setting is the time and place of the
narrative. When discussing setting,
you can describe the setting of the
whole story or just a specific scene.
● Mise en scene is a French term that
means ‘everything within the frame’.
In media terms it has come to mean
the description of all the objects
within a frame of the media product
and how they have been arranged.
An analysis of mise en scene
includes:
- Set Design
- Costume
- Props
- Staging and Composition
● Actors portray characters in media
products and contribute to character
development, creating tension or
advancing the narrative. The actor
portrays a character through:
- Facial expression
- Body Language
- Vocal qualities
- Movement
- Body contact
● Color has highly cultural and strong
connotations. When studying the
use of color in a media product the
different aspects to be looking at
are:
- Dominant color
- Contrasting foils
- Color symbolism
Technical Codes
Technical codes are codes that are specific
to a media form and do not live outside of
them.