Introduction to Media & Information Literacy: Communication Models, Social Media Impact, and Roles of Media

Learning Competencies

  • Describe the extent to which media and information shape communication in the 21st-century context
  • Identify similarities and differences among:
    • Media Literacy
    • Information Literacy
    • Technology Literacy

Reflective Activity: Personal Media Log

  • Think back over the last week
  • List ALL interactions with information providers:
    • Internet (web-sites, search engines, blogs)
    • Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Digg, etc.)
    • Television
    • Radio / Podcasts
    • Print (newspapers, magazines, flyers, billboards)
  • Guiding questions:
    1. Which medium consumed MOST of your time?
    2. What specific ROLES did each medium play in your daily life? (news, entertainment, school, social connection, etc.)

Understanding Communication

  • Key prompting questions:
    • What IS communication?
    • HOW do we communicate?
    • WHY do we communicate?
  • Definition:
    • Communication = the process of conveying or sharing information
    • Historically viewed as an innate social skill
    • 21st-century shift → “more social” due to technology & networked platforms

Transmission / Linear Models of Communication

  • General idea: message flows in ONE direction, typically without immediate feedback

Lasswell’s Model (1948)

  • Formula: Who → Says What → In Which Channel → To Whom → With What Effect?
  • Elements
    • Communicator (sender)
    • Message
    • Medium / Channel
    • Receiver / Audience
    • Effect (outcome, impact, change)

Shannon–Weaver Model (1949)

  • Known as the “mother of all models” (devised for telephone & radio tech)
  • Linear chain:
    1. Information Source (Sender)
    2. Transmitter (Encoder → converts to signal)
    3. Channel (pathway; vulnerable to Noise)
    4. Receiver (Decoder)
    5. Destination (Target audience)
  • Criticisms
    • Omits Feedback, so cannot ensure understanding
    • Treats audience as passive

Publicity / Display Model

  • Audience = spectators, primarily receivers of information displayed for attention rather than active participants

Reception & Cultural Models

Hall’s Encoding/Decoding Model (1993)

  • Messages are encoded by producers and open to multiple interpretations by audiences
  • Meaning depends on the receiver’s cultural, social, and ideological framework
  • Emphasises active audience role

Osgood–Schramm Circular Model (1954)

  • Adds Field of Experience: life experiences, attitudes, beliefs that shape encoding & decoding
  • Depicts communication as interactive & continuous, not one-way

Berlo’s SMCR Model (1960)

  • Components expanded:
    • Sender (Source) – influenced by communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social system, culture
    • Message – content, elements, treatment, structure, code
    • Channel – senses (hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting) or technological medium
    • Receiver – mirrors Sender variables, stressing similarity for successful transmission

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Model (pre-300 B.C.)

  • First recorded communication model
  • Speaker-centric & linear; success measured by persuasion of passive audience
  • Central Elements:
    • Speaker
    • Speech (Message)
    • Occasion (Context)
    • Audience (Listener)
    • Effect (Influence)

Core Elements & Processes in Communication (consolidated)

  • Speaker / Sender / Communicator
  • Message – information, ideas, feelings
  • Medium – physical form of message (text, image, audio, video)
  • Channel – means of transmission (airwaves, cables, Internet, print, face-to-face, etc.)
  • Encoding – translating ideas into symbols, words, gestures
  • Decoding – interpreting encoded symbols back into meaning
  • Listener / Receiver – target of the message
  • Feedback – receiver’s response that closes the loop
  • Context – situational environment (physical, social, cultural, temporal)
  • Barriers / Noise – any factor that disrupts or distorts the message (physical noise, psychological bias, semantic ambiguity, technological failure)

Impact of Technology & Social Media

  • Information flow has become faster, broader, more participatory
  • Social Media Effect (infographic summary):
    • Content creation → submitted to Digg → reaches front page → cascades to Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, major blogs → amplified via retweets/shares → large inbound links → high Google search ranking
    • Visitor statistics (examples from infographic)
    • Digg front page ≈ 4.8 M unique visitors
    • Reddit ≈ 22.4 M unique visitors
    • Facebook status exposure ≈ 128 M unique visitors
    • StumbleUpon ≈ 3.9 M unique visitors
    • Chain reaction demonstrates how a single post can become viral, reinforcing media’s amplifying power

Media & Information Literacy (MIL)

  • Recognises centrality of information and media in everyday life
  • Core to freedom of expression & informed citizenship
  • Empowers users to:
    1. Understand functions of media & information providers
    2. Critically evaluate content
    3. Create & share informed, responsible messages
  • Integrates media literacy, information literacy, and technology literacy into a holistic competence

Roles of Media in Society (UNESCO perspective)

  1. Channels of information & knowledge enabling citizens to make informed decisions
  2. Platforms for informed debate among diverse actors
  3. Primary source of learning about the broader world
  4. Mirror through which society examines itself & builds community
  5. Watchdog over government & power (transparency & accountability)
  6. Facilitator of democratic processes & fair elections
  7. Vehicle for cultural expression & cohesion (within & across nations)
  8. Advocate / social actor in its own right, while respecting pluralism

Connections to Broader Principles

  • Feedback loops distinguish interactive models from early linear models
  • Technological convergence blurs boundaries between sender & receiver (prosumer culture)
  • Ethical implication: with great reach comes responsibility for accuracy, fairness, cultural sensitivity (e.g., controversies over racist magazine covers, offensive T-shirts noted in references)
  • Practical implication: mastery of MIL skills crucial for academic research, professional effectiveness, and civic engagement in information-saturated environments

Numerical / Technical Notes (few explicit formulas)

  • Visitor statistics given above act as quantitative illustration of viral reach
  • No traditional mathematical formulas presented in transcript; however, causal chain of reach can be conceptually modelled as exponential growth R=k×anR = k \times a^n where:
    • RR = total reach
    • kk = initial audience size
    • aa = average number of shares per user
    • nn = levels of sharing

Referenced Resources (for further study & credibility)

  • Liquigan, B.C. “Media and Information Literacy” (Diwa)
  • Project LookSharp (Ithaca College media literacy project)
  • McGraw-Hill Higher Ed communication PDF
  • University of Washington Northwest Center curriculum documents
  • Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (logical fallacies)
  • ChurchMag: Logic fallacy resources
  • SkillsYouNeed.com – Critical Thinking
  • GMA Network news links (case studies on public outrage & media ethics)

Ethical, Philosophical, & Real-World Implications

  • Media as watchdog vs. media as potential source of misinformation
  • Need for critical thinking to spot logical fallacies in online content
  • Cultural sensitivity to avoid reinforcing stereotypes (e.g., “racist cover” recall)
  • Responsibility of content creators & platforms to balance freedom of expression with social accountability

Quick Comparative Overview: Literacies

  • Media Literacy: ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media
  • Information Literacy: ability to recognize information need, locate, evaluate, and use effectively
  • Technology Literacy: ability to use digital tools and platforms efficiently & responsibly
  • Overlaps: critical evaluation, ethical use, communicative competence
  • Distinctions: focus of content (media messages vs. information resources vs. tools)

Study Tips

  • Map each communication model chronologically to visualize evolution
  • Practice identifying model elements in real interactions (e.g., texting = encoder? channel?)
  • Keep a weekly media diary to heighten awareness of consumption patterns
  • Apply MIL lens when reading news: check source credibility, bias, factual accuracy