"The Value of Being a Media and Information Literate Individual"

We live in the "Age of Information" wherein the use of media is vaster and more diverse. Media do not offer a transparent window on the world yet they provide a channel through which representations and images of the world can be communicated indirectly. In other words media provide us with selective versions of the world, rather than a direct access to it (Tuazon, 2015). This means that media don't only communicate or disseminate information instead they also filter and shape information for specific purposes. It is the function of media to provide us with information and as individuals it is also our job to filter the information that we may receive or give. In much simpler words, as an individuals being a "Media and Information Literate" is as important. In today's society where information is abundant and has become a currency of power, being a Media and Information literate is such a crucial capability. In 2009, former US President Barack Obama declared October as the National Information Literacy Awareness Month. According to Barack Obama, we as individuals must also learn the skills to acquire, collate and evaluate information for any situation to avoid misleading informations and misunderstandings.

The art below shows how the value of being a media and information literate works and how important it is in today's generation. The face and the body of the woman symbolizes how diverse we are as individuals, that we have different perspectives, beliefs and opinions onto something but we need to make an informed judgement about it regardless of what are your differences, beliefs, sex, culture and etc. We need to build a sense of community where there is fairness and stability, that's what the weighing scale symbolizes. It teaches us to still remain steadfast, to be fair and to remain stable despite of how diverse we are. Being a literate teaches us to discern those non-factual informations and to be aware for those facts. One value of having this "literacy" is to know how to filter and shape the information that we may receive in any sources, just like the magnifying glass in the right eye. There's a need to magnify and filter informations for us not to be bombarded with those fake ones. The ear symbolizes how we should avoid and neglect any informations without any prior validation. We are free to avoid and discern those informations, just like a notes in a music that are freely creating melodies. We should bear in our minds the enlightenment for those factual and non-factual informations that we may receive through media to avoid misleading informations and misunderstandings. We need to be accountable, critical and responsible in using media and not to be one of those passive consumers of informations. Learning to combat such problems as well as finding empowerment in the Information Age are just some of the Value of "Being a Media and Information Literate" (David, 2016).

References:

Tuazon, C (2015). What is media literate individual? Retrieved from https://findanyanswer.com/what-is-media-literate-individual

Buckingham, D (2016). Definition of Medium as a Channel. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242298855_Chapter_Three_of_Media_Education_Literacy_Learning_and_Contemporary_Culture

Group 1 Members:

Alavanza, Klaire Ann

Achas, Alexa

Añasco, Arc

Abaton, Japhet

Angob, Ian Peter