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MODULE 2
MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY

At the end of this module, I can:

1. Define information needs.
2. Locate sources of information.
3. Assess, organize, and communicate information.
4. Identify relevant ethical standards or principles in information and media use.
5. Demonstrate ethical use of information.

Assess yourself.
1. What is your primary source of information especially for school work?
2. What are your considerations when looking for a particular information? Do you need a quick fact
or critical analysis?
3. Do you prefer unbiased information or an opinion? Current information or a historical one?
4. Do you automatically use a web search engine to locate for the information you need? What do
you use and why?

The Effective and Efficient Information Seeker. A successful search strategy is one that allows you
to judge at the onset what information is relevant, thus, limiting the possible overload of information
sought. It also involves an understanding of information search systems such as indexes, online
catalogs, or Boolean logic. When you are able to judge the “potential value of an information,” you will
be able to maximize its use. According to Callison and Tilley (2006), an effective and efficient
information seeker is one who can do the following:

 Understands how to utilize a variety of information sources and agencies, as wekk as human
resources, in order to gain useful information
 Understands the value of consulting with resource specialists and critical peers to reframe and
refine questions and inquiries, if necessary.
 Identifies information important to a need and assesses its reliability, bias, authority, and intent
 Organizes new information information in meaningful ways to determine where gaps may exist
and to formulate the central question or thesis that can be addressed.

BIG IDEA: It saves you time and effort to determine what information you need and where
and how to search for them.

TYPOLOGY OF INFORMATION
According to www.lib.odu.edu, the kind of information you are looking for may be categorized as
the following:

1. Factual vs. Analytical

Factual information is based on evidences and findings provided by reliable sources. These
sources may include academic texts such as books, encyclopedias, periodicals, or technical
reports by agencies and institutions. Analytical information, on the other hand, is an analysis or
interpretation of facts by an individual, usually an expert on the subject. Examples of such would
be feature articles, commentaries, or reviews.

2. Subjective vs. Objective

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When you consult an expert opinion, such as those found in the editorial section of a newspaper
or in Web log entries of prolific writers, you are using a subjective kind of information. This is
because the information is about the discussion and elaboration of a thesis statement which is still
anchored on facts. It is important to evaluate the validity of the claims in subjective information
because a valid argument is more often than not a successful argument. If the information is
unbiased and does not lead you to judge the information in a certain way, then it is objective
information. Scientific papers and news reports are common sources of objective information.

3. Current vs. Historical

The currency of information refers to how up-to-date or how recent the information is. It does not
necessarily follow that the more current the information, the more reliable and useful it is. There
are information that are historical or old but are very helpful in providing insights and comparison
of events. Publication date of the source material is the usual basis for currency. A combination of
current and historical information, especially in research, provides a more holistic picture. You are
able to establish trends or patterns when you make use of both.

But the requirement for the use of either current or historical information depends on the discipline
that makes use of them. In the hard or natural sciences, the more recent findings are preferred.
For the humanities, historical information is primarily used to describe an event or phenomenon.
The social sciences usually consult both current and historical information.

4. Scholarly (Academic/Professional/Technical) vs. Popular

When you are asked to write an academic paper, what sources does your teacher ask you to
consult? Scholarly information comes from academic sources. It is a product of an author's
expertise and study on the subject matter. It is usually peer-reviewed. Popular information, on the
other hand, appeals to general interest and is usually found in general circulation materials such
as magazines, coffee table books, or online feature articles. Table 3.1 differentiates a scholarly
source and a popular source of information.

