Media and Information Literacy

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Audio Information and Media

Module 011 – Audio Information and Media

At the end of this module you are expected to:

1. Define audio information and media
2. Identify the different types of audio information
3. Determine how audio information are produced, organized and
disseminated
4. Identify the advantages and limitations of audio information

Audio Information
While humans are natural visual learners, listening is also an abundant way to obtain
information. This type of information’s difference from the aforementioned types is evident
for its nature.
Audio information, as defined by Magpile (2016) is “any sound or auditory impression
perceived by the ears and processed by the brain.” We hear different kind of sounds every
day. A person speaking to you is perceived by your ears and provides you with information
for your brain to process. The following are the different audio information:
1. Dialog or conversation – the most common way of obtaining auditory information is
through dialogues and conversations. As this is practiced in everyday life, it is hard
to go through a day without verbal exchanges. People engaged in dialogues or
conversations are expected to respond to each other as this is a casual, two-way
relaying of information.
2. Lecture or talk – Lectures or talks, while similar to dialogues and conversations in
the way of transmission of information through a verbal exchange, is mostly done in
a formal setting. This is usually done by a speaker facing an audience. He or she may
encourage his or her audience to participate, but for the most part, the lectures or
talks are one-way.
3. News – news come in many forms, especially with the constantly evolving
technology. This can come in text, visual, motion and in audio. News information
may be coursed through radios to reach the public whatever frequency is available.
4. Podcast – a relatively new form of audio information that is described as a series of
audio digital files downloaded to a device. Podcasts usually have a theme or a focus
that the episodes would follow. One famous example of podcast is In the Dark, which
is an investigative journalism podcast series that zeroed in on the case of Jacob
Wetterling, the 11-year-old from Minnesota who was abducted with no trace that
could point to the suspect. This podcast series explores how the case was solved
after 27 years before they found the one who committed the crime.

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In the Dark by APM Reports. Retrieved from:
https://img.apmcdn.org/49b967d08f685f09b0704eac3f3dbc0779fb76ce/square/115db4-
20160819-in-the-dark.jpg on September 28, 2017
5. Audio book – Audiobooks, as defined by Cambridge dictionary, is a “recording, on a
CD or made available on the internet, of a book being read aloud.” This is a new way
for readers to enjoy their favorite books without the aid of text. While this form is
relatively new, audiobooks actually started around the 1930s. Audiobooks are
formerly used for educational purposes and is usually found in schools and libraries.
These used to be distributed in physical copies of cassette tapes and vinyl records.
When the internet emerged, digital audiobooks has been made and recently,
audiobooks may come from different sources.
Some good sources for audiobooks are the following:
 Audible.com
 iTunes Store
 AllYouCanBooks.com
 Project Gutenberg website
 Nook Audiobook Store
6. Music – Music is one of the earliest and the most widely distributed audio
information. It is hard to picture the world today without the influence of music.
Music is done by combining a range of various instruments and vocal techniques,
creating a harmony that is easy on the ears. From music comes different genres that
would suit a person’s taste. There are some with rapping, singing, and purely
instrumental pieces.
People who make audio information
Obtaining audio information would not be possible without the aid of the people who make
them. The following list are the people involved in the creation of audio information:
1. Commentator – a commentator is in charge of providing live comments on events
and performances. Commentators are often heard in sports matches to relay what is
happening in the game and if the players’ or athletes’ techniques are contributing
well to the excitement of competition.
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Audio Information and Media

2. Emcee – the emcees host events, facilitating the program to flow without any
problems. The emcees are often tasked to lead the event and may even instruct or
encourage the audience to participate. Formal lectures and talks rarely proceed
without an emcee.
3. Disc jockey (DJ) or radio announcer – the DJ or the radio announcer may either
deliver the news via a radio or it may be their responsibility to play music and
create segments for the listeners to enjoy. Announcers and disc jockeys are known
to possess beautiful voices, urging and entertaining people to listen to them more.
4. Narrator – the narrator reads a text aloud, along with the correct emotions to
accompany the text’s contents. Narrators give life to the text given to them and it
takes skills to perfect the art of narrating. Narrators are often heard in audio books,
documentaries or television shows needing the narration of the story.
5. Voice-over – Unlike narrators who are known to appear on screen, voice-over
provides the narration for a movie or any broadcasted material without his/her face
on screen.
6. Music artist – these are personalities who perform music through singing. They
release their music in CDs or digital releases in music stores. Since people tend to
listen to music artists, they’re also fairly popular to the public.
7. Musician – this is a term that refers to a person who plays any musical instrument,
as a profession or a hobby. While their pieces are not accompanied by voices, the
product of their performances is a message by itself.

