Media and Information Literacy
thus, changing cultural, political, and even
Communication one of those everyday activities that
is intertwined with all of human life so completely that we
sometimes overlook its pervasiveness, importance, and
complexity. (Littlejohn & Foss, 2008)
Communicare - to share or to divide out
Models
1. Transmission models (see pp. 4-6 on book)
2. Ritual or expressive model communications
happen due to the need to share understanding
and emotions; done to build social relationships
3. Publicity model involves audiences as
spectators rather than participants or information
receivers; attention is important
4. Reception model communication as an open
process; messages sent and received are open to
various interpretations
a. Encoder produces and sends message
b. Decoder receives and interprets
Factors that affect how communicators are influenced
Communication skills such as reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and watching
Knowledge about a subject or topic
Attitude toward the topic and the audience
Social and cultural aspects
Media modality nature of message; using text, audio,
video, graphics, animation, or the combination of any of
these things
Media format the way the data is arranged; maybe
transmitted through radio waves or light waves
Mass media form particular media technology to which
the message is transmitted
Information broad term that can cover data,
knowledge derived from study, experience, or instruction,
signals, or symbols.; in media, knowledge of specific
events or situations that has been gathered or received by
communication, intelligence or news reports.
The McLuhan Mantra
Marshall McLuhan proponent of the media theory of
determinism; the medium is the message
He also stated that:
Society is driven by changes in media and
communication technology
Society adapts to the advances in technology,
historical aspects of that society
The Internet is not exactly an original concept but
rather a hybrid or derivative of the older forms such
as print media, broadcast media, and film.
Hot media forms requiring little involvement from
the audience (film and television); no feedback
Cold media high-level user interactivity; the
experience is more dynamic and the audience are
more involved (video games and online media
platforms)
Milestones in Media Evolution
The three most significant inventions in comm.:
Phonetic alphabet
Printing press
Telegraph
Tribal Age hearing was the most predominant and most
valuable sense of reception; highly acoustic
Literacy Age sense of sight was dominant, highly
visual; the invention of alphabet, and the reading and
writing
Print Age mass producing of texts; the invention of the
printing press
Electronic Age sound and tactile sense of reception;
humans are able to instantly communicate even in great
distances
Global Village a community where everyone in
the world is interconnected through media
Information Age everything relied heavily on the use
of computers to run major industries
Infrastructure Age more involvement in the
cyberspace
Technology is a product of need and not the other way
around. If there is no need for technology, or it does not
have a practical use, it will perish.
Traditional vs. New Media
Traditional Media one-directional; media experience
is limited and the sense receptors used are very specific
(i.e., print media sense of sight, radio sense of hearing,
television and film both)
New Media
1. Interpersonal Communication Media
content is private and perishable and the
relationship established and reinforced may be
more important than the information conveyed.
2. Interactive Play Media video and computer-
based games; virtual reality devices
3. Information Search Media The Internet and
the World Wide Web become repositories or
sources of a vast collection of information
4. Collective Participatory Media use of the
Internet for sharing and exchanging information,
ideas, and experiences, and developing active
(computer-mediated) personal relationships
Key Characteristics of New Media
Interactivity
Social presence (Sociability)
Media richness
Autonomy
Playfulness
Privacy
Personalization
Functions of Communication and Media
1. Inform citizens of what is happening; monitoring
function
2. Educate the audience
3. Provides a platform for public political discourse
4. Give publicity to governmental and political
institutions
5. Serve as a channel for the advocacy of political
viewpoints
Media and Government
Authoritarian all forms of communication are under
control of the governing elite, authorities, or influential
bureaucrats
Soviet Media government controls the total media and
communication
Libertarian free from any control or censorship
Social Responsibility self-control, not government
intervention
Information Literacy
Information Literacy ability to evaluate what
information you need, what to discard, and how to use the
information you selected
Data raw information
Knowledge effective use of information
Information Fluency ability to analyze information
needs and to move confidently among media, information,
and computer literacy skills
Typology Information
Factual based on evidences and findings provided by
reliable sources; books, encyclopedias, periodicals, or
technical reports
Analytical an analysis or interpretation of facts by an
individual, usually an expert to the subject; feature articles,
commentaries, or reviews
Subjective info is about the discussion and elaboration
of a thesis statement which is still anchored on facts;
editorials, web log entries of prolific writers
Objective unbiased and does not lead you to judge the
information in a certain way; scientific papers and news
reports
Current (currency of information) how recent is the
information is the more current the info, the reliable and
useful it is; hard or natural sciences
Historical old but are very helpful; humanities
Scholarly from academic sources; product of an
authors expertise
Popular Info appeals to general interest; magazines,
coffee table books, or online feature articles
Primary original, first-hand information; creative work,
diary, speech, letter, interview
Secondary one or more steps removed written by
someone other than the original author; news
commentaries, magazine articles, textbooks, research
papers
Tertiary bibliographies of primary and secondary
sources; bibliography, encyclopedias, databases and
indexes
Stable vs. Unstable (see pp. 33-34 on book)
Information Ethics the branch of ethics that focuses
on the relationship between the creation, organization,
dissemination, and use of information, and the ethical
standards and moral codes governing human conduct in
society.
Different Forms of Media
Print Media also known as press; materials that are
written and are physically distributed

Johannes Gutenberg printing press (1440)

*Books very first mass media in human history;
they contain records of past experiences and human
knowledge
*Newspapers advertising-based; news stories and
other types of articles
*Magazine advertising-based; human interests
Film/Cinema considered impressionable and has a
cathartic effect to its audience with moving/motion
pictures, it is able to enhance the media experience; they
reflect the desires, ideologies, and sensibilities of their
culture of origin
Broadcast Media household media; can be found in
practically every corner of a home
*Radio Young peoples media; proliferation
of FM radio (format radio) catering the musical taste
of younger generations; AM Programming is dominated
by a news format
Video Games increase in interactivity and
interconnectivity game consoles to personal computers;
Internet made it easier to address wider audience in all
corners of the world
Points of Intersection among Media Forms
Synergy an interaction of two or more agents or forces
so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of
their individual effects.
Convergence combination of various elements to
create a new whole.
Cross Media Convergence a way of breaking down
barriers that separate each traditional media.