Table 3.1. Scholarly Resources vs. Popular Resources

Scholarly Sources Popular Sources
Authors Written or reviewed by experts Written by the publication’s
in the discipline staff writters
Audience Written for researchers or Written for the general public
practitioners in a particular or common person
discipline
Publisher Professional society or Commercial Publisher
organization or university
Content In-depth analysis of topic or Review of an event or research
report of original research project, highlighting key points
Language Use technical language which Understandable by a common
may not be understood by a person
common person
Appearance Illustrations include graphs and Often use slick paper and more
tables colors
Articles are usually long Many advertisemnts and
graphics
Articles are usually very short
Reference Almost always include list of Rarely include a list of sources
sources consulted

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5. Primary vs. Secondary vs. Tertiary

The origin and the levels of transfer of the information is also an important factor to consider in
your information search. A description of and examples for primary, secondary, and tertiary
information is shown in Table 3.2.

Information Source Characteristics Examples

Primary  Original, first-hand Creative work
information Diary
 Hasn’t been interpreted, Speech
analyzed, condensed or Letter
changed
Interview
 Information may need to
News film footage
be constructed with raw
data Autobiography
Photograph
Official record
Historical document
Email written by a researcher
to a colleague which includes
data from an experiment
Professor’s Lecture
Tweet or other dispatch via a
social media outlet
Secondary  One or more steps News commentaries
removed from a primary Articles in magazines and
source and may newspaper
interpret or analyze a Critical review of a literary
primary source
scholar
 Usually written by
someone other than the Textbooks
original researcher or Encyclopedias
author Research Papers
Tertiary  Topic review; and Bibliography of primary and
usually include secondary sources about a
bibliographies of primary person or topic
and secondary sources Encyclopedias
 Provide access to
Databases and indexes
materials on specific
topics

6. Stable vs. Unstable

Information may be stable or unstable. Stability becomes a consideration especially when the
information you have obtained is published digitally over the Internet. It is often difficult to know
how long a certain Web site or page will last. But an online source may still be predicted to be
stable or otherwise by evaluating it based on the following questions (Ballenger 2009):

 Has it been around for a long time?

 Is it routinely updated?
 Are print versions of an online document available?
 Is the site associated with a reputable institution?

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All about the Different Forms of Media

It has been argued earlier in Module 2 that as media evolves, the newer one carries with it the
features of the predecessor. If you are to trace the history of media and communication technology,
you will observe that the usual observable sequence of the main media forms or types would be:

PRESS → CINEMA → RADIO → TELEVISION → VIDEO GAMES → INTERNET/WWW

Some will argue against this arrangement. But more than their historical sequence, it is important to
note what each of these media types are, what they offer, and how they complement each other.

Print Media

Media is undeniably the most efficient way of communicating to a large audience because of its
capacity to relay the message across cultures and distances. The variety of media forms provides a
menu of choices for where and when you can access information. One such media form is print
media. Also known as the press, this type of media refers to materials that are written and are
physically distributed. Perhaps the most significant event in the history of printing is the invention of
the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. This eventually led to the mass production of
books, which gave people an access to knowledge that they never dreamt of during those times. Print
media can either be in the form of a book, a newspaper, or a magazine.

Books are the very first mass media in human history. Baran (2010) considers books as very
personal because they contain records of past experiences and human knowledge that are passed
on to later generations. Books also provide opportunities for escape and personal reflection as
experienced by one who reads a novel. Although targeted to a specific kind of audience, books are
very specialized in that they offer more ideas about a topic, unlike other mass media forms which are
beholden to advertising rules. When you read a book, you are able to stretch your imagination and
think deeper about ideas that you do not normally encounter in your everyday life. Books are movers
and shakers of culture. As a testament to this, books in physical form are being stored digitally as e-
books.

In contrast to books, newspapers and magazines are advertising-based. This means that a larger
bulk of the earnings of magazine and newspaper publishers come from advertising products rather
than selling the magazine or the newspaper. Newspapers and magazines are published regularly,
whereas books may come out depending on the publisher's prerogative.

Magazines and newspapers may be targeted for the general audience or may address the interests
of a particular group of readers. Magazines typically contain features or human interest articles,
whereas newspapers will definitely have news stories and occasionally have other types of articles.
Both the magazine and the newspaper may also have online versions for them to reach a wider and
larger audience who are more often virtually connected through the Internet.

