Opportunities in Media

Opportunities in Media

• Media can spread new freedoms, including religious, gender, ethnic, and sexual freedoms
• Economic actors need accurate, timely information to allocate resources efficiently
• A free and independent press provides information and monitoring for economic policy development
• Media enhances political coordination in developing sound economic policy
• Media sector development reduces political risk, increasing stability for higher-risk countries
• Video has become a compelling tool for educational representation
• Media plays an outstanding role in creating and shaping public opinion, strengthening society
• The internet and social media have greatly influenced the political landscape
• Social media facilitates the rapid sharing of news, poll results, and rumors
• Online news is a 24/7 phenomenon, further accelerated by social media
• Social media sites report poll results and allow participation in polls
• Poll results can significantly influence elections, even if flawed
• Social media enables voters to interact more easily with candidates and elected officials through virtual events and live streaming
• Politicians can target their campaigns to specific groups of voters through social media advertising and analytics

Challenges in Media

• Illegal content includes material damaging to young people, such as violence, sexually explicit content, hate speech, or content promoting crime
• Cybercrime involves criminal activity using the Internet, computer systems, or technology
• Copyright infringement is using copyrighted works without permission
• Identity theft is using someone else's identity for financial gain or other benefits

Power of Media

• Media power is the concentration of symbolic power in media institutions such as television, radio, and the press
• Businesses beyond newsrooms use digital marketing and new customer service communication channels
• Social media transforms banking relationships, improving customer service and enabling online money transfers
• Financial technology companies use social media to help people open bank accounts
• Social media can impact the ability to get a loan

Visual Media and Information

• Visual media and information include materials and applications used to formulate new information and aid learning through visual images
• Photography, video, screen shots, infographics, data visualization, comic strips/cartoons, and memes are examples of visual media
• Visual media can be formally produced by organizations or informally produced by individuals
• The primary purpose of visual media is to gain attention, create meaning, and facilitate retention
• Visual media consists of visual design elements
• Visual information can be produced through formal and informal manners
• Gaining attention is a purpose of visual media
• Visual media is effective through images
• Visual elements and principles cannot be combined due to ineffective results
• The center of interest is an area that first attracts attention
• Visual design can give an illusion of movement
• Visual media and information is not limited to promotion of design and surface value

Visual Design Elements

• Line describes a shape or outline and can create texture; lines can be actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or contour lines
• Shape is a geometric area that stands out due to differences in value, color, or texture; shapes can be organic
• Value is the degree of light and dark in a design, the contrast between black and white
• Texture is the way a surface feels or is perceived to feel; visual texture is the illusion of surface peaks and valleys
• Color is determined by hue, intensity, and value and can be used for emphasis or to elicit emotions; colors may be warm, cool, or neutral
• Form is a figure having volume and thickness; the illusion of a 3-dimensional object can be implied with light and shading

Visual Design Principles

• Consistency of margins, typeface, type style, and colors is necessary
• The center of interest is an area that first attracts attention
• Balance is a feeling of visual equality in shape, form, value, color
• Harmony brings together a composition with similar units
• Contrast offers some change in value, creating visual discord, and can be used as a background or to create emphasis
• Directional movement is a visual flow through the composition
• Rhythm is a movement in which some elements recur regularly
• Perspective is created through the arrangement of objects to look like they appear in real life

Visual Media File Types

• Common visual media file types include JPEG, GIF, and PNG

Motion Media and Information

• Audio and visuals add meanings to movement
• Direction in motion media refers to the route that the object will take
• Motion media creates uniform interpretation
• Learning emotions is possible in motion media
• Motion media is expensive compared to other forms of visual media
• Video files are an example of motion media
• Tampered or fake videos are an issue
• Social media can be a source
• Recreation of historical events is one of the strengths

Motion Media

• Motion media is visual media that gives the appearance of movement
• It can be a collection of graphics, footage, and videos combined with audio, text, and interactive content to create multimedia
• Each picture is a frame, and motion is created by rendering several frames per second
• Twenty-four frames per second creates smooth animation
• A storyboard is a sequence of graphics or images that follow a sequence to create a story

