In today’s use of technology like a cell phone. Majority of the young generation and even the adults tend to check their phone after waking up, before leaving any premises, and even before sleeping. Mobile devices have been part of the daily routine of people. It physically explains the idea of McLuhan but in terms of a deeper connection. The use of devices to express emotions and ideas through the use of the internet. Social Media is one of the famous platforms to explore, express and share people personalities and believes. According to Digital in 2017 Global Overview, 58% percent or about 60 million Filipinos have access to the internet and spent an average of 4 hours and 17 minutes per day on social media sites. Every year it will continue to rise up.
What is literacy?
Literacy is the ability of a person to read, write and use arithmetic. It can also refer to the ability of a person to speak, listen and to be able to process a language. There several kinds of literacy known today, visual, functional, social, critical, digital, and many more. The term has been expanded due to the rise of technological development. Focusing on the term digital literacy, it is the ability of a person to harness the capabilities of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs for purposes of communication, expression, collaboration, and advocacy.The ability to read different kinds of media has become an essential skill in the 21st century. According to Anusca Ferrari, digital competence is both a requirement and a right of citizens, if they are to be functional in today’s society.
Media Literacy
Now, what is media literacy? It is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages on different platforms. Today, where the convergence of media and technology in a global culture is changing the way how people receive information and participate in different platforms most especially on the internet. It is important to be able to read and analyze different media platform because of its massive to infinite amount of data that people can access, consume and create every day.
The citizens have the power to participate and have an information exchange through the use of media. Through the advent of technology and its accessibility to the mass, passive audiences are now active audiences. People can now voice out and communicate their ideas through the use of technology furthermore they can engage in a meaningful and democratic conversation regarding different kinds of issues circulating society. Not only do they discuss those issues but to some extent create an online/physical organization to advocate and spread their beliefs. If used properly, it can enhance the freedom of expression and discourse to a better democratic society. The right use of media can propagate awareness and knowledge/facts about different issues then again not all users use it ethically. The accessibility of technology can be seen as a beacon for humanity however it can also lead to chaos, like spreading fake facts and ideas to propagate a certain belief that can cause a divide in society.
Nowadays, fake news in different platforms are rampantly spreading and people without media literacy can easily believe in fake information and sway to different beliefs and ideas that are not factual. That is why media literacy is important, as a result, the government of the Philippines specifically DepEd, includes media and information literacy in the K-12 curriculum. https://depedkto12.blogspot.com/2014/08/media-and-information-literacy.html
The proponents interviewed two Senior High School teachers, Ms. Melissa Novenario and Sir. Christian De Torres, that already handled a media and information literacy subject. They observed that their students the lack of ability to read media texts and filter what they have read from all forms of media, most especially, in social media. More often than that, students tend to believe what they have first read without even digging into the reliability of the source or even to interrogate the content of the text. As what Sir. Christian said it is important to know what is media literacy through the technologically-advancement of society. Social media can either make or break people. It is of great importance to teach the younger generation in terms of media literacy to be able to filter what is factual from not and to be ethical in using media. Quoting from the interview, “it is a small leap of creating a positive change in this social milieu.” It is important to teach the younger student to be able to maximize and enhance their use of media. Ms. Melissa integrated NxGBL or Next Generation Blended Learning in her learning module to maximize the potential and to meet the maximum school requirement. She also adds new resources and references to better enhance the capacity of students.
The proponents interviewed twelve (12) undergraduate students and two (2) senior high schoolers about their knowledge in media literacy and how they fact check their information they gathered on different platforms. Majority of the students get their news online specifically Rappler, Facebook, Twitter and online counterparts of newspaper companies. There were three (3) major questions asked for each interviewee, (1) What is media literacy?; (2) How do you fact check ideas and facts from the media? And (3) Why do you think media literacy is important to you and to your fellow colleagues?
Only one(1) out of the fourteen (14) explained the concept of what media literacy is and seven (7) students are not familiar with it; the remaining answered that they are familiar with the term but cannot fully explain it. For the second question, the participants gave different answers in terms of how they fact check their news. Four(4) of them said that to be able to know whether the news is correct, they search other sources if they have similar facts and ideas. Some of the participants said that they will ask their friends and family about the issue to know whether it is factual or not. Thirteen (13) out of fourteen (14) believe that the major media companies give legitimate and credible news and it is their basis for fact-checking their news found on the internet. The participants know the importance media literacy even if they cannot fully grasp the idea. In this activity, the proponents saw the lack of deeper knowledge of the students in the concept of media literacy and how to properly fact check.
The importance of media literacy is now being acknowledged by the Philippine government by including media literacy education in the elementary and high school curriculum. In fact, Department of Education Media Literacy Task Force (DepEd-MLTF) was created to formulate a framework for the basis of curriculum development.
But what is media literacy? A good way to better understand the concept of media literacy is to break down it down into two words; media, and literacy.
What is media?
Media is a communication channel through which news, data, educational, entertainment, or promotional messages are disseminated. This includes newspaper, radio, television, and internet. Herbert Marshall McLuhan, author of Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, coined the phrase medium is the message, in which he particularly give interest to the medium that carries the message. For him, a medium is “any extension of ourselves” or more broadly, “any new technology”.