Film / Cinema

The film as a media form is one that is considered impressionable and has a cathartic effect to its
audience. With moving/motion pictures, the film is able to enhance the media experience of its
consumer because of the audio-video component which heightens both the sense of hearing and
sense imagination. of sight. Films are very important cultural artifacts because, like books, they reflect
the desires, ideologies, and sensibilities of the culture to which they originate from.

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BIG IDEA: Print media enriches the soul. It brings you to worlds beyond your
imagination.

Reflect Upon:
1. Why do you think people talk about films or movies that they watch?
2. What do you think is the reason for the emergence of independent film making in the Philippines.

Broadcast Media

One of the most distinctive characteristics of the broadcast media is their ubiquity. They are
considered "household" media because they can be found in practically any corner of a home. The
broadcast media come in two forms---radio and television. According to Baran (2010), radio was the
first electronic mass medium and the precursor of television. Because of radio, television was a
success in most parts of the world. For a long time, radio was the young people's media. " This is
evident in the proliferation of FM radio stations catering to particular niches such as community radio.

Broadcasting has also started to conquer the Internet and mobile technology through Internet-based
radio and television

Video Games

Video games continue to grow popular to both young and old because of their increased interactivity
and interconnectivity, "from game consoles to personal computers to the Internet to cell phones
(Baran, 2010)." The Internet, on the other hand, is a development in media technology that is at the
heart of all the convergence that you see occurring in traditional media. The Internet made it easier to
address a wider audience in all corners of the world. Ideas reach other people in a shorter span of
time. Thus, societies are more connected than ever. Access to content whenever and wherever is
almost possible.

Points of Intersection among Media Forms

Synergy and convergence are what describes the media of today. According to freedictionary.com,
synergy is an interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than
the sum of their individual effects.”
Convergence, on the other hand, means the combination of various elements to create a new whole.
Think of the traditional media forms converging into a newer media form that optimizes your media
use. There is a very thin line that separates each media form. Synergy is the rationale behind the
concentration of media in one company or organization. Say for instance, a local network giant that
has its main free-air channel with affiliate cable channels and a cable company subsidiary owning a
print media arm and a film production unit. Synergy is also a driving force for mergers and
acquisitions in the media and telecommunications industries, according to Baran.

You probably have heard of the news in recent years about a telecommunication magnate having an
interest to buy another local television station to directly compete with the biggest network in the
country so far.

Convergence is a trend that cannot be done away with because the audiences are getting more
fragmented. Media organizations would like to reach as they can by diversifying the delivery of their
message. Also audiences are no longer biased over one form of media to access content. Smart
phones these days have radio and television applications, which is a clear example of convergence.

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BIG IDEA: Media Convergence can motivate and inspire you to be more creative and
resourceful in that you utilize media for your personal and professional needs.

See Table 4.1 below. It has a list of examples of convergence that emerged in each type of media.

Table 4.1 Convergence among Different Types of Media

Media Type/Form Convergence

Book Ebooks
Print on demand (POD)
Newspaper Online version
Mobile Application Version
Magazine Online Publishing
Custom publishing
Movement from print to television or vise versa
Advertorial
Film Concept movies
Sequels
Remakes and franchises
Television
Comic Book
Video game remakes
Radio Digital radio
Internet-based radio and podcasting
Radio on Television and vise versa
Television Video Cassette Recorders (VCR)
Digital video disk (DVD)
Digital video Recorder (DVR)
Digital television or high-definition television
Internet-based television
Phone-over-cable
Mobile video
Television recording
Videogame Online interactive gaming
Internet-capable handheld devices
Advergaming
Advocacy Gaming
Internet and World Functionalities of the traditional media moving to the web platform
Wide Web Internet technology incorporated to mobile technology (e.g., smartphones
and tablets)
Internet connected, Wifi capable television monitor

Potter (2011) considered cross media convergence as a way of breaking down barriers that separate
each traditional media. An illustration that you probably can relate well with would be memes and

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videos over the internet that people customize so they can produce their own version.

