ASSIGNMENT TWO

Assignment Two – Drawing on the information in Chapter 2 including The Seven Skills of Media
Literacy and in the Week Two Folder at the course site, explain the differences between factual
information, opinion, and social information.  Now, comment on your personal biases, knowledge
structures and personal loci as they relate to The Seven Skills of Media Literacy.  Do you believe
you use or have used these skills in your life up to this point to evaluate media or in other
areas?  Please list THREE reasons why or why not using sources to support your assertions.  Be
sure to include three quotes from your textbook with correct citation format and at least four from
four different sources in the Readings/Resources in the Week Two folder at the course site (not
including the textbook) for a total of SEVEN quotes with correct citation format.

Explain the differences between factual information, opinion, and social information.

Media literacy is a collection of viewpoints that we dynamically use to depict, process,

and understand the significance of the messages we encounter (Potter, 63). Media influences
every aspect of our lives, precisely affecting how we connect to, acquire teachings, and
communicate with the individuals around us (Lipkin).   

Media is comprised of factual information, opinion, and social information. All of the
three differ from each other and are used in various scenarios. Factual information is based on
facts and shreds of evidence that support certain information or an idea. Factual information is
based on investigations and studies made by professionals and verified by fellow professionals. It
had been published on the internet or maybe in books, newspapers, magazines, etc., to prove that
the message sent to the public is factual. On the other hand, opinion can be constructed by
everyone depending on their idea on a particular topic or perception on a specific scenario in
which it can be given anytime, and it does not need to have any basis because it’s a belief
delivered by anyone. Lastly, social information can be defined as collecting human thoughts and
actions that are compiled based on their experience or the sum of their learnings.

In addition, these types of information are comprised of different kinds of biases such as
corporate bias, which means the commercial or advertising interests of a news passage, a partisan
bias, which defines a writer’s political interpretations act news coverage, demographic bias,
meaning tendency in which race, sex, culture or another element, “big story bias” which denotes
newscasters’ insights of an occurrence or progress as an essential story that can cause the
audience to miss critical specifics and distort vital shreds of evidence and neutrality bias which a
journalist attempts so hard to evade acting biased that the coverage misrepresents the facts
(Understanding Bias-2020-01).

Comment on your personal biases, knowledge structures, and personal loci as they relate to The
Seven Skills of Media Literacy.  

The skills, knowledge structures, and personal locus are the three building blocks of
media literacy. The mixture of the whole three is essential to construct a broader collection of
perceptions on the media. The skills are the stepping stone that we use to produce our knowledge
structures. Our knowledge structures are the establishments of what we have learned. Our
personal locus delivers mental energy and direction in our lives (Potter, 53).

Skill My best skill is that I am good at cooking because I practice cooking

every day.
Analysis Watching a movie: I can get the gist, and the main point of the movie is
the topic of who, what, when, where, why, how to conclude if the movie
was complete.
Evaluation Evaluating a presidential debate: As a responsible citizen, I am aware of
the current issues in the country, and I always have strong opinions
about them. Whenever presidential candidates give their views and
solutions about a particular subject, I evaluate it deeply and assess who’s
the best fit that I will vote on in the upcoming elections.
Grouping Reading a technology review: Before buying new technology like
smartphones, televisions, wearable technologies, video games consoles,
etc. I read tech reviews and compile the best products that I have in
mind, then identify their similarities and differences in terms of storage,
performance, speed, costs, etc. I will not regret any big decisions that I
will make when I buy a certain technology.
Induction Dining in a restaurant for the first time: When I go to a restaurant, I take
note of their service, the sanitation, the food, the aesthetic features of a
restaurant, and even the lavatory. When I observe that the service was
rude, when the place was a little bit dirty, when the food was blunt, when
 the room was not that aesthetically pleasing, and when the lavatory is
messy; I generalize that all of the branches of that specific restaurant
represents them all which means that when I get a bad experience from
one of their restaurants, that means that I tend to conclude that all of their
restaurants operate just like that..
Deduction  At a young age, my mind was incorporated that knowledge is power and
that I can get that with the help of great educators so I believe that: 
1. All educators are great.
2. All professors are teachers.
3. All professors are great.
Synthesis Being updated in daily news: I subscribe to a newspaper website where I
get new topics every day, including statistics about our nation’s current
issues, especially the Covid-19 updates. This is a good practice for me to
update my knowledge and adapt new information essential for updating,
reformulating, and strengthening my existing knowledge structures.
Abstracting Discussing a topic with my classmates: Whenever one of us does not get
the subject, we share a study group in which we understand the case
individually and share the big picture or the central idea that we got. We
discuss it in simple terms and concisely

Do you believe you use or have used these skills in your life up to this point to evaluate media or
in other areas?   Please list THREE reasons why or why not using sources to support your
assertions

 Yes, I have used these skills in my life up to this point to evaluate media or other areas.

Reasons:

1. These choices are grounded on the creators’ perspectives, which their opinions,
assumptions, and biases will have shaped. All of the seven skills and the personal
example that I shared contribute as tools that I used and continue to use to
 generate, modify, and update my knowledge structures (“Media Literacy
Fundamentals”).
2. According to Andrea Quijada, media has a collective impact. (TEDxTalks). These
skills created an impact on how I see and evaluate the media and the people I talk
to, the places I go, and how I decide in my daily life that it became part of myself
because up until now, I still perform those skills. 
3. The experiences that I shared are the things that I do in my daily life, so I
continuously do them, which hones my thinking abilities, strengthens my
knowledge structures, and improves my personal locus. As Potter said, these skills
are like muscles; the more you work them out, the more challenging they become.
Without practice, skills become weaker (Potter, 58).

To sum it all up, with rationality, reflection, and moral behaviour at its core, media
literacy is the chief foundation of being a part of an educated society.

Please leave a like. Thank you!

-asian.guru.tutor@gmail.com
References:

Media Literacy, 9th edition, by W. James Potter, Sage (2019).

“Media Literacy Fundamentals.” MediaSmarts, 13 Mar. 2012, https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-

media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/media-literacy-

fundamentals.

Lipkin, Michelle Ciulla. “4 Essential Skills for Media Literacy.” Renaissance, 26 July 2018,

https://www.renaissance.com/2018/07/26/blog-4-essential-skills-media-literacy/.

Understanding Bias-2020-01. Accessed 14 June 2021.

TEDxTalks. “Creating Critical Thinkers through Media Literacy: Andrea Quijada at

TEDxABQED.” YouTube, 19 Feb. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=aHAApvHZ6XE.