A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF
MEDIA AND INFORMATION
IN THE GLOBAL ARENA
A. Worldwide
1. Pre-industrial age
• Oral traditions were the only means of
communication back then until writing was
developed as early as 4,000 BC in Sumeria
(Alagaran, 2017).
• Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest
evidences of writing. The Code contained
laws and was written on clay and stone
tablets.
• Other media of communication include but
not limited to the following natural surfaces:
tree bark, animal bones, mud, and cave.
Watch: Cave Art 101 | National Geographic
https://youtu.be/ZjejoT1gFOc
• In 200 AD, woodblock printing was
developed in East Asia. It was commonly
referred to as xylography.
• In 1453-1456 AD, Johannes Gutenberg
developed a movable metal type of printing
press. (“Press” - because you actually had to
press down ink on a surface. Watch: How a
Gutenberg printing press works
https://youtu.be/DLctAw4JZXE)
3. Electronic age
2. Industrial age
• Technological inventions were developed
with various electricity-related experiment-
tations. This is the age of machines,
factories, and assembly lines.
• This era saw the introduction and rise of
newspapers, photography, and film. The
processes for these media are different from
what we now know.
• Images on newspapers were painted first
when commercial portable cameras were not
yet available.
• Cameras were definitely not digital back
then. In fact, the earliest recognized camera
used metal/copper sheet to produce an
image. The apparatus was referred to as the
Daguerreotype-camera, derived from its
French developer Louis Daguerre.
• Instead of a metal/copper sheet, George
Eastman then invented a handheld camera
that used celluloid film.
• Thomas Edison, the light bulb inventor,
made these still photos move, creating
continuous movements from a set of
pictures, through kinetoscope, his single-
viewer film apparatus invention.
• From a single-viewing experience, the
French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière
tried to project a film onto a bigger screen
using cinematographe.
• Colored films and photographs were
possible, not because of the actual camera
technology, but because people hand-
painted them. Hand-painting film was one of
“the earliest production work available to
women in the film industry” (Yumibe, 2013).
• Contrary to initial assumption, the electronic
age did not start when electricity first
became available.
• This age is characterized by the use of
electricity or electric signals for practical
long-distance communication. It took time
before inventors who were tinkering with
electronic signals polished the machines
enough to make them available for popular
commercial use. A sample of this is the
telegraph. Watch: End of an era as India
finally bids farewell to the telegraph
https://youtu.be/wgY9S77NV_g
Page 1 of 2
 • The two World Wars affected the use and
development of the technology that would
later become part of mass media: radio and
television. For the case of radio, it was
improved for World War I communication.
For television, World War II meant halting
production to focus on war.
4. Digital age:
• This is the age we are probably most familiar
with, as it involves the rise of computers,
digital photography, and online news. Data
or file storage in this era heavily relies on
digital technology and the Internet.
B. Southeast Asia
Including a glimpse of media and
information in Southeast Asia instead of jumping
from world history straight to the Philippines allows
us to look at the effects of being colonized to a
country’s media and information landscape.
Thailand is the only country to escape being
a colony, even when just beyond its borders there
was Britain’s and France’s colonial agenda. Even so,
it had faced a harsh military government, just like
other countries in the region.
“Under colonial domination, however,
ancient monuments and texts are closely
studied, preserved, and restored. Angkor
Wat, for instance, is rediscovered in the mid-
nineteenth century, and the monuments of
Cham, in Vietnam, come to public attention
in 1885” (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
The Met museum, founded by Americans,
acknowledges that the documentation of tradition
was “gathered in the service of power” but has no
mention of the effect of the ravaging war that comes
with colonialism; a war that involved the destruction
of monuments and the deaths of communities that
were using these “ancient monuments and texts.”
Not to mention that the preservation of such texts
gathered by colonizers were written from the
perspective of these invaders.
Like the Philippines, Timor-Leste has two
official languages: one from a former colonizer and
one from the locals. In their case, it was Portuguese
and Tetum. In its decolonization process, the Timor-
Leste government has decided to make Portuguese,
a language they were not allowed to use when
Indonesia annexed them, an official language.
“East Timor's courts are among the hardest-
hit institutions. Translations back and forth
among Portuguese, Tetum and Indonesian
produce a game of telephone in which
testimony is often distorted, outside
monitors say,” (Mydans for the New York
Times, 2007).
Imposition of national languages is common
in post-colonies. Every time the language shifts, “a
new class of illiterates” is created, (Mydans).