Reflect Upon:
1. Philippine media is regarded by some critics to be highly identical to American media. Do you
think there is some truth to this assumption? Expound your answer.
2. Do you agree that the teleseryes are well-liked among Philippine audiences because these
programs appeal to Filipino aspirations? Why or why not?
3. What do you think is the reason why Philippine telenovelas are well-accepted in some
countries abroad?
4. How has social media changed the landscape of news reporting both locally and globally?

IMPORTANT OUTPUT

Think of yourself as a program monitor/analyst in a television network. Your job is to watch the programs
of the network in a particular timeslot or segment of the day. The head of the program monitoring division
assigned you to watch a prime time soap opera of your network and the soap opera of a competing
network in the same time slot. You were asked to write a report comparing the two programs in terms of
theme, content, target audience, and advertisements.

The report must:

 be between 500 and 700 words; be logical and critical;

 be professional in tone; and

 suggest ways on how the two programs can be improved in terms of content and

 production value.

ESSENTIAL LEARNING

Media utilizes mass communication to reach a large number of audiences. It

transcends boundaries and cultures. This may seem overwhelming some but media may be utilized
to address certain needs of an individual and society to become better members of the community.
The information offered through media technologies come from diverse sources, thus, requiring that
you as consumers of information should be very critical of the content you consume.

Media and culture are very well tied together in that media becomes a storyteller of culture. They
portray images and interests of a society that they cater to. Print media, such as books, magazines,
and newspapers, serve as repositories of our past. Film or cinema enhances the experience earlier
provided by print media because of film's use of audio and visual elements. Broadcast media, such as
radio and television, are so pervasive that they attempt to appeal to the "least common denominator"
or the lay people. Video games have significantly improved through time and have attracted attention
of more adults and young people alike. Video games also reflect the culture, the values, and
sensibilities of its consumers.

The lines that separate these media forms have become blurred due to media convergence.

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Convergence, or the coming together of various media components to create a new whole new
media, is what characterizes the Internet and other technological infrastructure that goes with it.
Philippine media is very much involved in the global media landscape as can be seen in the
importation of foreign concepts and localizing them for Filipino audiences, as well as exportation of
media product, such as Philippine soap operas, which are growing in popularity in other parts of the
world.

At the end of this module, I can:

1. Compare potential sources of media and information.

2. Assess information quality.
3. Interview an elder from the community regarding indigenous media and information
sources.

Which information sources (i.e., indigenous, library, Internet, mass media) do you prefer use for the
following topics? Why?

1. Human genome project

2. The cultural practices of the Lumads of Mindanao
3. The current state of the tourism and hospitality industry
4. Political conflicts and strife in different parts of the world
5. Human expedition on Mars
6. Agricultural practices in Central Luzon
7. Recent events in the last decade that changed the world
8. The ASEAN integration
9. Most promising careers for graduates of senior
10. The trends in the mobile application industry
11. The history of the Bangsamoro
12. Human organization and behavior
13.The global phenomenon on Korean pop
14. Paralympics

Your information needs to dictate your choice of media and information sources. Sources are not all
the same and are not created equal. In an article written by Meyer (2005) on the nature and the
effective use of information in rural development, it was suggested that resources may be evaluated
by looking at the information that they contain. In other words, the content says a lot about the
source.

Judging the value of information is not as easy as it seems. It becomes all the more difficult for you
when you have a limited idea about what you are looking for. You may not realize it, but there are
occasions when you feel dumfounded when there is too much information available. This puts you to
a dilemma of whether to adapt the whole gamut of information or just ignore them and look for some
other sources that can provide you with simpler and more straightforward information.

Information, unlike raw data, is processed and refined. It is an interpretation of the data by the author
or producer of the information. As a consumer, you have to exert more effort to look past the
information and check its validity and relevance to you. Information may also become obsolete and
may not be applicable to current contexts and utility. In your case as students, you are expected to

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discern the changes in the content and claims of the information that you locate, use, and share.