Audio Media
You have identified what type of information you could receive on a daily basis and the
people behind the audio materials. This section of the lesson will introduce you to the
different media used in transmitting auditory information.
1. Radio – like television, radio is omnipresent since its establishment in the 1800s.
The signals used by radio are carried on the electromagnetic spectrum to almost
anywhere in the world. In the Philippines, radio has become a big part in the typical
Filipino household, as a portable medium for news and music. With the appearance
of different digital technologies, the radio has been struggling to keep up with the
reach.
According to the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) cited by Tuazon in
his article, there are 629 radio stations in the Philippines, as of 1997 with an
average of 10 FM and AM stations for each major city. Of this total number, 330 are
AM stations and 399 are FM. Among this number, there are 539 stations under KBP
or the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, 488 are commercial stations while
51 are non-commercial. Out of the 51 non-commercial radio stations, 32 are
government owned (31 AM and 1 FM stations), 10 are religious (8 AM and 2 FM
stations), seven in the education sector (4 AM and 3 FM stations), and 2 are from the
military (both are AM stations).

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In an article in the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, it emphasized
radio as a way of life for Filipinos, citing an example of an ordinary citizen turning to
local radio stations to appeal for financial support from good Samaritans. It has
touched the lives of millions of ordinary Filipinos through the years with the
programs ranging from panawagans, advice programs, knowledge programs,
tearjerker radio dramas, and pop music radio stations. It has become intrinsically
linked to any Filipino. The power of radio has become more evident in the People
Power Movement in 1986 as the appeal of Jaime Cardinal Sin aired over at Radio
Veritas.
The same article stresses the fact that Filipinos are more drawn to radios because
they deliver their information through the use of the local language or dialect. Aside
from this, the variety of topics that the segments of each radio station cover are
nearly endless and they continue to come up with unique ways to make people
listen to them. These programs cater to different people from all walks of life.
DZRH is the longest-running radio station in the country today as it first
broadcasted on the year 1939 under KZRH, with RH meaning Radio Heacock, paying
homage to H.E. Heacock who was the owner of the station. The first provincial radio
station in the Philippines, on the other hand, is Cebu’s KZRC station.
The first few programs that aired on radios during the pre-war to the early post-war
era are mainly aiming for entertainment. News, public affairs and government
programs began broadcasting towards the end of the second World War.
Advertisements of products followed soon after in 1939.
The Philippine Broadcasting System was established as a pioneer in development
broadcasting as they opened opportunities for a variety of programs such as
features and documentaries in the 1950s. It doesn’t come as a surprise that some of
the people in the industry doubt that radio can be as efficient in terms of
information and education.
Yet today, radio remains as one of the primary sources of information for Filipinos.
Tuazon (2015) related that of the 12 million estimated number of households
nationwide, the number of radio households is 10.2 million.
Listeners may have dropped in the past few years but Filipinos still use radio for
important purposes, especially in times of disaster, as the only portable medium to
carry around.
2. Walkman – Walkman is the brand name for a portable cassette player from Sony in
Japan. The name of the device was assumed to have let people know its use: which is
to listen to sounds while walking. It was released to the public in the year 1979 and
shot up to success soon after. In the same year, the United States got a hold of this
device, causing a phenomenon in New York and in no time, it became the talk of
town. The device came with a leather case and a pair of headphones to plug into its
ear jack.
Since its popularity among music fans, Sony has sold about 100 million of this device
around the world. While the initial model of the Walkman could play cassette tapes
only, it has evolved over the years to accommodate the wants and needs of its
consumers so some versions of the Walkman came with AM and FM radios and
some that could play CDs.
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Audio Information and Media

The Sony Walkman. Retrieved from: https://cdn.vox-

cdn.com/thumbor/H5ssNco7ApcGIWaMga8Z0v189gw=/1020x0/cdn.vox-
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/2851684/1979_tpsl2_2.1404231268.jpg on September 29, 2017
3. Discman – Almost similar in purpose with the Walkman, the Discman is made for
the purpose of playing CDs. This was released by Sony to the market in 1984. The
most famous model released was the D-50, which was sold to the public two years
after CDs were produced. It played music or any audio from CDs by determining the
reflection of light cast off by the disc.
When digital audio became widespread and other more portable listening devices
emerged, Discman ceased in production.

The Discman. Retrieved from: http://totally-90s.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/discman.jpg on

September 29, 2017
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4. MP3 player – a portable music player that plays digital music files. Originating from
its predecessors such as the Discman and Walkman, this is comparably lighter in
weight and smaller in size, making it easier to carry around. MP3 stands for Moving
Pictures Experts Group, Standard One, Audio Layer 3 which is developed “to
compress audio for storage and playback on digital devices,” according to Amazon’s
MP3 Player Basics. The reduction in file size is also glaringly different from compact
discs for Discmans, making it easier for MP3 player users to store their music in
their devices.

