The Power of Media and Information Literacy

  Media considered as one of the most powerful tools in providing information to people or in society. Media is part of our daily lives. It informs, influences, and entertains us. Not only they inform us, they have a laserso the capability in shaping our lives. Advertisements shown on television or even in the internet can affect the viewers. Some contains violence, nudity or anything that is inappropriate to the viewers who are children or under age. They might think the information on that certain advertisement is correct without proper guidance from the parents.A media comes with many forms and styles. It is accessible by anyone anywhere and is the center stage in digital society. A media literate person has the ability to read, analyze, evaluate and produce communication in a variety of media forms. On the other hand, an information literate person has the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, affectively use and communicate information in its various formats (UNESCO, MIL Curriculum for Teachers, 2011).

In the internet, there is no censorship when it comes to information resulting to some users to take this as an advantage to spread false information all over the web. That is the reason that there are some users who were victimized by scammers, bullies and etc. Medias has biases also. They have the power to manipulate thus making viewers to believe on the information they insinuate. But all of those negativities written above can be abide. Parents must be vigilant on what their children are watching. They must ensure that it is age appropriate. Users in the internet must check the authenticity of the information.

 They must check the origin of it to avoid fallacy. Never post something too personal like bank numbers, address or any that might put you in jeopardy. Always consider one’s privacy. In detecting biases in media, look for the sources if it involves political perspectives. Check if the headline and actual article matches. Sometimes it contains double standards. Look who’s point of view is the article is written and find alternate point of views . Biased information tries to change your mind so as an individual we must not believe immediately.   Our main source of to get information is the media. Without media, we will never be updated on the day-today events that is happening in our surrounding.

Media is used to raise awareness but sometimes they use it for biases. In using the media, we must follow some rules and etiquettes. Information is powerful but we must not abuse it. We must turn ourselves as responsible users. Media has two sides, the positive and the negative. It can help us but it has the capability to destroy us. But it all depends on us. If we let them continue to do those negative things, we are only letting them play our lives. But if we become vigilant, we can truly avoid or stop those things. Responsibility is a big word. But it is one the things that are inevitable. Every individual plays a role in the society and a responsibility to take. There is one saying that serves as a reminder, “With great power comes great responsibility.

The power of media and information and the responsibility of users

“Post, like, share, comment, research, chat, and others” is something what to do now in media. Media and information is very important to our everyday lives. It gives us the opportunity to be updated and to be aware in our surroundings. It gives us the opportunity to connect with our friends and love ones. It gives us the opportunity to be citizen journalism. It gives us the opportunity to share our opinions to the other. And also, it gives us the opportunity to challenge ourselves on how to be a responsible media and information user.   

In general, "media" refers to the tools of mass communication. Media today consists of television, Internet, cinema, newspapers, radio, magazines, direct mail, fax, and the telephone. Viewers can see some form of pictorial representation of messages through certain types of broadcasting and advertising. Images are visual representations, pictures, graphics, and include video, movies. Images are very useful in media to help get across messages effectively. Today, our life will remain incomplete without media. Media influence has become so powerful today that they can easily influence people positively and/or negatively. We also live in a society that depends on the media as a source of entertainment and information. Media like television enhances our knowledge by providing access to information all over the world. We can also receive different news or daily events through the television. It can be such a powerful educational tool for the younger generation helping to put them on the right path. Newspapers have a positive influence on society. Newspapers not only give information or the latest news. They also help in the positive linkage between government and the people. On the other hand, mass media can at times have a negative influence. Images in the media can have a powerful influence on our behavior. Movies, another form of mass media, today may show violence in one form or another. Images of violence somehow influence individuals and especially the younger generation to think that violence is accepted by society when it is not. Movies can also be used to show sexual images. Such images have a powerful influence on the mind and soul of young people. People who watch these images may be influenced to react in a socially unacceptable or even criminal manner. “With power comes with great responsibility.” Cyberbullying is an issue that unfortunately society has seemed to turn its cheek on. On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media outlet, it requires little effort to harass someone. While many of these sites were created for harmless networking and fun, they have instead turned into some of the greatest tools to harm others with. We should all be responsible social media users. Derisive comments ought to never discover their way into spots that were made to be valuable wellsprings of data and fun leisure activities. Everybody should think before we click.  

The role of the media in the contemporary society is difficult to overestimate. They have become a considerable part of our life. They report about various aspects of life, form and affect public opinion.