Uncertainty is a key driver for one to seek information. As someone curious about how things work,
you would like to reduce this uncertainty by consulting various materials that come from different
sources. These sources may be in the form of indigenous or community knowledge, physical
materials in archives such as libraries, multimedia texts, and objects found in the Internet, or media
messages from the different mass media forms,

Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Media

Information is like food. It nourishes your hunger for knowledge. But not al food is appetizing. Select
information that is relevant to your information needs.

A rather unconventional source for information is the so-called indigenous knowledge (16)9ndigenous
knowledge a given culture or r society." is defined by Warren (1991) as the "knowledge that is unique
to a given culture or society.

IK contrasts with the international knowledge system generated by universities, research

institutions and private firms. It is the basis for local-level decision making in agriculture,
health care, food preparation, education, natural resource management, and a host of other
activities in rural communities.

-Warren (1991)

Indigenous knowledge is related either through people media (which are the persons involved
in the use, analysis, evaluation, and production of media and information) or through indigenous
media. The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact or AIPP defined indigenous media asmedia:

... owned, controlled and managed by indigenous peoples in order for them to develop and
produce culturally appropriate information in the languages understood by the community by
utilizing indigenous materials and resources, reflecting community needs and interests,
visions and aspirations, la and independent from vested interest groups. It is highly
participatory, involving the community members in planning, management and production.

-AIPP (2014)

Also known as community media, indigenous media is any form of media that is

created and controlled in the community, for the community, about the community and by the
community (either a geographic community or a community of identity or interest) [and] is separate
from commercial media, state-run media, or public broadcasting."] oldalieve Indigenous communities
are typically known to adhere to oral tradition of communication. This means that they are not reliant
on mainstream media. They store information in their memories so the danger of losing the
information is greater. Information exchange is characterized by face-to-face interaction, limiting the
transfer and access of information over long distances and containing it within the borders of the
community. And because of this, the creation and maintenance of indigenous media helps in storing
indigenous knowledge for posterity.

BIG IDEA: Indigenous knowledge enhances one's sense of national identity.

The AIPP observed that "the ASEAN media landscape is generally characterized by an urban-
centric media system in flow, content, consumption and ownership that limits indigenous peoples'

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access to media and information and news coverage of their own issues and conditions." Some of the
other observations of the group includes the following:

 Flow of information starting from metropolitan areas, tending to be one-way as no effective

mechanisms are in place for media organizations to gather news from rural indigenous areas.

 Distant locations of many indigenous territories and poor infrastructures as big obstacles to
indigenous peoples' access to information from mass media.

 Complex biases and serious lack of interest in the lives of indigenous communities in news
coverage and selection of mainstream media.

 Privately owned mainstream media catering more to interests of urban consumers rather than
the needs of rural communities, particularly indigenous ones.

Indigenous Media as Tool for Expression and Participation Information offered by indigenous media is
primarily to "open up other spaces for the discussion of indigenous peoples' issues (AIPP, 2005).”
New media and ICT infrastructures have dramatically helped boost community media in certain parts
of the ASEAN region "providing the opportunity for extending communication outreach in remote rural
areas." The AIPP added that the indigenous youth of some ASEAN countries are exploring online
platforms such as social media for their news and information consumption.

In the ASEAN region, there are indigenous organizations that have initiated the promotion of freedom
of expression and have increased access to information among indigenous peoples (IPs). An
example in the Philippines is the Northern Dispatch Weekly, or NORDIS, which is a weekly
newspaper covering the Ilocos region, the Cordilleras, and the Cagayan Valley region-places where
indigenous communities in Northern Luzon live. NORDIS extends its effort for media to reach the IPs
and the rural communities. The newspaper is nonprofit and promotes a more democratic ownership
of media facilities, and more reader-oriented industry practitioners.

What Have I Learned So Far?

What are other examples of indigenous/ community media in the Philippines? What kind of information do
they relay to their audiences? How are these media helping their communities?

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