Chapter 4 · Web and Media Design
4-1 Types and Characteristics of Media
Before building a website, it helps to ask: why a website at all? TV reaches millions at once but only one way. Radio can be received almost anywhere but carries sound only. A newspaper lasts on paper without the Internet. A website combines text, images and video, updates at any time, and can even respond through forms — while SNS spreads news the fastest of all.
Guiding question
What are the strengths and constraints of different media, and how do you choose the right one for a purpose and audience?
Learning outcome. Compare the characteristics of different media and explain the strengths and constraints of websites, then choose suitable media for a given purpose and audience and justify the choice.
With a partner. Think of the last important announcement you both heard about — a school event, a match, a change of plan. Where did each of you hear it? If your answers differ, you have already found this lesson’s point: no single medium reaches everybody.
Comparison of the characteristics of different media
Each medium for conveying information has different characteristics. When planning a website, it is important to understand the differences from other media.
| Medium | Information conveyed | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| TV | Video + audio | Reaches many people simultaneously. Appeals to sight and hearing. One-way, from sender to receiver. |
| Radio | Audio | Appeals only to hearing. Can be received almost anywhere and alongside other tasks. One-way. |
| Newspaper | Text + images | Remains physically as a printed medium. Can be read without an Internet connection. One-way. |
| Website | Text + images + video + audio | Diverse information can be combined. Can be updated at any time. Basically one-way, but two-way interaction is also possible through forms, comments, etc. |
| SNS | Text + images + video + audio | Highly effective at spreading information rapidly. Users can post and share information. Two-way. |
Two words to hold on to. One-way means information travels from sender to receiver only. Two-way means users can respond and share. Nearly every comparison question in this lesson turns on which is which.
Strengths and constraints of websites
Strengths
- ① Diverse information such as text, images and video can be combined and presented.
- ② Information can be updated at any time.
- ③ Can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world.
- ④ Two-way interaction with users is possible through forms, comments, etc.
- ⑤ Can be used with just a browser; no dedicated app installation is required.
Constraints
- ① Normally requires an Internet connection (unless the page is cached).
- ② Information does not reach users unless they actively access it.
- ③ Display and loading speed may differ depending on the user’s device and network environment.
Constraint ② is the one that gets tested.
A website waits. However good it is, nothing on it reaches anyone who does not go and look. TV and SNS push information at people; a website sits still until it is visited. That single difference is why a website is almost never used alone.
That table is a lot to memorise, and you do not have to. Almost every cell in it is decided by just two questions — and once you can ask them, you can work out the row for a medium that is not even in the book.
🧮 Choosing media for one real task
- 1
A school must tell every family that term starts a week early. Ask first: who exactly needs to know?
Why this step: The book says to choose by purpose AND target audience, and the audience decides more than the purpose does. “Everyone in the country” and “the families at this school” lead to completely different answers.
- 2
Rule out TV and radio: they reach far more people than needed, cost a great deal, and cannot be aimed at this school’s families.
Why this step: Wide reach is a strength only when you actually want wide reach. Here most of the audience would be people the message is not for, which is waste rather than benefit.
- 3
Rule out putting it only on the website: information does not reach users unless they actively visit.
Why this step: This is listed among the constraints of websites and it is the one students forget. A notice nobody goes looking for is not a notice — it is a record.
Most people slip here: That does not mean leave it off the site. It means the site cannot be the ONLY place, because it waits to be visited rather than arriving.
- 4
Choose direct messages or email to reach the families, with the full details on the website.
Why this step: Email and direct messages “deliver information directly to specific people” — they arrive whether or not the family goes looking. The website then holds the detail, which a short message has no room for.
- 5
Notice what you just did: you combined media rather than picking one.
Why this step: This is the book’s own closing point, and its example is the same shape — a TV advert sends people to a website, which encourages sharing on SNS. Each medium does the job it is best at: one to ARRIVE, another to HOLD the detail.
Campaigns that worked tended to add radio, printed notices and word of mouth through local institutions. This is the constraint from the book — a website reaches only people who actively access it — with the consequence attached: the fastest and most modern medium is not the one that reaches everybody, and choosing by audience rather than by habit is the whole skill this lesson is teaching.
A pattern seen repeatedly in public-information campaigns.
Choosing media according to purpose
When conveying information, it is important to choose the most suitable medium according to the purpose and the target audience.
| Purpose | Examples of suitable media | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Inform many people at once | TV, SNS ads | Wide reach |
| Provide detailed information | Website | No limit on information volume; can be viewed at any time |
| Deliver information directly to specific people | Email, direct messages | Can be delivered individually |
| Spread by word of mouth | SNS | Users can voluntarily share and spread information |
In practice, multiple media are often used in combination. For example, a TV commercial directs viewers to a website, and the website encourages spreading information through SNS. Each medium does the part it is best at — reach, then depth, then spreading.
start from what you are trying to do
Pick a purpose. The book’s table works this way round — purpose first, medium second — and so does every question about choosing.
and which of them can answer back
Notice the website. The book does not call it two-way outright — it says “basically one-way, but two-way interaction is also possible through forms, comments, etc.” That careful wording is worth copying, because a question will test it.