Manipulative/Interactive Media

• Interactive media is a method of communication where program outputs depend on user inputs
• Interactive media engages the user
• Websites and video games are common types
• Interactive websites use software to create interaction between users and content
• Interactivity is communication between humans and computer software
• Games need a continuous form of interactivity with the gamer
• Database, financial, engineering, and trading applications are also very interactive
• Online shopping, gaming, classes, chat, news, information, and videos are ways of interacting with the Internet
• Types of interactivity include clicking on images, hotspots, rollovers, tabs, timelines, numbers/processes, slideshows, FAQs, and flip cards

Manipulative Media

• Manipulatives in education are physical tools that engage students visually and physically
• Coins, blocks, puzzles, and markers are examples of manipulatives

Categories of Media

• Static media is content that doesn’t change, such as advertisements in newspapers
• Dynamic media is content that is constantly updated and interactive, such as websites, online forums, and social media feeds

Advantages and Disadvantages of Media Types

Static Media:

• Pros: Easy to create, easy to control, focused message
• Cons: Boring, no interaction, not mobile-friendly

Dynamic Media:

• Pros: Personalized experience, website promotion, flexibility, interactive
• Cons: Higher costs, organizational changes, requires analysis tools

Uses of Multimedia

• Entertainment and Fine Arts: movies, animation, interactive multimedia
• Education: computer-based training, edutainment
• Engineering, Mathematical, and Scientific Research: modeling, simulation
• Industry: presentations, employee training, advertising
• Medicine: virtual surgery, simulation
• Multimedia in Public Places: kiosks in hotels, railway stations, shopping malls, museums, and grocery stores; digital bulletin boards

Advantages and Limitations of Multimedia

• Advantages: Multi-sensorial, interactive, caters to a wide audience
• Limitations: Large digital storage, may neglect some groups

Dimensions of Media

• Media is an instrument of information dissemination that has influenced every generation
• Media dimensions include text, visual, audio, motion, manipulative, and multimedia
• Information may be formally or informally produced and disseminated
• Formally produced information is created by professionals following standards
• Schools, government entities, and established media/publishing outlets usually produce these
• Informally produced information is created by individuals for personal use
• Blogs, personal e-mails, SMS, online messengers, and social media platforms are common examples

Current and Future Trends in Media and Information

• MOOC enables education to take place on a global scale
• MOOC suggests modern system of education but does not always lead to formal qualifications
• A computer is needed to access MOOC
• MOOC offers cheap cost routes to accessing quality courses and can cater to an unlimited number of students
• MOOC's are modeled after existing college or university courses and includes online assessments
• MOOC can be combined with other study or work and offers open enrollment
• Courses offered by MOOC are definite
• Attendance is no longer a determining factor in education
• MOOC is ideal for independent study
• The concept of 3D environment is explored to mimic the physical world in media
• Managing MOOC is relatively cheaper than running educational institutions
• Films are among the most common media offerings that incorporates 3D
• The paperless society is where communication is done electronically and printed forms become obsolete
• Ubiquitous learning is common in the Information Age

Text Media and Information

• Text is powerful in disseminating information
• Non-media practitioners can be consumers
• Text is effective if not lengthy and it is available in all sources whether formal or informal
• Enlarging text emphasize it
• The use of a variety of typeface conveys different emotions
• Compartmentalizing text design is another way of organizing ideas

Text Media

• Text is a simple format of presenting information whether hand-written, printed, or displayed on-screen

Text Design Principles and Elements

• Emphasis gives importance or value to a part of the text-based content
• Appropriateness refers to how fitting the text is for a specific audience, purpose, or event
• Proximity refers to how near or far text elements are from each other
• Alignment refers to how the text is positioned on the page
• Organization is a conscious effort to organize text elements
• Repetition concerns consistency of elements and the unity of design
• Contrast creates visual interest to text elements