REFERENCES

Cantor, O. (2016). Media Information Literacy: Media Then and Now. Quezon City, Philippines. Vibal Publishing. (pp. 14-21)

Encanto, G. (2019). The community press and its revolutionary tradition. Quezon City, Philippines. The University of the
Philippines Press. (pp. xx - 19). Martial Law Museum. Retrieved from https://martiallawmuseum.ph/

Mydans, S (2007). A Babel for East Timor as language shifts to Portuguese. The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/world/asia/23iht-timor.2.6783407.html

Yumibe, Joshua (2013) French Film Colorists. Link: https://wfpp.columbia.edu/essay/french-film-colorists/

Page 2 of 2
I. sa Media and Information Overview
A. Freedom of expression and right to information
1. Objectives
a. Understand the importance of freedom of speech.
b. Enumerate the roles media play in a democratic country.
c. Explain the correlation of media, government, and democracy.
2. “Media and Information Literacy lies at the core of freedom of expression
and information.”
3. 1987 Philippine Constitution
a. Article III
● Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of
speech, expression, of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble and petition the government for
redress of grievances.
● Section 7. The right of the people to information on public
concern shall be recognized. Access to official papers shall
be afforded the citizen.
● Basically… “Right to expression and access to
information.”
4. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
a. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression
without interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information
and ideas through any media…
5. “Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a
necessity in any democratic country.”
B. Role of media
1. The Fourth Estate (Media)
a. Guardian of the public interest
b. Connector between the governors and the governed
c. Protected, Accountable, Well-Trained, Accessible
2. The Role of the Media in Deepening Democracy (Sheila S. Coronel)
a. Problems
● Strict law
● Ownership
● Competitive media market
● Threat
● Corruption
 b. “The media can play a positive role in democracy only if there is
an enabling environment that allows them to do so.”

3.
C. Media categories
1. Objectives
a. Categorize media
b. Understand media and information as separate concepts
c. Define media and information literacy as a single concept
2. Media
a. “Medium”
b. Channel of communication used to send and receive information
3. Traditional Media
4. Social Media
5. Information - knowledge of a certain topic
6. “The medium is the message.”
7. Discussion: Which of the three literacies (Media, Information, Digital) is
your family or community most in need of? Why?
8. Media and Information Literacy - set of skills that empowers citizens to
access, analyze, and create media content and information
D. Political economy of media
1. Objectives
a. Enumerate different types of media ownership
b. Explain the implications of the Philippine media landscape
2. Corporate / Conglomerate

a.

b.
c.

d.
e. Business Group
● Media
● Real Estate
● Mining
● More & More
 3. State-Affiliated/Owned
a. State-owned media content?

●
4. Independent / Alternative

a.

b.

c.
II. Historical Overview of Media and Information
A. Objectives
1. Trace the development of media and communication
2. Understand how Philippine history affected Philippine media
 3. Explain the role of MIL in shaping media consumers and media media
content thereafter
B. International

C.
D. Local
1. Pre-colonial

a. Umalohokan

b. Laguna Copperplate
 c.

d.

e.
2. Colonial

a. Doctrina Christiana
b. Del Superior Govierno

c.

d.
 e.
f. Ang Kalayaan
g. El Renacimiento
h. KZRH
i. “People were eager for any kind of newspaper.”
j. PIAM
k. “Liwayway ng Kalayaan”
3. Post-colonial
a. Alto Broadcasting System (Antonio Quirino (brother of former
Pres. Elpidio Quirino))
b. Chronicle Broadcasting Network (Eugenio Lopez Sr. and the Lopez
Family)
c. Republic Broadcasting System (now known as GMA)
d.
Owner

Hans Menal
Manila Bulletin
(Marcos aide)

Benjamin Romualdez
Time Journal
(Imelda’s brother)

Roberto Benedicto
The Philippine Daily Express
(KBL’s Chairman)
 e.
f. Liliosa Hilao
g. Competitive media market
h. Political and personal arrests
i. Incompetent practitioners
j. “The improvement of the Philippine media is related to the quality
of its consumers.”
4.
III. Media and Information Ethics
A. Theories
B. Codes of Ethics
C. Consequences
IV. Midterm Examination
A. Cinesophia film set