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© Photos by Out of the Box Team & Collage by Jena T.
Out of the Box’s Media Literacy Bootcamp held May 9, 2015 was a great opportunity for people like me who are new to media literacy efforts, want to be part of creating awareness, as well as those who want to take action and counter the messages in media and help others become critical viewers of media.
Out of the Box (OOTB) is an initiative by UP students to promote media literacy in the Philippines. They hold workshops, forums, and trainings, to campaign for media literacy and educate people about it. I was fortunate enough to attend one of their workshops last May, which I am happy to talk about in this post.
But first, you may be asking yourself, what is media literacy? In basic terms, media literacy is the ability to discern information from entertainment, the fact from fluff, in the media we consume. It empowers one to be critical of everything he watches, reads, and hears from media.
Together with 59 other attendees, I was able to participate in discussions regarding issues in media, create spoof ads for the spoof ads contest, and listen to talks by speakers who work for media. I learned a great deal, many of which I only realized through the workshop. Let me summarize them into a list of three:
There is a growing problem with media, its use, and its consumerism here in the Philippines – but many are not aware of it yet.
The media issues that most know of are only those whose impact they have felt the most recently, such as the repression of freedom especially in the Philippine news media with the murders of 32 journalists in the Maguindanao Massacre back in 2009; and, of course, the filing and long-awaited passing of the FOI bill in the Congress. It should be brought more to people’s attention that not only is the right to freedom of expression suffering in society but it’s also being curtailed in the film and television industry. How so?
Let us note that the Philippine traditional media landscape has always been dominated by family-owned corporations, for instance, the Lopezes own ABS-CBN and GMA is owned by the Gozon-Duavit-Jimenez triumvirate. Media ownership in the Philippines is part of a monopolistic approach by business tycoons. There is manipulation in what is being featured in media because there is money to be made. When the Pope came here last January, these two leading channels, for almost twenty-four hours, chose to televise his visit and little of anything else aside from advertisements.
In the Philippines, ubiquitous also are the films and television shows that are only a re-make of previous successful films and television shows in order to repeat a huge hit (and the raking in of money, more likely). Our cinema is invaded by romantic-comedy films and little of any other genres. This is so because rom-com is what appeals most to the masses, as said by one of the speakers in the workshop; and at the end of the day, the cinema industry is a business after all. The business angle has obviously taken over journalism and mass media.
2. Media messages are constructed for a purpose.
What do I mean by this? When I say media messages are constructed, I mean that all media messages have been assembled by someone. That “someone” could be a single person, or it could be a large organization. For instance, in photographs, the photographer's own vision of what she wants to show within the frame demonstrates her own values and beliefs. A newspaper writer’s articles may be based on his own beliefs, or on the beliefs and ideologies of his publishers, or perhaps even the beliefs of the companies who advertise in that particular newspaper.
The messages and values embedded in these particular pieces of media are those of the people who created it. Thus, we must always be wary of their purpose behind the creation of their work. Media messages may be organized to gain profit and/or power, which is usually the case in print and television advertisements. I’m not asking you to frown upon ads entirely - they are, after all, made for the purpose of selling a product, but we have to be nonetheless conscious of what we see. Misrepresentations are widespread in ads. They create idealized notions of beauty and identity. As a media literate individual, remind yourself not to take everything at its face value.
3. We can do something about it.
You have the power to counter these media problems. How do I become media literate? For one, be critical. Before believing a piece, ask questions. Getting your news from only one source will skew your opinions and beliefs about important issues so it’s better to vary your sources. Read the newspaper, listen to the radio, watch your local news, and test out different outlets. Remember that facebook, twitter updates, and hashtags are no replacement for journalistic reporting. Understand the facts before being overridden by the desire to tweet the news. And most importantly, let yourself be heard.
We must realize that being a conscientious news consumer is vital to a successful democracy. Understanding the issues helps keep those with power in check. Recognizing problems amidst a flurry of contradictory media messages is essential to letting the government, as well as those behind media, know when we disagree and when we have a problem. Public opinion will only be powerful if our media literacy is sharp. We know that the media we have is far from perfect and thus, we must do what we can do to improve our media literacy and account for the media’s deficiencies.
For more info about Out of the Box, you can check out their facebook page. Support the initiative! Be media literate! :)
Also, let me share to you the winners of the Spoof Ads contest! Spoof ads aim to reconstruct an ad and deliver a more truthful message.