Sony’s MP3 Player. Retrieved from: https://fthmb.tqn.com/a6XsWEyO1-

sKQOI1__lmG_WHZAU=/1500x1358/filters:no_upscale()/about/Sony-NWE394-
586d22833df78ce2c373913e.jpg on September 29, 2017
5. iPod – a portable music player wherein users of iTunes can transfer songs they
purchased or downloaded through the use of computer and the iPod software. This
was released in 2001 under the Apple brand and since then, variations of the
product have been successively released to the public such as the iPod Touch, iPod
Shuffle, iPod Mini, and iPod Nano.

iPod Classic. Retrieved from: https://cdn.vox-

cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7323343/classic.0.png on September 29, 2017
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Audio Information and Media

6. iTunes – a software under Apple that is designed to let people play, download and
store music. This application can serve as a media player, media library, online radio
broadcaster, and mobile device management. This contains a wide variety of audio
and video content for the user’s consumption. Through the iTunes store, you can
download or buy audio files such as music, podcasts and audiobooks. The only
setback for this nifty application is that it applies best for Apple devices.

Producing Audio Information

Besides the various audio media used to disseminate audio information, it is also important
to note the following ways of producing audio information.
1. Cassette tape
Phillips released the “Compact Cassette” in the early 1960s appearing as a toy-like
device. This medium became a hit with teenagers in the United States in 1964
because of its mere accessibility and as a way for them to record sounds and voices
or collect music at a low cost.
William Lear introduced the 8-track tape player in 1965 that incorporates a tape
cartridge in cars. The demand for this increased for the new cars in the US.
Through the years, the cassette tape has evolved and many improvements were
made on the original product. The Dolby noise reduction and improved forms of
tape helped boost its credibility by increasing the sound quality of the tapes. The fall
of the cassette came with the popularity of compact discs.

Cassette tape. Retrieved from: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_t_IdX8HsLw/maxresdefault.jpg on September

29, 2017

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2. Vinyl records
An American named Emile Berliner produced a patent for a recording system on a
flat disc instead of a cylinder formed for phonographs. These discs, compared to the
cylinders, are easier to mass produce and distribute. The vinyl record, on average,
has a diameter of 10 inches while its rotational speed is varied, depending on the
manufacturer. Most of the vinyl records, however, turned at between 75 to 80
revolutions per minute. Given time, 78 rpm became a standard for Gramophones,
which are used to play this.
The earliest 78 rpms play on one side only but eventually the later versions of the
discs began to have double sided recordings, which is introduced by a Columbia
company. A rival came to challenge the 78rpm by Columbia which produced the 7-
inch 45rpm vinyl disc which has the same storage capacity as 78rpm discs but
significantly smaller in size.
The 45rpm began to sell more in the UK in the early 1958 for rock and roll music.
This was also used as the format for some records of The Beatles.

Vinyl record. Retrieved from: http://wwwcdn.goldminemag.com/wp-

content/uploads/ShinyVinylRecord_Shutterstock-copy.jpg on September 29, 2017
3. Phonograph
Thomas Edison developed a device for communication that would be capable of
recording a message from the telegraph before sending to the recipient in the late
1870s. He made use of an electrical diaphragm that would convert the voice into
electrical signal with a stylus attached to a telegraph that would then convert this
into dots and dashes on paper. Later on, as Edison slowly made his way through
creating the device, he replaced the medium of recording from paper to tin foil as a
way to record the sound waves. This piece of tin foil was formed into a cylinder
shape that would rotate in a circle with a stylus. With this device, the stylus touching
the tin cylinder would make indentations on the foil, imitating the sound it receives.
It was said that the first sound ever recorded and played back was of Edison
narrating the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
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Audio Information and Media

These cylinders were initially made to produce music. Since Edison’s invention, the
device evolved from a simple record and playback device stored in cylinders into
the phonograph we see today: the one with a large horn as a speaker which was
known as victrolas.

