Media Literacy, Week 4, Reading Task

 

In this week reading I have read “ (Kirk, n.d.), (Lennon, n.d.) and lastly, I read the Journal article (Melissa Tully).

I found the read by Dr Niamh Kirk, a little difficult I didn’t really understand that it is not clear how many posts were removed, if any microtargeting remains unclear. I found that the Ofcom research was very interesting, that nearly half of the UK nation have came across false or misleading information about Covid-19.

What made me think twice was personal biases influence news choice and interpretation and can create unfair perceptions of media as hostile to their own viewpoints. (Garrett and Stroud, 2014; Gunther, 1992.) I think about Instagram influencers and how they get paid to show off products as advertising, yet some of the products they wouldn’t use themselves.

Digital media requires you to think about who the author is and who the message is directed at and what audience it is aimed at, it’s important to know where someone is coming from before you listen to the content. You will spot bias as well as expertise..

Is the message believable? The source of your advertising messages can be a paid spokesperson/celebrity, customers or the owner or employees, the decision should be based on the attribute you want them to portray. The outcome or goal of source credibility is internalization.

Text, speech, visual and auditory modes of communication work in a relationship to each other in digital media because they all have an impact on the world’s perception of the media.

·         Verbal Communication.

·         Non-Verbal Communication.  

·         Written Communication.

·         Listening.

·         Visual Communication.

 

Digital media has evolved out of traditional media, unlike traditional media, digital media is transmitted as digital data, which at its simplest way that involves digital cables or satellites to send binary signals which are 0s and 1s to devices that translate them into audio, video, graphics, text, and more.

New Media are digital, interactive, hypertextual, networked, virtual and simulated. These are the six key characteristics which distinguish New Media from old media.

The nature of digital media means the ways in which users of media contribute to and engage in media content though productive activities. Second, trans-media practices are examined. Trans-media refers to two related practices, trans-media distribution in which a brand is deployed across different media platforms and trans-media story telling in which stories are delivered across different media thus encouraging the users to explore different media to discover the story. Third, converged culture is discussed. Converged culture relates to the way in which through technological practices, users of various social media platforms can integrate experiences of external websites and apps into their social media.

 

Implications would be that some digital media companies have been found to be lacking in helping users understand the online environment.

Ofcom has researched and found that nearly half of people across the UK nations have come across false or misleading information about Covid-19. (Rebecca Lennon) 

Another implication would be if every thing is you didn’t want anyone one to see is exposed and its online its there for everyone to see.

 

The legal considerations that apply to digital media are some of the most important issues to consider which are free speech protections, anonymity, ownership of content, and vulnerability to others and copyright claims.

 

The ethical considerations that apply to digital media have six broad ethical areas that need to be considered in your research, which involves voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity, the potential for harm, communicating the results, and more specific ethical issues.

 

I would say digital media is inclusive, anyone who wants to learn, always can. You can connect with people from all around the world all on one device. You have an infinite network to keep in contact with people, learn knowledge, and research.

Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of the internet and digital technologies are available to everyone.

Digitally excluded people can lack skills, confidence, and motivation to learn how to use the internet, along with having limited or no access to equipment and connectivity.

We could make digital media more inclusive by using high contrast, easy to read fonts.

Provide alt-text or image descriptions.

Make sure audio-visual content has captions and audio descriptions.

Creating usable, functional, and easy-to-use products that meet the needs of as many individuals as possible.