© Photos by Out of the Box Team & Collage by Jena T.
Out of the Box’s Media Literacy Bootcamp held May 9, 2015 was a great opportunity for people like me who are new to media literacy efforts, want to be part of creating awareness, as well as those who want to take action and counter the messages in media and help others become critical viewers of media.
Out of the Box (OOTB) is an initiative by UP students to promote media literacy in the Philippines. They hold workshops, forums, and trainings, to campaign for media literacy and educate people about it. I was fortunate enough to attend one of their workshops last May, which I am happy to talk about in this post.
But first, you may be asking yourself, what is media literacy? In basic terms, media literacy is the ability to discern information from entertainment, the fact from fluff, in the media we consume. It empowers one to be critical of everything he watches, reads, and hears from media.
Together with 59 other attendees, I was able to participate in discussions regarding issues in media, create spoof ads for the spoof ads contest, and listen to talks by speakers who work for media. I learned a great deal, many of which I only realized through the workshop. Let me summarize them into a list of three:
There is a growing problem with media, its use, and its consumerism here in the Philippines – but many are not aware of it yet.
The media issues that most know of are only those whose impact they have felt the most recently, such as the repression of freedom especially in the Philippine news media with the murders of 32 journalists in the Maguindanao Massacre back in 2009; and, of course, the filing and long-awaited passing of the FOI bill in the Congress. It should be brought more to people’s attention that not only is the right to freedom of expression suffering in society but it’s also being curtailed in the film and television industry. How so?
Let us note that the Philippine traditional media landscape has always been dominated by family-owned corporations, for instance, the Lopezes own ABS-CBN and GMA is owned by the Gozon-Duavit-Jimenez triumvirate. Media ownership in the Philippines is part of a monopolistic approach by business tycoons. There is manipulation in what is being featured in media because there is money to be made. When the Pope came here last January, these two leading channels, for almost twenty-four hours, chose to televise his visit and little of anything else aside from advertisements.
In the Philippines, ubiquitous also are the films and television shows that are only a re-make of previous successful films and television shows in order to repeat a huge hit (and the raking in of money, more likely). Our cinema is invaded by romantic-comedy films and little of any other genres. This is so because rom-com is what appeals most to the masses, as said by one of the speakers in the workshop; and at the end of the day, the cinema industry is a business after all. The business angle has obviously taken over journalism and mass media.
2. Media messages are constructed for a purpose.
What do I mean by this? When I say media messages are constructed, I mean that all media messages have been assembled by someone. That “someone” could be a single person, or it could be a large organization. For instance, in photographs, the photographer's own vision of what she wants to show within the frame demonstrates her own values and beliefs. A newspaper writer’s articles may be based on his own beliefs, or on the beliefs and ideologies of his publishers, or perhaps even the beliefs of the companies who advertise in that particular newspaper.
The messages and values embedded in these particular pieces of media are those of the people who created it. Thus, we must always be wary of their purpose behind the creation of their work. Media messages may be organized to gain profit and/or power, which is usually the case in print and television advertisements. I’m not asking you to frown upon ads entirely - they are, after all, made for the purpose of selling a product, but we have to be nonetheless conscious of what we see. Misrepresentations are widespread in ads. They create idealized notions of beauty and identity. As a media literate individual, remind yourself not to take everything at its face value.
3. We can do something about it.
You have the power to counter these media problems. How do I become media literate? For one, be critical. Before believing a piece, ask questions. Getting your news from only one source will skew your opinions and beliefs about important issues so it’s better to vary your sources. Read the newspaper, listen to the radio, watch your local news, and test out different outlets. Remember that facebook, twitter updates, and hashtags are no replacement for journalistic reporting. Understand the facts before being overridden by the desire to tweet the news. And most importantly, let yourself be heard.
We must realize that being a conscientious news consumer is vital to a successful democracy. Understanding the issues helps keep those with power in check. Recognizing problems amidst a flurry of contradictory media messages is essential to letting the government, as well as those behind media, know when we disagree and when we have a problem. Public opinion will only be powerful if our media literacy is sharp. We know that the media we have is far from perfect and thus, we must do what we can do to improve our media literacy and account for the media’s deficiencies.
For more info about Out of the Box, you can check out their facebook page. Support the initiative! Be media literate! :)
Also, let me share to you the winners of the Spoof Ads contest! Spoof ads aim to reconstruct an ad and deliver a more truthful message.