THE POWER OF MEDIA AND INFORMATION

LITERACY IN THIS PANDEMIC

Ever since the start, Media has always been a part of our world. It had evolved to a much more
influential and powerful platform. It became an essential tool of information, entertainment and
above all the current knowledge that is happening in every country today. Moreover,today the
media is declared as the mirror of society meaning it shows the real situation and the truth of our
society. Without a doubt, Media has played a vital role to diffuse liberal norms. It really holds great
power over the people as it has brought awareness, unity and even solved issues concerning one’s
country.

Behind the greatness the media shows there are still dangers linked to it. Especially in this
generation as it is the remarkable century of media and none of the countries can sustain and
survive in this complex world of competition without the use of media. Right now with vast
technology anyone can create a media and facts can be twisted out to create a new fact that is lined
with their benefit. Media is indeed great with its ability to inform the whole world with just a short
amount of time but sometimes the information they spread around the world does not contain the
whole truth, Media has the ability to make powerful people and things powerless. It can distort
truth that may affect the perception of the people to the society that’s why in this age everyone
should be able to learn to analyze and deeply understand the message every media is trying to
deliver. In this age Media Information Literacy is a must skill that will help us avoid manipulation
from false information.
 What is Media Information Literacy?
The word Literacy usually describes the ability to
read and write but media information literacy
means the ability to identify different types of
media (Tv, radio, newspaper, magazines, social
media) and understand the messages that it
delivers. As everyone should know, the media exist
for a reason and being able to understand that
reason is the basis of media literacy.
How does Media Information Literacy help us
as Filipino?
Media information literacy has helped us in a lot of
ways; to being informed, aware and educated. One
of those is it enables us to process and evaluate
online information with discernment.In this
pandemic media information literacy has helped us
to think critically which allowed us to understand
It may not be easy for everyone to learn media
information literacy properly especially with the
digital age making it easy for everyone to create
their own media.This just made it tricky as people
are not sure who made it, it’s purpose and if its
content is credible. Nevertheless, in this digital age,
media literacy is an essential skill.
and analyze the message of the media such as
regarding the updates of the covid19, It also helped
us to be a more educated filipino especially about
the pandemic we are facing right now. We cannot
deny the fact that this pandemic had been a
rollercoaster ride for the whole country. From the
start, there had been a lot of misleading information
that brought the people to panic. If only we have
used our media information literacy skills then the
past mistakes may have been avoided and things
would have been better.
As Filipinos being a responsible citizen also means
being aware and informed about the politics and
government in our country. One way we can be
informed is through the information or news we see
in different kinds of media and now this leads us to
using our media and information literacy skills
especially that it is a sensitive and important topic
to be analyzed and understood. We also cannot deny
the fact that the media has the ability to influence
As a youth, why is it Important to learn Media and
Information Literacy
As a youth, we are considered as the hope of our
country. We are the next professionals, workers,
politicians and more importantly the next in line in
electing the future leaders of our country. As we all
know media plays a big role in the government and
politics that is why as the next voters it is important
to learn media and information literacy. First and
foremost by learning it we can be a responsible and
wise consumer of media as well as a responsible
producer of our own media. Furthermore, learning
media and information literacy helps foster critical
the people but through our media information
literacy skill we can avoid the manipulation some
media contain. We can see which article or news
contain a much more credible content and with this
we can see the truth and be an educated citizen of
our country. Also, media contains greed and we
have many greedy people in our government clearly
because the media can make the most untruthful
person look truthful to the society’s eyes but with
this generation that has the skill of media
information literacy we may be able to analyze the
people running for position and see who from them
are just running for power and not for the people’s
sak
thinking which eventually can become a second
nature and help us in many areas as we grow older.
Learning Media and information literacy is not just
about content knowledge rather it focuses more on
strengthening the process skills.
In a larger context, Media and information literacy
can build unity as it fosters skills that help the
people to work together in collaboration because it
also encourage respectful discourse and builds
citizenship skills.
We all know that the media will not stop and will
continue to play a vital role in our society and in
creating a new generation with critical thinking
skills that can stand amidst issues of media.

How to be a responsible consumer of media?

There are a lot of media in every country, it is a
vast platform that eventually led to “fake news’s”
existence. For some it might be considered as a joke
but in reality it is not funny at all. This fake news
has led to a lot of negative events in our society one
example is the fake news that spread when covid19
started that led to the people panic buying. As a
citizen of our country it is our obligation to
consume the media properly and wisely and here
are the ways we can be a responsible consumer of
media.
First, make it a habit to check the source of the
news you are reading. Make sure that the source is
credible and reputable.
Second, check your bias. Every person has biased
opinions, it cannot be avoided but it can be noticed.
It is important to check yourself first to understand
how this affects your view in your surrounding
it is important to not just settle in reading one
publication and basing all the truth from the one
publication.
Lastly, Think before you share. Through social
media, sharing information became easier for
everyone. With just one click an information can
spread across the world that is why we should learn
to slow down in spreading information. Before
clicking that share, make sure the information you
are sharing is credible. Think twice about the
message the news is delivering to you and make
sure it is accurate.
Always remember to be a responsible consumer of
media and use our media and information literacy at
all times. Make sure to practice responsible
consumption and dissemination of the news around
us.

Third, Check the bias of the publication. It would

have been amazing if the news or information we
gather are reported without any bias but
unfortunately that is just not possible. Every
publications have it’s own point of view that is why