LESSON 4: Approaches to the

Relationship Between Media

and Society
MEDIA AND SOCIAL CONTROL
The first approach is the mass society approach which sees society
as an integrated whole, with structures and institutions holding power
and authority and exercising control over society. The concept of
“mass” arose during the 19th century, along with the phenomenon of
industrialization and the creation of a working class. Personal,
traditional and communal ties within the family and community were
slowly being eroded and replaced with more individualistic and
impersonal connections.
 Media is seen as a powerful agent in establishing social control in
societies characterized by the dominance of industries, growing urban
centers, alienation of citizens from their social institutions, and lack of
strong citizen organization.
Media was owned by the elite classes, and it follows that it serves
the interests of its owners. It is seen to protect the interest of power
holders, and will not offer an alternative view or action that will
compromise the stability and security of the power wielders. The
public is a passive recipient and consumer of media content.
MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY
AS CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
LITERACY
Let us start with the word “literacy”. Literacy is widely known as the
ability to read and write. The advent of modernity and the expansion of
access to general education has enabled societies to produce literate
populations. Lately, there has been a stress on functional literacy to
emphasize the idea that reading and writing skills should enable an
individual to tackle the tasks that unfold in everyday life.
Literacy is always associated with a set of tangible skills, particularly the
skills of writing and reading. Its twin sister the concept of numeracy, which
is the skill associated with basic mathematical operations involving
numbers. Traditionally, literacy is seen as an aspect of human rights closely
Linked to the right to education.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) cites the importance of literacy in the modern world.
“Literacy is a fundamental human right and the
foundation for lifelong learning. It is fully essential to
social and human development in its ability to transform lives.
For individuals, families and societies alike, it is an instrument of
empowerment to improve one’s health, one’s
income, and one’s relationship with the world.” (UNESCO, 2003)
 The world “empowerment” is very significant in our appreciation of
how literacy provides us with means to access the world of know-
ledge, so we can lead better lives.
A WORKING DEFINITION OF MEDIA LITERACY
Throughout the years, educators have come out with various
definition of the term “media literacy.”

MEDIA LITERACY is most validly seen as a repertoire of skills and

capacities. The most common definition is “the ability to access,
analyze, and respond to a range of media. (Sargant, 2004, 28)
By range of media, this includes, moving images, and other hybrid
forms such as multimedia texts.
ACCESS denotes the knowledge of where to find these forms of media.
Aside from that, it should include the technical competence to navigate
around technology and easily adjust to the technological advancement that
happen every now and then. It might mean having access to cable,
knowing how to play the DVD player, knowing how to adjust settings and
knowledge where to access the media texts that are crucial to your life and
your community.

ANALYSIS includes thinking reflectively and critically on what has been read,
seen, or experienced, and its implications to oneself and to one’s
community. It also includes the assessment of the reliability of the
material, its sources, and it is presenting facts, the reliability of the
sources.

RESPONSE includes the ability to experience and explore the pleasures

of the media text, and how these are realized through the language of
the media. It also includes an evaluation of how, as perennial medical
audiences, these media texts shape our insights, perspectives, and
identities.
Buckingham and Livingstone (2005) define media literacy
as “having access to the media, understanding the media and
creating/expressing oneself using the media.
Most media literacy educators will agree that media literacy should
teach learners how to have access to the media, acquire the critical
tools to understand the media, as well as create and express
themselves using the media.
Aside from access and understanding, the above definition also
included the ability to create using media. It can include using the tools
of media to create and produce your own media texts to gain a better
appreciation of the processes involved. Media literacy embraces
Everything – from having the knowledge needed to use old and new
media technology to having a critical relationship to media content
when the media constitutes one of the most powerful forces in society.

ORIGINS OF THE WORD “MEDIA”

The original means of mass communication were print – magazines,
journals and newspapers – and their collective name was already in
place: publications. Soon after, radio and television were added to the
mix, however, the term “publications” would not stretch to fit. Needing
a term that would encompass all these means of
Communication, writers borrowed the term “media” from advertising
people, and used it since then to accommodate these means of com-
munication and even the newer ones, such as the Internet (Turow
2009)

WHY IS EMPOWERMENT SUCH A BIG WORD?