Edison’s Phonograph. Retrieved from: http://wwwcdn.goldminemag.com/wp-

content/uploads/ShinyVinylRecord_Shutterstock-copy.jpg on September 29, 2017
4. Compact disc
The Compact Disc was born from the meeting between Philips and Sony in 1979.
These big companies convened to find a way for audio encoding to happen, or the
process of recording audio signals in digital format. They decided on making the
compact disc that is 4.72 inches (120 millimeters) in diameter and 0.47 inches (1.2
millimeters) thick. and could store 74 minutes of material, with the 74 minutes a
reference to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Compact Discs, or CDs, are considered to be
very precise and accurate as any dust particle touching the bottom could cause
unreadability of the device.
Japan released the first ever CDs in 1983. Since then, countries in the west began to
popularize the use of these, especially for music. It has been the standard format of
music releases for bands, music artists, and other musicians to distribute their
works. But with the constant evolving of technology, devices that allowed for more
storage in smaller and comparably less sensitive than CDs were developed. CDs, as
of the present, is still used by most in the music industry, despite the abundance and
convenience of digital releases.
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Compact Disc. Retrieved from: http://www.dreams.metroeve.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/dreams.metroeve_cds-compact-disks-dreams-meaning.png on
September 29, 2017
5. Live performance
Another way of obtaining audio information is through live performances. These are
conducted inside halls or arenas or generally areas where the public could watch
and hear the performers. Some examples of this type of media are concerts, lectures,
among others.
Audio File Formats
There are different types of audio files. NCH Software has identified the following along
with their uses and definitions:
1. Open File Formats
a. wav – this is the standard audio file format used mainly for Windows. This type
of audio format is commonly used for CD sounds and is comparably larger in
size.
b. mp3 – also known as the MPEG Layer-3 format, the mp3 is the most popular
format for downloading and storing music. It is compressed to a smaller size
while maintaining its good quality.
c. ogg – a free, open source container format with almost the same quality as mp3s
but not as widely used.
d. gsm – a practical format for telephone quality voice. It is the recommended
format for voice audio files.
e. dct – a variable codec format designed for dictation.
f. flac – a lossless compression codec.
g. au – the standard audio file format used by Sun, Unix and Java.
h. aiff – the standard audio file format used by Apple.
i. vox – this format uses the Dialogic ADPCM codec which compresses to 4-bits.
j. raw – this file can contain audio in any codec. This audio format is rarely used
except in technical tests.
2. Proprietary Formats
a. wma – the Windows Media Audio format owned by Microsoft has the capability
for copy protection.
b. aac – the Advanced Audio Coding format is owned by Dolby.
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c. atrac – this is the older style Sony ATRAC format.

d. ra – the Real Audio format for the streamed audio on the internet.
e. ram – a text file connecting to a link to the real audio file in the internet.
f. dss – Digital Speech Standard file is a fairly old and poor codec.
g. msv – a Sony proprietary format for Memory Stick compressed voice files.
h. dvf – a Sony proprietary format for compressed voice files.

Evaluating audio information

Like any form of information, audio information is open for evaluation. The following
criteria to consider in evaluation audio information is identified by Magpile (2016):
1. Sound quality – one factor to consider in evaluating audio information is the quality of
the sound produced by the device. Sometimes, this depends on the medium or the type
of audio format you’re listening to. The audio may either be too soft or too loud, or it
may have distinct cracking and other unnecessary noises that may be caused by
technical errors that could distract you from obtaining the audio information.
2. Voice quality – the quality of recorded voices of people is also important in evaluating
audio information. Unnecessary noises and sounds unrelated to the person speaking
may cause distraction to the receiver of the message, deeming it not suitable for
listening. According to an article by hunterfact in Knoji (retrieved from: https://public-
speaking-presentations.knoji.com/the-qualities-of-an-effective-speaking-voice/) good
voice quality must have audibility, pleasantness, variety, animation and clarity.
3. Type of content – Aside from the quality of the audio, it is also important to take a keen
look at the type of content the audio contains. Through the evaluation of the type of
content, you’d know its target audience, who would benefit from it, is it suitable for
listening.
Advantages of Audio Information
1. Easily obtained through the sense of hearing.
2. Enables people to multitask: receiving audio information while doing other tasks
Limitations of audio information and media
1. Susceptible to noise or distraction.

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. Vivian, John; 2009; The Media of Mass Communication; Pearson Education
2. Magpile, Christine Marie; 2016; Media and Information Literacy (Enhancing
Education through Effective Communication); Intelligente Publishing Inc.
Online Supplementary Reading Materials
1. Radio as a Way of Life; http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommission-on-
cultural-disseminationscd/communication/radio-as-a-way-of-life/; September 29,
2017

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2. Walkman; http://ethw.org/Walkman; September 29, 2017
3. MP3 player Basics; https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000263181;
September 29, 2017
4. Discman; http://totally-90s.com/discman/; September 29, 2017
5. iPod; http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/iPod.html; September 29, 2017
6. Cassette Tapes; http://ethw.org/Cassette_Tapes; September 29, 2017
7. A History of the Gramophone Record;
http://www.rockabilly.nl/general/record_history.htm; September 29, 2017
8. The History of Phonograph;
http://www.personal.psu.edu/jtk187/art2/phonograph.htm; September 29, 2017
9. Compact discs; http://www.encyclopedia.com/literature-and-arts/performing-
arts/music-history/compact-disc; September 29, 2017
10. Audio File Formats; http://www.nch.com.au/acm/formats.html; September 29, 2017
Online Instructional Videos
1. Audio Information and Media; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjO-wil4NMo;
October 2, 2017