How the real paper is built
The ministry sets half multiple choice and half written answer in every subject. The two halves are not the same skill. In the multiple-choice half you have to spot the wrong options quickly — and the wrong options are built out of the mistakes students really make. In the written half nobody gives you the answer to recognise; you have to produce it, in your own words, with a reason.
Practise both. Being good at one half and weak at the other costs you exactly half the paper.
- one-way
- — from sender to receiver only.
- two-way
- — users can respond and share.
- website strengths
- — diverse, updatable, global, two-way.
- website constraints
- — needs Internet; users must seek it.
Worked Example
(1) Mark each statement with ○ if it is true or × if it is false.
A A website can present diverse information such as text, images and video in combination.
B TV is a medium that allows two-way interaction with users.
C SNS is a medium highly effective at spreading information rapidly.
D A website normally can be viewed even without an Internet connection.
(2) Match each purpose (a–c) with the most suitable medium: A TV, B Website, C SNS.
a Make detailed information viewable at any time
b Have users spread information by word of mouth
c Inform many people at once with video
1 · Answer the following questions.
2(1) · Which is NOT an appropriate characteristic of websites?
Mark ○ for each one that IS a characteristic of websites, and × for the one that is not.
Information can be updated at any time.
Information automatically reaches users without them actively accessing it.
Text, images and video can be combined and presented.
Two-way interaction is possible through forms and comments.
2(2) · For each situation, which medium is most suitable?
Match each description with the choice that fits it.
Make the detailed specifications and usage of a new product available at any time
Have users spread information about a new product by word of mouth
Deliver video of a new product to many people at once
Send campaign information directly to existing customers
Think as an Engineer — Investigate & Decide
A public library in your city wants to tell people about a new free reading program. You advise on which media to use.
1 · Collect data.
Survey ten classmates or family members: where do they actually notice local announcements — a printed poster, Facebook, WhatsApp, or local radio? Record the results in a table and find the most common channel.2 · Analyze the audience.
For each group — a family with no home Internet, a student, and the librarian — note one benefit and one drawback of using a website as the library’s main channel.3 · Decide.
Using your survey and your table, recommend a media plan (which media, in what roles) and give two reasons. In pairs, compare your plans and agree together on the single best medium for reaching families who may not be online. Give evidence for your answer.
The family with no home Internet is the whole exercise. A library website is free, detailed and updatable — and completely invisible to the people who may need a free reading programme most. Noticing who a medium cannot reach is the skill being taught here.
In a New Context
Lesson Question — Answered
Each medium has its own character: TV reaches many at once but one-way; radio is sound only but reaches anywhere; a newspaper lasts on paper without the Internet; a website combines text, images and video, updates any time, and allows two-way interaction, though it needs an Internet connection and only reaches those who seek it; and SNS spreads information fastest and is two-way.
Because no single medium is best for everything, the right choice depends on the purpose and the target audience — wide reach, full detail, direct delivery, or word-of-mouth — and in practice several media are combined so each does what it does best.
1 · Quiz yourself first.
Cover the Point! sections and name the five media with one characteristic each, then list three strengths and two constraints of websites.
2 · Read the passage and fill in the blanks.
Each medium for conveying information has different characteristics. A website has the strengths of being able to present diverse information such as text, images and video, and being updatable at any time. On the other hand, it has the constraints that it cannot be viewed without an ( a ) connection, and that information does not reach users unless they actively ( b ) it. In actual information dissemination, ( c ) media are often combined, such as directing viewers from a TV commercial to a website.
3(1) · Which most appropriately describes the characteristics of media?
Mark each statement with ○ if it is true or × if it is false.
Radio is a medium that conveys information through video and audio.
Newspapers are media highly effective at spreading information rapidly.
SNS is a medium that allows users to post and share information.
TV is a medium that allows two-way interaction with users.
3(2) · Which most appropriately describes the choice of media?
Mark each statement with ○ if it is true or × if it is false.
Information dissemination should always use only one medium.
Regardless of purpose or target audience, a website is sufficient.
It is important to choose the most suitable medium according to the purpose and target audience.
With SNS, TV and websites are not needed.
Three of these four are the same mistake. Each wrong option claims one medium is enough — one medium always, a website always, SNS always. The whole lesson is the answer: it depends on the purpose and the audience.
Reflect: Which medium do you personally trust most for important news, and why?
Challenge: Plan the media mix for announcing a school event on a budget that rules out TV — then name one audience your mix might still miss, and why.
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