MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY

TEACHER: ELENA B. MOHAMMAD

Lesson 1
Introduction to Media and Information:
What is Media?

I. Introduction

Ever since we are children, we are already exposed to media directly or indirectly. Media was
already there before you were born and it will be there long after we are gone. Now let’s look at this
technological devices that gives us information and entertains us.

II. Objectives

At the end of this activity, you should be able to:

1. Trace the communication process that happens in human beings;

2. Discuss the flow of information in the communication process;
3. Compare and contrast traditional media and new media.

III. Concept/s Explanation

A. What is media? Definition and meaning

The term media, which is the plural of medium, refers to

the communication channels through which we
disseminate news, music, movies, education,
promotional messages and other data. It includes
physical and online newspapers and magazines,
television, radio, billboards, telephone, the Internet, fax
and billboards.

It describes the various ways through which we

communicate in society. Because it refers to all means
of communication, everything ranging from a
telephone call to the evening news on television can be
called media.

When talking about reaching a very large number of

people we say mass media. Local media refers to, for https://i2.wp.com/marketbusinessnews.com/wp-
example, your local newspaper, or local/regional TV/radio content/uploads/2016/08/Media.jpg?w=605&ssl=1
channels.
We used to get all our news and entertainment via TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. Today the
Internet is gradually taking over. Print newspapers are struggling as hundreds of millions of people
each year switch to news sources online.

B. The Communication Process

In order to understand how information flows within the media, we should first understand how
basic communication works.

The communication process has several components that enable the transmission of a message.
Here are the various parts:

1. Sender: This is the person that is delivering a message to a recipient.

2. Message: This refers to the information that the sender is relaying to the receiver.
3. Channel of communication: This is the transmission or method of delivering the message.
4. Decoding: This is the interpretation of the message. Decoding is performed by the receiver.
5. Receiver: The receiver is the person who is getting or receiving the message.
6. Feedback: In some instances, the receiver might have feedback or a response for the sender.
This starts can interaction.

In order to successfully communicate, it's important to understand how the process works. Here are
the seven steps in the communication process:

1. The sender develops an idea to be sent

2. The sender encodes the message
3. The sender selects the channel of communication that will be used
4. The message travels over the channel of communication
5. The message is received by the receiver
6. The receiver decodes the message
7. The receiver provides feedback, if applicable.

C. Concepts in Shannon Weaver Model

In 1948, Shannon was an American mathematician,

Electronic engineer and Weaver was an American
scientist both of them join together to write an article in
“Bell System Technical Journal” called “A Mathematical
Theory of Communication” and also called as “Shannon-
Weaver model of communication”.

This model is specially designed to develop the effective

communication between sender and receiver. Also they
find factors which affecting the communication process
called “Noise”. At first the model was developed to
improve the Technical communication. Later it’s widely
applied in the field of Communication.

Sender (Information source) – Sender is the

person who makes the message, chooses the
channel and sends the message.

Encoder (Transmitter) –Encoder is the sender

who uses machine, which converts message
into signals or binary data. It might also directly
refer to the machine.

Channel –Channel is the medium used to send

message.

Decoder (Receiver) – Decoder is the machine

used to convert signals or binary data into
message or the receiver who translates the
 message from signals.

D. The Feedback Mechanism

There are other improvements to this basic model of

communication. A very important factor is a feedback. If
your readers or listeners nodded in agreement, then that is
your clue or signal that they understood what you said.
That nod is a feedback. If their eyebrows meet or react to
show that they disagree with what you said, that is also a
feedback. If you receive positive or negative feedback,
that’s okay.
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E. Media as an Information Industry

The media and entertainment industry consists of film, print, radio, and television. These segments
include movies, TV shows, radio shows, news, music, newspapers, magazines, and books. The top
10 media and entertainment companies are The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Direct
Group Holdings (DIRECTV), Time Warner Inc., NBC Universal, National Amusements Inc., CBS
Corporation, Viacom Inc., News Corporation, and TEGNA Inc. The U.S. media and entertainment
industry contributes more than $632 billion to the economy and represents a third of the global
industry.

F. Media as an Culture of Entertainment

By comparison, culture — the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of groups large and small — is
not necessarily formalized. Culture is necessary for enjoying and making sense of the human
experience, but there are few formalized rules governing culture.

Mass communication influences both society and culture. Different societies have different
media systems, and the way they are set up by law influences how the society works. Different
forms of communication, including messages in the mass media, give shape and structure to
society. Additionally, mass media outlets can spread cultural knowledge and artistic works
around the globe. People exercise cultural preferences when it comes to consuming media, but
mass media corporations often decide which stories to tell and which to promote, particularly
when it comes to forms of mass media that are costly to produce such as major motion pictures,
major video game releases and global news products.

More than any other, the field of mass communication transmits culture. At the same time, it helps
institutional society try to understand itself and whether its structures are working.

