Lesson

1. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
NORTHEASTERN MINDANAO ACADEMY
“The School that Trains for Life”
P-10 Los Angeles, Butuan City
Media and Information technology
THE TYPES OF MEDIA
INTRODUCTION: Media utilizes mass communication to reach a large number of
audiences. It transcends boundaries and cultures. This may seem overwhelming for 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 commend 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.
PERFORMANCE TASK: AM and FM Radio program
Listen to both FM and AM radio programs and compare them. In what
aspects are they similar? How are they different?
Which of the following functions did your chosen programs fulfill? Why do you say so?
o Persuade
o Entertain
o Inform
o Educate
OBJECTIVE: Compare and contrast how one particular issue or news is presented through
the different types of media. (Print, broadcast online).
IFL: 1 Corinthians: 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory
of God.
MODULE
4

2. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
1. What do you think are the positive and negative effects of playing video games?
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2. What do you think are the positive and negative effects of playing video games?
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3. Fill in the boxes to complete the word being asked in each number.
Random clues are given below the puzzle.
M
E
D
I
A
1. Moving image; Sallie Gardner at a Gallop; daguerreotype
2. Cathode ray; Charles Francis Jenkins; UHF and VHF
3. Wireless telegraphy; Guglielmo Marconi; modulation
4. ARPANET, ICANN, TCP/IP.
5. Public occurrences both foreign and domestic, gazette, circulation After answering the
puzzle, conduct a brief research about your answers using the random clues as search
terms.
Activity 1

3. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
 What to Process
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 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 rely 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 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 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 newspapers. Newspaper 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 has

4. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
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 of sight. Films are very important culture artifacts because, liked books, they reflect the
desires, ideologies, and sensibilities of the culture to which they originate from.
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 the musical taste of younger
generations, also known as format radio.
In the Philippines, you customarily expect FM programming to be format radio, whereas
AM programming is dominated by a news format. The landscape is slowly changing as news
format has already gone into frequency modulation. The AM radio still remains the same but more
specialized radio broadcasts have emerged 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.
Some people have mixed feelings about television as a media form. Some think that next
to printing press, it is the second most important invention. “ Television has changed the nature,
operation , and relationship to their audiences of books, magazines, movies, and radio (Baran,
2010).” Others think that the television has significantly dumb – dumb down its content to adhere
to what they call the “least common denominator” which means that television programs avoid
burdening the audience of complex and complicated, messages.
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 converges 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.

5. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
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 s newer media form that optimizes your media use.
There is 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 cables 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 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 many as they can by diver satisfying the
delivery of their message. Also, audience 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.
See Table 4.1. Below. It has 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  E-books
 Print on demand (POD)
Newspaper  Online version
 Mobile application version
Magazine  Online publishing
 Custom publishing
 Movement from print to television (or vice versa)
 Advertorial
Film  Concept movies
 Sequels, remakes, and franchises
 Television, comic book, and video game remakes
Radio  Digital radio
 Internet-based radio and podcasting
 Radio on television (and vice versa)
Television  Video cassette recorders (VCR)
 Digital video disc (DVD)
 Digital video recorder (DVR)

6. Media and Information Literacy| Bon Rudela
 Digital television or high-definition television
 Internet-based television
 Video on the Internet
 Interactive television
 Phone-over-cable
 Mobile video
 Television recording
Video game  Online interactive gaming
 Internet-capable handheld game devices
 Advergaming
 Advocacy gaming
Internet and the
World Wide
Web
 Functionalities of the traditional media moving to the Web platform
 Internet technology incorporated to mobile technology (g.g., smart
phones and tablets)
 Internet connected, Wi-Fi-capable television monitor
Source: Baran, Stanley J. Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture, 6th
ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2010.
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 videos over the Internet that people customize so they are able to produce their own
version.
 Key Terms
 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 – the combination of various elements to create a new hole.
Essay Rubric
Criteria Excellent
(10)
Good
(8)
Fair
(5)
Needs
Improvement
(2)
EXPLANATION Explanation is
very
comprehensive.
Explanation is
comprehensive.
Explanation
lacks details.
Explanation
is unclear
or
irrelevant
to the
question.
Total Points 30
References:
Media Literacy and Culture, 6th
Ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2010
Media and Information Literacy 2nd
Ed.