I always viewed it as a combination of things, starting from the most basic to the more complex. All in all they are all bits of information. For example, the bases make up codons which code for genes which code for amino acids that make up proteins. So each part of DNA, in my mind, can be considered a piece of information. for example, think of each letter in this reply as a base pair. Without these letters, you can't make words, which in this example make codons. Without words you can't make sentences which would be amino acids in this example. And without sentences I can't form this reply which would be the protein. So base pairs are a form of information as you need them to get to the next, more complicated level.