Our brains depend on information to work optimally. The quality of information we engage with largely determines our perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. It could be information from other persons, the media, libraries, archives, museums, publishers, or other information providers including those on the internet.

When people talk about media, they often refer to its journalistic arm: the newspapers, the news reports on television, and more accurately, the news reporters and journalists involved in the production of daily news. However, as a concept, media is vaster and more diverse.

David Buckingham points out, however, that the definition of medium as a channel tell us something fundamental about media. Media do not offer a transparent window on the world cause they provide a channel through which representations and images of the world can be communicated indirectly. They also provide us with selective versions of the world, rather than direct access to it.

The term MEDIA comes from the word “medium” which defined as “channel”, “means”, or “method”. Media and Information Literacy provides answers to the questions that we all ask ourselves at some point.

Media can also be tied to what we call mass media, or the media that reach large audiences. Because media reach a large number of people at the same time, and because people rely on media for the way they perceive their surroundings and the world around them.

People across the world are witnessing a dramatic increase in access to information and communication. While some people are starved for information, others are flooded with print, broadcast and digital content which is called the forms of media.

As mentioned earlier, media exist in many forms, the three main categories being: print, broadcast and new media. These differ mainly in the platform that they use.

Print Media refers to papers publications like newspaper, books, magazine, newsletters and journals. It is also considered the oldest form of media as it is closely tied to the emergence of the printing press.

Broadcast media is the most expedient means to transmit information immediately to the widest possible audience, although the Internet currently challenges television as the primary source of both news and other recreational content (e.g., movies, sitcoms, etc.). Broadcast media refers to primarily television and radio, although broadcasting companies have expanded to offer digital offerings including media streaming applications and other robust web-based offerings.

New media is used to describe content made available using different forms of electronic communication made possible through the use of computer technology. Generally, the phrase new media describes content available on-demand through the Internet.

This content can be viewed on any device and provides way for people to interact with the content in real-time with the inclusion of user comments and making it easy for people to share the content online and in social with friends and co-workers.

According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Philippine press “played [a] critical role in the nation’s quest for freedom and independence”. However, alternative press, xerox journalism and campus publications paved the way for activism and aided in the People Power Revolution.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.