INTERACTING WITH MEDIA AND OTHER INFORMATION PROVIDERS SUCH AS LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND THE INTERNET

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and ACTIVITIES

A key part of media  literacy is understanding how the media  construct different types  of stories, how they shape information in  presenting  it,  and  what techniques  they use to organize material that otherwise would be chaotic and difficult to understand. It is important to have a basic understanding of the different techniques employed by the media, the ‘codes’ they use and how to interpret them. It may also be relevant to consider who is producing and arranging the material and how active or interactive the consumers of media and information are – whether their own perceptions impact upon the way information is presented.

In relation to MIL, the following key areas should be examined closely in order to understand how media and other information providers operate, how they convey meaning, how they can be used, and how the information being presented can be evaluated. The following areas also underpin later modules in this MIL curriculum document:

How do producers of a media text use different techniques or ways of representing different kinds of information to communicate?

LANGUAGES IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

• How are these uses identified and accepted by the general public?
• What are the codes and conventions or the ‘key ingredients’ or grammar of a particular medium?
• A media commentator, Marshall McLuhan, wrote that ‘the medium is the message’,4

meaning that the medium itself – print, broadcast, Internet – affects the way we understand the world. How does the choice of media influence the kind of information we receive? How does this shape the message conveyed through the media?

Examine media images or representations

REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA AND INFORMATION

• Analyze image or media text
• Analyze the context
• Who benefits from the acceptance of media representations and who loses?
• How do these images influence the way we see ourselves and others?
• How do they influence our knowledge and understanding of the world beyond our immediate experience?
• How do they influence our view of gender equality, women’s empowerment, people living with disability, indigenous peoples and ethnic minority groups?
• Examine to what extent the editorial independence is reflected in the media text

PRODUCTION/USER-GENERATED CONTENT        

McLuhan & Fiore 1967. The Medium is the Message: An Inventory of Effects. Penguin Modern Classics.

• Notions of human agency are important here – who is creating the media and information text and why?
• Connects to rights of communication and expression for the citizen and the professional
• Connects to freedom of expression, active citizenship and media and information literacy
• Resources (human, financial, technological, ) and regulations are considered here

Target and active audiences

AUDIENCE AS CITIZENS AND USERS/CONSUMERS

• Active citizens and users/consumers negotiate their own meanings based on what they bring to a text
• Audiences have expectations of media industries based on transparency, accountability and fairness
• Users/consumers have personal, economic, social and cultural needs for information

How information providers select information resources and major selection criteria

CITIZENS AS USERS/CONSUMERS OF INFORMATION PROVIDER SERVICES

• How information providers, such as libraries, subscribe or purchase information resources such as books, periodical and database
• How information providers, including public and private Internet information providers, are funded

KEY QUESTIONS

• What is the purpose of this media/information text?
• How is this produced?
• Who created it?
• Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
• What is the main message?
• Who benefits and what do they gain?
• What are my information needs?
• How can I identify and define this need?
• Does the information I need exist in the form I need it? If not what action can I take?
• How to understand, organize and assess the information found?
• How can I present this information in usable formats?
• How can I preserve, store and reuse, record and archive information?
• How information providers generate income from information services