MEDIA AND INFORMATION
LITERACY
CHAPTER II
How Media Is Made
Learning Objectives
To understand that all media is constructed
To elaborate on the concept of representation and how
representations construct truths, distortions, and
positions
To understand that all media are governed by established
codes and conventions
To discuss the concepts of genre and format, as typical
ways of typologizing media and information texts
Key Terms
Representation – the ways in which media represents reality. More
appropriately, it is how the process of media creation and production re-
present reality through the decisions and perspectives of its creators. Media
and information literacy is concerned with how certain groups, ideas, faith
systems, and topics are presented from a particular perspective or value
system.
Codes – system of signs and symbolic meanings embedded in a media and
information text.
Conventions – the established and socially accepted ways of doing things.
In media, these are the styles and approaches that have been standardized
into the content.
Genre – a system of classification of works of art, based on established
conventions.
Format – manner of presentation and style that provides a structure for
media and information texts.
LESSON 1
Constructedness:
When Do We Say Something Is
Constructed?
The Concept of “Construction”
in Media
Today the capacities of the human mind aided by
technology enable the process called construction of
media and information messages.
The process of construction requires the exercise of
deliberate choice: What tools to use; what to include and
what not to include; what structure to create; as well as
how to harness creativity and design elements to make
the work more appealing to its audiences.
Constructions and Representations
Constructions create representations, which are the
construction in any media of certain aspects of reality and
the constitutive elements that make up reality—people,
places, time or historical period, objects, ways of life and
even identities.
Representation is a way of presenting reality again.
Every media message, every media form, or media text,
whether it is a printed advertisement prominently lining the
we pass through to the television show you watch every
day, are representations of how reality is perceived by its
creator or producer, rendered into codes and conventions
readable to the audience who in turn read or consume that
version of reality.
It is very apparent that our perception of reality is mostly
drawn from the representations that media provide us.
Activity
Single out a commercial on television meant to sell hair
products for women.
1. Name all the elements you see and hear.
2. Where is the setting?
3. Since this was shot using the camera, try to discern
the language of the camera by listing the angles (long
shot, medium close up, close-up) and the
corresponding scene that it tries to capture?
4. What is the beginning, middle, and end?
5. A commercial is always selling a product. How is this
commercial selling its product? What is its most potent
way of selling the product?
6. Are there memorable lines or visual effects? What
makes it memorable?
LESSON 2
Codes and Conventions
What Are Codes and Conventions?
• CODES ‒ are systems of signs that when put
together create meaning.
• CONVENTIONS ‒ are generally established
and accepted ways of doing something.
The Semiotics Theory
Semiotics is the study of signs.
Media always is engaged in “signifying
practices,” which means there is a kind of
symbolic work that can be found in media
texts.
To fully understand how the theory works and
how coherent systems of meaning are
created, the concept of culture should be
discussed.
The Concept of Culture
The approach to culture is tied to man’s capacity for
meaning-making. In the last decades of the 20th
century, emphasis has been placed in shared meaning-
making processes derived from and embedded in social
interaction. Therefore, this approach does not envision a
culture that is coherent and unitary but instead
considers the diversity of meaning-making processes.
As such, culture is always plural, constructed out of
man’s ability to weave meanings from the symbols he
encounters in social life. From this perspective, culture
is a product of meaning-making processes but itself
“possesses a relative autonomy in shaping actions and
institutions”.
The Concept of Culture
We take symbolic action every now and then. Our
interactions with others are about using symbols to
express ourselves: we wave our hands to say goodbye,
shake our heads to express disapproval, or clap our
hands to express delight. In a way, culture is also
viewed as the vehicle by which the collectivity known as
society transmits its values, dominant (and therefore,
preferred) ideas, and institutions.
Media is one of the main, if not also the most accessible
and potent, channel by which symbols are transmitted.
The Role of Context
Context can mean the established ways by which society
privileges certain signs due to certain historical
circumstances.
Context can also mean the structures and institutions that
we assign to the words, sounds, and images we see.
LESSON 3
Genre
What Is Genre?
The word genre is a French word which
means ‘‘kind’’ or ‘‘class’’.
The original Latin word is ‘‘genus’’ and means
a class of things that can be broken down
into subcategories.