G. Kinds of Media

Different Types of Media

The goal of media is to convey an advertising message to the audience through the most
appropriate media channel for their product. In general, you can classify media in three main
categories.

1. Traditional Media covers the kinds of media that were invented prior to the invention of
the internet.
 Print Media

This type of news media used to be the only way of delivering information to the public.
For the generations of the 80s and 90s, print media was the only media of entertain.
People relied on newspapers and magazines to learn everything, from recipes and
entertainment news to important information about the country or the world. Print
media includes:

a. Newspapers – printed and distributed on a daily or weekly basis. They include news
related to sports, politics, technology, science, local news, national news, international
news, birth notices, as well as entertainment news related to fashion, celebrities, and
movies. Today’s parents grew up with this type of printed media.
b. Magazines – printed on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. It contains
information about finance, food, lifestyle, fashion, sports, etc.
c. Books – focused on a particular topic or subject, giving the reader a chance to spread
their knowledge about their favorite topic.
d. Banners – used to advertise a company’s services and products, hung on easily-noticed
sights to attract people’s attention.
e. Billboards – huge advertisements created with the help of computers. Their goal is to
attract people passing by.
f. Brochures – a type of booklet that includes everything about one company – its
products, services, terms and conditions, contact details, address, etc. They are either
distributed with the newspapers, or hand over to people.
g. Flyers – used mostly by small companies due to the low cost of advertising. They contain
the basic information about a company, their name, logo, service or product, and
contact information, and they are distributed in public areas.

Broadcasting Media

Broadcasting media includes videos, audios, or written content that provides important or
entertaining information shared by different methods:

a. Television – in the past, there were a few channels sharing various types of content,
whereas now we have hundreds of TV channels to choose from. Each channel delivers
a different type of content, so you have a separate channel for news, drama, movies,
sports, animation, nature, travel, politics, cartoon, and religion. It’s the number one
broadcasting media due to its reach to the audience.
b. Radio – uses radio waves to transmit entertaining, informative, and educative content to
the public. Due to its high reach to the audience, radio is widely used for advertising
products and services. Radio is one of the oldest means of entertainment, and today
people often hear it to find out the weather and traffic while commuting.
c. Movies – film, motion picture, screenplay, moving picture, or movie has world-wide
reachability. It’s the best type of mass media to promote cultures and spread social
awareness. Movies have always played a huge part in the entertainment world.

2. New Media
New media was a term coined to refer media that developed when the use of
computer technology became ordinary and common in most parts of the world.

Internet Media

Nowadays, we are relying on the Internet to get the news a lot more often than the
traditional news sources. Websites provide information in the form of video, text, and
audio. We can even choose the way we want to receive the news. Types of Internet
media include:

a. Social networks or websites – including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr,

LinkedIn, Snapchat, Quora, Reddit, Pinterest, etc. They are user-friendly and widely used
by people around the world. Although we can find any news here, they may be
misleading because of the lack of regulations on the content shared.
 b. Online forums - an online place where we can comment, message, or discuss a
particular topic. Forums allow us to share knowledge with other people with the same
interest. That’s why it’s regarded as the best platform to seek support and assistance.
c. Podcast – a series of audios focused on a particular topic or theme. We can listen to
them on a computer or a mobile phone. It’s a platform that allows anyone to share their
knowledge and communicate with the world.

III. Work/Practice Exercise

Do the task below:

1. Answer the following question on your Media & Information Literacy Notebook. Write
name and section on top of the page. Take a pic/scan your work then submit it under
this assignment in MSteams: (Note: Make sure to write your name and section on top of
your page to avoid 10 points deduction from your total points.)

a. Identify the similarities and differences of Media Literacy, Information Literacy,

and Technology Literacy.

b. Discuss the idea of b.1) communication process, b.2) Shannon-Weaver’s Model

of Communication, b.3) Feedback mechanism, & b.4) media as an information
& entertainment industry in your own words.

c. Elaborate on traditional media and new media. How did it evolve? How it
improve the dissemination of information? How it affected your daily life?

d. Make a table like the one below. Fill out the table to determine your media
habits.

Types of Media Kind of media/pop Hours spent daily Purpose What you think of
culture product your Media usage

2. Start an ePortfolio by creating a personal online page (blog, webpage, others)

discussing about Media and Information literacy using the following free blog sites:
 WordPress (www.wordpress.org)
 Wix (www.wix.com)
 Weebly (www.weebly.com)
 Medium (www.medium.com)
 Ghost (www.ghost.org)
 Blogger (www.blogger.com)
 Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)
 Joomla (www.joomla.org)
 Jimdo (www.jimdo.com)

Post the link through the comment section of this assignment.

Do the submission of this assignment and the link of your e-fortfolio on or before August 23, 2022.

IV. References

Source: https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/media-definition-meaning/
https://www.vault.com/industries-professions/industries/media-and-entertainment