At the core of the term empowerment is the idea of power.
Empowerment is hinged on the idea that power can change, that the
ownership of power can shift from one entity to another.
Empowerment is also possible because power can expand or diminish
as the case may be. Let us review our notions of power.
List down three words that come to mind when you hear the word
“power”. For most of you, perhaps, the word “control”, “domination”,
and “influence” will immediately come to mind.
True enough, power is often related to our ability to make others do
what we want, regardless of their own wishes or interests (Weber,
1946) Power can also mean influence or control. Weber also gives us
idea that power exists as a relationship between two people or things.
Power is relational and possessed by some at the expense of
Others. While some may have it, some are cut off from it. A zero-sum
conception of it means that power will remain in the hands of the
powerful, unless they give it up. Historically, it has been proven that
those who wield power will most likely hold on to it.
But we have just clarified that power can expand or diminish. Power
is not always relational. One needs to cultivate a notion of power
within to fully realize that. Indeed, power can reside inside, you given
the opportunity to access the knowledge, skills and attitues.
That is why media literacy education is all about – to cultivate power
inside you. In other words, to cultivate power inside you, so
you do not become mere passive recipients of media and information
texts, but active consumers, and even active producers of media and
information texts instead.

INFORMATION LITERACY
What is information? As students your academic lives are fairly
circumscribed by the amount of knowledge you are able to gain and
produce. The school environment prods you to seek out knowledge in its
various forms, and in all areas of your academic endeavor. Information is
the stepping stone to gathering and producing knowledge.
 What is information? It is that which informs, that which enables us
to know. It can be the answer to a question, a news, or a data. It is
something that is also communicable.
If information applies to facts transmitted, read, or communicated,
and may sometimes appear to be unorganized and unrelated; on the
other hand, knowledge is actually the organized body of information, or
the appreciation and understanding derived from having put together
pieces of information, whether these are disparate or aggregated.
In our case, information literacy is best understood on how we
navigate the complex and networked world of the Internet. The Internet
has more than practical uses in our lives. It has been transformed to be the
primary source for research, complementing what can be found in school
libraries. The sheer volume of resources that can be obtained from the
Internet can be so overwhelming that without the necessary tools we will
be lost and will not be able to optimize their benefits to our lives.
Let us see how we can use information to generate knowledge about the
current affairs of our country. How do we do this by using
The Internet. This is almost a strange thing to say because the Internet has
overtaken most other resources of information. However, let us just first
walk through the vast network called the Internet.
INFORMATION LITERACY is the set of abilities requiring individuals to
recognize when information is needed and how to locate, evaluate, and
use it effectively.
In the world of exponential growth in technology and the unabated
proliferation of information sources, the need for information literacy
education is more apparent. It will not only enable people to use
computers or technology-mediated instruments but also achieve
individual and community goals. You need an intellectual framework
whereby you can access, comprehend, evaluate, use and create
information. Once again, reflection and critical analysis is crucial in this
aspect.
 Here is another definition of information literacy:

“Information Literacy constitutes the abilities to recognize when

information is needed and to locate, evaluate, effectively use, and
communicate information in its various formats.” (SUNY Council of Library
Directors, Information Literacy Initiative Committee, Final Report, September 30, 1997)
WHAT IS INFORMATION AGE?
The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the 18th century,
is the direct consequence of major invention, the steam engine. Its use
in the factories gave rise to the manufacturing economy and to a new
set of class relations – the capitalist and the working class.
Like the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution, the
information and communication technology has completely changed
the way society organizes its economic activity. The onset of the
information age is associated with the dramatic changes that the
digital industry has created. Today, we live in a knowledge-based society
surrounded by cutting-edge technology that makes every aspect of our
lives faster and easier. The Internet arose in 1989 when a fully developed
World Wide Web arose and turned it into the global platform for
knowledge-sharing, communication, and archiving. A parallel
development was the rise of a generated from intellectual capital.
Other developments that coincided with the information age is the
revitalized role of libraries in the production of knowledge. The invention
of the microform in 1945 allowed for the storage of bulky materials;
however, the technology would soon be superseded by digital imaging,
digital storage, and digital modalities of transmission.
WHAT IS THE INTERNET? It was a vast chain of computer networks in
which anyone who has access to computer with Internet connection
can publish their documents. All of these networks are linked together
via digital technology. Thus, the Internet allows transmission of a
variety of file types, both written and non-written multimedia.
There are million of Internet sites. If you are looking for certain
information, you might end up with more than a dozen sites in the
course of your search. These sites are created by different people or
organizations with different objectives.
Sites can be searched or even remembered (bookmarked, as the
case is) through its own address called Uniform Resource Locator. Each
part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Each of the part of a URL
provides information about the web page. If you type it in the address
bar of your search engine, you will then be directed to that page.

WHO PUTS INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?