Genre tends to be understood to constitute
particular conventions of content, and
following a distinctive style in terms of form
and presentation.
Primary Genres That Media Creators and
Producers Invoke
• News
• Entertainment
• Information
• Education
• Advertising
News
Stories that have critical importance to
community and national life
Are also told following the basic structure
of beginning, middle, and end
Journalists, people trained to report news
to an audience, are expected to be
objective, comprehensive, and bias-free.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
1. Hard or straight news
2. Soft news
3. Feature
4. Opinion
5. Investigative news
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
1. HARD OR STRAIGHT NEWS
What is usually found in the first page of a newspaper or
makes up the headline of a regular episode of primetime
news
Values two elements: seriousness and timeliness.
Journalists usually invoke the notion of objectivity as one of
the guiding principles in covering and presenting news
stories.
The inverted pyramid seems to be the acceptable structure
of the news story that is told objectively—with the base on
top and the narrowest ad pointed section at the bottom.
Thus, the lead paragraph opens with the very general
recounting of the story, unpacking the widely acceptable 6
Ws—who did it, what they did it, where they did, when they
did it, to whom or with did they do it, and why.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
THE INVERTED PYRAMID
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
1. HARD OR STRAIGHT NEWS
It is also an accepted protocol that if a story is about
some conflict, the two opposing sides should be well-
represented.
The third person point-of-view is the accepted manner
of telling the story. This only means that the journalist
should not be involved in any manner.
Television news reporting, by virtue of the camera,
presents a separate set of protocols. The use of the
character generator or chargen, a device that
incorporates text in the television screen, is required to
introduce succinctly the gist of a story.
The camera angle should also be eye-level at that very
moment the broadcast journalist is introducing the story
to the television audience.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
2. SOFT NEWS
If the demands of hard news are too steep, then
journalists are able to relax when presenting soft news.
Soft news stories include lifestyle news, travel news,
articles offering the best way to do something, or even
video clips presenting the point-of-view of ordinary
folks.
Soft news stories are also called human interest
stories.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
3. FEATURES
Feature stories are extensions of soft news in a sense
that the human interest angle is played up and
presented in a longer and elaborate format.
Most feature stories follow the beginning-middle-end
structure, but the journalist can take liberties as long as
clarity is not compromised.
Soft news stories are also called human interest
stories.
There is a desire to take a more in-depth look at a topic
and attempts to engage the reader using more colorful
language or innovations in style.
The journalist’s perspective is also acceptable.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
3. FEATURES
Using established literary conventions and literary devices are
also acceptable styles that add flair to the writing style of the
journalist.
In the United States, the genre has been called literary journalism.
It can still cover the usual topics such as pressing issues of the
day such as trafficking, unemployment, the reproductive health bill,
or the Bangsamoro peace talks.
There are factual information stated in the article so their accuracy
and commitment to truth still hold fi rm. However, the writer delves
deeply by engaging her informants to reveal their complexities and
seeks out the nuances of the issue as it bears on the lives and
characters of people. Thus, literary journalism requires more
research and more reflection from the writer.
It is also possible that the writer inserts herself into the narrative.
His/her own reflections may form part of the ideas that the article
wants to convey.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
4. EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
Opinions against hard news are reserved for editorials and
opinion columns.
More commonly called as columns, opinion articles express an
individual or organizational point of view. In the case of
editorials, it expresses the editorial committee’s stand on a
very specific issue or a specific person or entity.
Editorials can serve many purposes. An editorial can call the
attention of a certain individual or an entity (often the
government) to act on the issue or respond to the clamor of the
citizens. Sometimes, it is also meant to throw adulation to an
individual, an organization, a policy, or an act exercised by the
government, and cites why such should be the norm for others
to follow. Sometimes, it is simply meant to entertain, and
sometimes employ the tone of parody to underscore the
misdemeanor of individuals or entities.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
4. EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
It must be clear that while an editorial was written by one or
two journalists, it still reflects the majority vote of the editorial
board, the governing body of the newspaper made up of the
publishers, the editors of the different sections, and its
business managers.
If there are very significant issues confronting the nation, most
media organizations will convene and present to the public
what is called a pooled editorial.