Media
Literacy
before we B E L I E V E
What's on your M I N D ?
Here are some ways to fact check your news and facts on the internet.
People access the internet for different reasons; one of it is to gather information or data for certain purposes. Also, younger generation tends to use internet for researching and communicating due to its accessibility of information. It holds a massive amount of data which the users can access for free. It is important to know whether the facts they are gathering are correct most especially if it is concerning about news and ideas.
There are a lot of ways to fact check sources but here are some guideline that can help guide users.
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Check the date; when getting resources and news, checking the date when it was published is a good practice. What is factual a century ago cannot be factual today, for instance, the issue about Planet Pluto whether or not it is part of our prime planets in our solar system. The issue revolves around the definition of what a planet is and its criteria to be considered as one. Another example will be the resharing of news in social media, without properly investigating the dates, users can assume that the issues or news are currently happening but in fact, it is resolved or even cleared out already.
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Check the credential and sources; remember to always check the author and publisher of an article. Know the credential of the author itself pertaining to the article or topic being discussed. Is s/he expert on that specific topic, does s/he has a background to conclude those ideas written in the article, and of course s/he reputation in the industry. It is essential to know the background of the writer pertaining to a certain issue and their standpoint to know whether the article or the ideas presented are bias or not. It also applicable in terms of publishers and media companies.What do they stand for and what are their ethics or moral principles?
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Beware of biases; whether it is a presentation of new facts, debugging myths or even the daily news, it should offer different views and standpoint in presenting the data. Be sensitive enough to know whether the article or facts are promoting a specific standpoint or even a product.
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Look for consistency; it is a good habit to read several articles pertaining to the issues/facts to know whether it is authentic or not, or better yet ask experts or professionals on that issue.
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Is it a joke; some authors present their ideas in a satire way, know whether it is meant for a joke. It is difficult to detect especially if readers are not well-off in terms of the topic. One way of recognizing it is knowing the author style of writing whether s/he writes satirical articles or not and the publisher itself. What are their reputations?
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Read beyond the title; it is important to read beyond the heading before sharing it online or spreading it to someone. Title is meant to attract attention, there are a lot of competitors and publisher aiming for everyone’s clicks, likes, and shares. It is important to read the whole article to know if its satiric, factual, advertising or just mere entertainment.
Take in mind that majority of the sites are business oriented, know whether your being advertise. It is important to ask questions and be mindful of what you are reading and sharing because anything on the internet can spread like wildfire. Interrogate and examine everything you read on the internet or even in publish work. Just a bonus tip, always check the URL address of the websites, domain manipulation is being used to trick people that they are credible and a legit website to spread news and facts on the internet or even ask for personal information to hack users. For instance, what looks like an .edu domain, followed by .co or “lo” is likely a fake or deceptive site.If seeing a slightly variant version of a well-known URL, do a little investigating.
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Be wise, sensitive and responsible for your daily consumption of media.
Now
You
Know!
MEDIA LITERACY for DLSU Students
What to expect?
Media is part of everybody’s life. The consumption and creation of media can be seen through the beginning of human history; for instance, the cave paintings, epics, and early theaters are few examples of human entertainment. It is not merely for entertainment purposes but also in terms of recording history. The cave paintings and pottery/craftsmanship reflect the early civilization and how their society works. In terms oral history, it is the way of announcing publicly to the citizens the new laws and reports of their civilization. Even before television, radio, and internet came about, consumption of media is inevitable.
Today, more than ever, the consumption of media is at its highest. Not only that, but the nature of media changed through time. In the late 19th century to 20th century, where the radio and television were invented, society consumes media in a very passive way but through the advent of the internet and affordability of technology, people have now the capacity to create and share their thoughts in a massive scale.The passive audiences back then are now active participants in society in terms of the ability to create and spread different information worldwide. Not only that but the activeness of society in terms of sharing their news are now used in established media corporation.
At present, the majority of Filipino people get their news on television and the internet. According to Kantar Media 2016 survey, 96.6 percent of Filipinos watch TV daily from 91.2 percent in 2014 but digital media is catching up as a preferred platform accessing content, with internet access rising close to 43 percent in just two years. Almost all the media corporation have a website extension to cater to the consumers who prefer to get their news online. The problem now lies in the validity and precision of the news found in different media including the well-established media corporations. In the age where any and everybody can create information, whether it is factual or not, how can a media consumer identify the real ones from the fake ones? There are a lot of bloggers and news sources that give information without checking their sources and validity of information before uploading it online. This is where media literacy comes in.
This article discusses what media literacy is in terms of news consumption and creation online and application its possible effects in our society. The video provided also gives an insight to some of the undergraduate students’ understanding and perception of what media literacy is. Furthermore, an infographic gives a list of tips how to fact check your information.
Overview
Now You Know! Team
Jaimie Alano
3D Graphic and Animation & Basic Principle of Design Professor
Ruru Gonzales
Account Handler & Advertisng Practitioner
Mon See
Visual Artist & Digital Film Professional