There are many kinds of Internet sites that you might find during the
course of a search –sites created by different people or organizations
with different objectives. The three-letter code preceded by a dot (.)
simply known as the domain, gives you a fairly good idea of
Who is publishing the Internet site.

DOMAIN NAMES AND THEIR EQUIVALENT

.edu - Educational Institution

It may contain carefully processed and reviewed

information though it may not represent the
individual views of the academic personnel.
. com - Mostly commercial entities, some of which are profit-oriented
.org. - Non-profit organization
.gov- Government organizations
.net - Internet service providers

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Sources of information drawn from the Internet or otherwise, can be categorized into
the following:

a. POPULAR PUBLICATIONS: Most of what rules in the print and non-print media are
 popular publications with the general public as its target audience.
Included under this category are journalistic articles, feature articles,
manuals, flyers, fact sheets, and blogs by netizens. They serve both to
inform and entertain the general public. Reporters, journalists, or
anyone, for that matter, can publish popular publications. We turn to
popular publications to have a pulse of popular opinions, or get
entertained, or to simply gain information regarding a popular subject.
b. Scholarly Publications. There are well researched articles foundly
mostly in academic journals and published for the specialists of a
specific field. The language is very technical because it is geared
toward the consumption of specialists, scholars, and those seeking
research-based information on a particular area of knowledge such as
the social sciences, the natural sciences, and the parts and humanities.
c. Trade Publications: These are also highly specialized materials
meant for the players and specialists of a specific industry. Some
good examples are publications on motoring or publications on
construction.
FORMATS OF INFORMATION: How do you retrieve information, and in what
format can they be accessed? Let us differentiate those various formats.

PRINT. Materials produced and collected from print resources (books,

newspapers and other periodicals, manuscripts, correspondence,
memoranda, loose leaf materials, notes, brochures, etc.
DIGITAL FORMATS. Digital materials are information materials that are stored
in an electronic format on a hard drive. CD-ROM, remote server or even the
Cloud. These could be electronic books, databases, websites, video and audio
materials. These materials may be accessed with a computer and/or through
the Internet.
AUDIO AND VIDEO. Materials collected using analog technology in
video (tv, video, recordings), audio (radio, audio recordings) tools
presented in recorded tapes, CDs, audio cassettes, reel to reel tapes,
record albums, etc. As differentiated from digital technology, these
sources of information are recorded using analog technology, these
sources of information are using analog technology which means data
is recorded in advance from one point to another. Analog devices read
the material by scanning the physical data off the media.
MICROFORM. This includes materials that have been photographed
and their images developed in reduced-size film strips and which are
viewed using machines with magnifying lenses. In university libraries,
these may include back issues of magazines, newspapers or historical
materials.
UNESCO Definition of Information Literacy
Information literacy can no longer be defined without considering
technology literacy in order for individuals to function in an information-rich,
technology-infused world. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Social
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) posits the following definitions as
standards for appreciating information literacy and technology literacy:
“Information Literacy means the set of skills, attitudes and knowledge
necessary to know when information is needed to help solve a problem or
make a decision, how to articulate that information need in searchable terms
and language, then search efficiently for the information, retrieve it, interpret
and understand it, organize it, evaluate its credibility and authenticity, assess
its relevance, communicate it to others if necessary, then
Utilize it to accomplish bottom-line purposes; Information Literacy is
closely allied to learning to learn, and to critical thinking, both of which
may be established, formal educational goals, but too often are not
integrated into curricula, syllabi and lesson plan outlines as discrete,
teachable and learnable outcome; sometime the terms ‘Information
Competency; or ‘Information Fluency’ or even other terms, are used in
different countries, cultures and languages, in preference to the term
information Literacy.” (UNESCO 2007, 53)
LESSON 5: HOW MEDIA IS MADE
KEY TERMS: In this lesson, there are important terms that we ought to
know for us to fully understand how media is made. They are the
following:
1. REPRESENTATION – the ways in which media represents reality.
More appropriately, it is how the process of media creation and
production re-present reality through the decisions and perspectives of
its creators. Media and information literacy is concerned with how
certain groups, ideas, faith system, and topics are presented from a
particular perspective or value system.
CODES – system of signs and symbolic meanings embedded in a media
and information text.
CONVENTIONS – the established and socially accepted ways of doing
things. In media, these are the styles and approaches that have been
standardized into the content.
GENRE – a system of classification of works of art, based on established
conventions.
FORMAT - manner of presentation and style that provides a structure
for media and information texts.