Opinion articles, however, reflect the views of the writer or the
stand of one organization other than the media institution that
disseminates it.
They are both opinion pieces, one conceptualized and perhaps
written collectively and the other written by an individual.
Five Major Divisions of News Stories
5. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS
Investigative reporting has a very specific relation to power
because it focuses in finding, reporting, and presenting news
which the authorities try to conceal.
Its tools are similar to standard new reporting; however, often
though not all the time, it is out to expose wrongdoing,
questionable transactions, or shady deals brokered by those in
power.
With investigative reports, there is the more compelling need to
be more in-depth and analytical with the facts that are
uncovered in a process that usually takes longer than
conventional news reporting.
Entertainment
The term "entertainment" is derived from the
French word entretenir which means “to hold the
attention, keep busy, or amused”.
The creation and production of entertainment is
always hinged on the profi t driven motives of
media institutions.
Entertainment grabs the audience’s attention to
present something that will make them comfortably
entertained, while generating pleasurable feelings
of being satiated with the cumulative eff ect of the
story, the production numbers, and the visuals.
Entertainment
Entertainment has four sub-genres—festivals,
gaming, drama, and comedy.
Each of the four sub-genres can still be broken
down into more subcategories as the table below
illustrates.
Entertainment
The table below is configured to classify the sub-
genres of entertainment in local television.
Information
Information is all about the raw material that
circulates around us and from where news as
another genre is generated.
In the context of media and information literacy,
information has come to mean the wide and almost
infinite array of materials and texts we encounter in
the Internet.
These days most of the relevant facts we need are
accessed through the Internet.
For purposes of gaining information literacy, we
can classify them into broad categories: blogs and
wikis.
Advertisements
Advertisements are messages that are
created to sell a product or a service.
Advertising messages can either be
commercial in nature, information-laden,
usually advancing a cause, or an
advocacy.
There are three established broad sub-
genres of advertising: hard-sell
advertisements, soft-sell advertisements,
and informercials.
LESSON 4
Formats
What Are Formats?
Formats are templates that provide the working and
provisional structures of media and information texts.
Formats provide the architectural foundation of a media
or information text and thus dictate the kind of content
that will be generated and the specific audience a
program will attract.
We can say that our local television today thrives on
formats—using time-tested formats, innovating on new
ones, and appropriating from the global markets.
What Are Formats?
Through formats, producers sell the realization of an
idea for television. Global franchising works through
this type of method: a basic template is sold on a
global platform, then re-produced for diff erent nation-
states and their audiences. The format is the selling
point.
The acquisition of global formats also involved
international co-production. Like acquiring a
franchise, the global formats that circulate in our local
television are zealously supervised by the mother
company that has its home base in another part of
the globe.
On Local Formats
For local programming, the formats that we see now
are the result of a long, winding, even painstaking
process that combines audience research and, as
broadcast companies will claim, it involves even the
savviest and forward-looking planners.
A case in point is the re-formatting of the conventional
primetime news program in the major broadcast
networks. The evolution of the format of a nighttime
news program is not something that evolved through
time but was consciously and dramatically altered to
appeal to a broader range of audiences, from Class A
to Class D, and the impulse was greatly about
enticing more advertisers to the buy more airtime.
10 Basic Formats
1. Panel shows: GMA-7’s “Itanong Mo kay Mareng Winnie”
2. Demonstration programs: GMA-7: “Master sa Kusina”
3. Game shows: TV-5 Jeopardy, ABS-CBN’s “Deal or No
Deal”
4. Live transmissions: Election Night
5. Sports: PBA Governor’s Cup
6. Documentaries: ABS-CBN’s Storylines
7. News: Everything from the morning to the late night news
8. Fiction or drama, including teleseryes, situation-comedies.
9. Music/variety programs: ABS-CBN’s “ASAP”
10. Public service bulletins
Format Contents
• Program title
• Target audience
• Suggested time slot
• Length in minutes
• Brief outline (2-3 sentences)
• Outline running order
• Structure (if applicable)
• Program conceit: What makes this format stand out
from other programs and competitors?
• Sample segments, if applicable
• Suggested presenters, talents, or actors
• Location or, if shot in the studio, set design
• Marketing plan