Media comes in various forms – television, radio, newspaper and the now widely used internet. This makes media the most powerful equipment one can ever use when it comes to sharing informations and opinions. It is a channel used to relay one's message to those far at reach or in a large target of audience due to its pervasive connectivity. And in point of fact, media has an influence on every aspects of human life in modern times. Political, economical, and social values of an individual. Moreover, it has the capability to create and shape public beliefs and strengthen the society. It strives for every citizens' right to be served. Furthermore, it allows the government to connect with its nation and in the same way, helps the people aware the government of its opinions and feeling with regards to policies.

The power of media lies in the hands of its users, thus are responsible for the effects of what they do or are about to do. That being said, “with great power comes with great responsibility”. The users are solely responsible for their content – such as photos, videos, and, captions. Seeing as there are different types of media, there different responsibilities to consider. In broadcast media, for example, it is the anchors' responsibility to correspond with various sources to verify information and ensure the accuracy of any news reports. Social media, however, is in a wide range and easily is accessed by different people. Educated or not, it is their right to be a part of social media, thus allowing those irresponsible users to enter the world of media. Some do already know what are their responsibilities and are just naturally rude or moral. But there are still those who do not. And for the sake of those who do not know what they are responsible for, I'll cite the responsibilities from the blog, Just Adulting.

•Refrain from giving legal advice or legal commentary

•Do not post any comments, photos, videos, etc. that suggest or encourage illegal activity. •Avoid violating any laws and regulations, including intellectual property (IP) rights and others regarding content that you send or receive. •Never transmit any material in any manner that is disruptive, threatening, profane, abusive, harassing, embarrassing, tortuous, defamatory, obscene, libelous or is an invasion of another’s privacy •Never transmit any material that is hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive •Avoid sending unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials or any other form of solicitation.*Never transmit any material that is hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive•Avoid sending unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials or any other form of solicitation. •Never upload any software that could breach cyber security, such as malware, viruses, key loggers, trojans, etc. •If you affiliate your job with your personal social media profile, keep in mind you are representing both yourself and your employer. •Get acquainted with the unique privacy and security policies of each social media networking site and third party site you use.

Nowadays people depend in media. Media plays an important to our society. Now the question is can you imagine life without using any types of media? Can you imagine life without reading newspaper or social medias to get information in order for us to get updated in our society? Or you as a student, can you imagine life without using any kinds of media in order for you to research your assignments? do you think that your life would be miserable without media??

  Media and information plays an important role in our society. Media refers to the tools of mass communication in which consists of television, internet, newspaper, magazines, books, radio, and cellphone or telephone. Media can give us information that we need in order for us to be updated in our society or we can be updated what is the latest trend.  In fact, media influence has become so powerful today that they can easily influence people positively or negatively. We also live in a society that people nowadays depends on the media as a source of entertainment and information.  Many people would say that their life would be incomplete without media.  Why? Because media provides an easy means of communication in which people are able to contact their friends and families from another side of the world. At the same time, media like television, radio and internet enhance our knowledge by providing access to information especially for those students like me that we badly need this media to get some information that we need. It can also be such a powerful educational tool for us or for the younger generation helping to put them on the right path for instance an educational show in television that we usually see every day like “I believe”, “math tinik” or “sesame street” is one of the TV programs that has a positive influence to younger generation. They taught the kids how to communicate effectively, to spell correctly and have fun with learning. However media have this negative effect. It can cause cyber bullying in social media that we usually encountered.

    On the other hand users should be responsible on using media like for example applying the different netiquettes and also the user knows how to disseminate information.Media, information channels and the ubiquity of the internet may leave the impression that the digital age has turned everyone into media users and that the digital can be found everywhere, including in schools. This impression is false and, moreover, schools are the notable exception. School is the one place where it is absolutely crucial to train future citizens to understand, to criticise and to create information. It is in schools that the digital citizen must begin and maintain constant critical thinking in order to attain meaningful participation in his or her community.

    The use of media can be positive and negative to the individual or society. In a positive way, media makes our lifestyle easier, for example, we can get to know what is going on out there, locally or globally, within a short space of time. Even though there are so many benefits from media images, we have to be careful not to let them influence us unknowingly. We need to be wise when using the media and we should be responsible using media and remember one of the netiquettes “ think before you click”.

REFERENCES: 

https://erniebalbuena2.blogspot.com/2017/08/essay-power-of-media-and-information.html?m=1

https://doobidoobidapdap.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/the-power-of-media-and-information-literacy-and-the-responsibility-of-the-user-2/

https://www.coe.int/en/web/digital-citizenship-education/media-and-information-literacy