Media Literacy Outreach Projects
Gonzaga University
Spring 2011
Kimberly Hobson:
The deleterious consequences of media upon women are a trend that must be reversed. A threefold approach has been designed and implemented in order to reach as many people in a limited sphere of influence as possible. First, a three day media literacy seminar helping students to distinguish bias and to recognize stereotypes lays a foundation for permanent change. Secondly, opinion pieces were submitted to local newspapers and added to a local blog page. Finally, in order to reach the most people possible, a YouTube blog was created and will be continuously maintained at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItaW4pjfzUM in order to bring attention to media and its effect on our daily lives.
Haleakala
Media literacy can and should begin in schools with the next generation. With that in mind I used Project Look Sharp's lesson plan, Real Bugs, to teach 6th graders to learn about how children are portrayed in the media. The group I presented to was made up of several different 6th grade classes. We identified gender stereotypes, group stereotypes, touched on ethnic stereotypes, and discussed how the media markets to the public.
http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/
Richard Okumoto
The mass media which is driven by advertising dollars constructs mediated realities that may be harmful if not tempered with critical review. Obtainment of media literacy skills can provide an individual the capability to take control of delivered media messages (Porter, 2011). This community outreach project presents three 30 second television advertisements for home loans to a group of twenty-three college students. This project applied the inoculation method mentioned by Burke (2008) about comments from Chen (2007), “Inoculation involves the idea that…media message receivers need to learn about the negative influences of media during small, controlled exposures” (p.15).
Lisa Emig
In the past ten years, the rate of obesity for children aged 2-5 increased from 5% to nearly 10% and from 4% to nearly 20% for children 6-11 years old. The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report states children who are obese in preschool are more likely to become obese in adolescence and adulthood. Advertising and media, along with income and cultural reasons are the prime issues which influence the obesity cycle. The total media exposure for a child is approximately eight hours per day with 36% of preschoolers exceed the AAP recommendation Non-Hispanic blacks and “Other” race preschoolers had the highest percentage that exceeded AAP recommendations for media use. A multi-focal attack on obesity by allied medical professionals is necessary to reverse the overall obesity trend in the United States. We need to enhance social support via media, educate and motivate individuals to take part in healthy behaviors which will reduce the number of obese children and encourage healthy lifestyles for all families, independent of financial considerations.
Carmen Paregien
In California, a disturbing gap exists between public perception of how funds are used in education and the actual facts. In reality, schools are required to also provide mandated health services. The objective of this media literacy project is to increase awareness by improving communication media practices between schools, local news media, policy makers and the public. The theoretical framework for this campaign includes: cone effect model; agenda-setting theory; and media ecology theory.
Chrisann Ricciardi
The children of today live in an age where media messages barrage them on every corner. As we prepare them to be contributing adults of tomorrow’s democratic society, it is important that we empower them to question and respond responsibly to this inundation. While media literacy skills are important to learn both at home and at school, this outreach project concentrates on the impact teachers possess in the classroom where they have the opportunity to train their students with this necessary skill for the 21st century.
Melissa Melcombe
This paper will seek to explore the theoretical framework behind my chosen media literacy project. It will give details as to why I chose to write an Op-Ed piece, the format of the piece, the importance of this topic related to media literacy, and feedback about the piece. The paper will conclude with final thoughts about the topic, including my stand on the topic after conducting the project, and hopes for further educating others on media literacy.
Terri Peterson
This project focuses on a media literacy house party, given to raise awareness about media impact and its ability to help the public form negative opinions about groups regularly portrayed negatively in various forms of media. It will help define the idea “media literacy” for an uninitiated reader, discuss the dynamics that fuel a mediated reality, and examine how this applies to Western perceptions of the peoples of the Middle East. It will look at television, film history and literature, and incorporate a follow-up discussion.
Kelly Darrah
The topic of my service learning project is how media portrays feminism and the feminist movement in the United States. Media literacy is closely tied to this subject, as many people gladly accept whatever the media says about feminism, including information that is often biased. I created a brochure with information from my research and presented it to friends at a house party where we discussed my findings.
Laura Jollay
For my media literacy outreach project, I chose to educate current undergraduate communication arts students at Catawba College about the importance of media literacy. The students at Catawba College are not offered a course on media literacy so this served as an important introduction to the topic. The interactive presentation allowed students to learn about media literacy through the consumption and practices of a medium they so-widely use: social media.
Annagrisel Alvarez
The Media Literacy project I worked on is a article published in a Hispanic newspaper in order to address a topic that interests the whole community. Stereotypes are part of society and constitute a harmful “double edged sword.” Stereotypes in media are usually used to categorize specific groups of people into a general concept defining them. Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, and many more ethnic groups are commonly taken by a general misconception that the media has helped to spread among society. News, movies and internet show many negative aspects of certain characters from specific ethnicities in order to relate more to the audience due to their recognizable bad behavior.
Erin Nolan
For my community outreach project, I wrote three editorial/opinion pieces for the Marshall Democrat News in Marshall Mo. This paper is a county wide paper that publishes 5 days a week. With a circulation of over 5000, and approximately 5200 registered users on the website, this gave my editorials a chance of approximately 10,000 people viewing the articles. My target audience was parents with children, who could be influenced by television and other media.
Kiran Malik-Khan
This paper captures the results of three media literacy workshops conducted with Pakistani children. During the first two workshops the groups were divided according to age – under nine and over nine. The older group was given surveys which inquired about their viewing and reading habits as well as thoughts about television. The younger group consisting of seven children was asked to answer the latter question only. (Surveys attached as addendum). The third workshop held after a week followed-up with the 13 older children only, ranging in ages from nine to 15. The idea was to see what if anything had they learned. In addition local and social media was used to promote the concept of media literacy and its importance for children.
Justin Kishefsky
I do not have any kids of my own and most of my friends who live in my surrounding area do not have kids either. I do have a six-year-old nephew who lives in Wisconsin, but other than those brief visits home several times a year I have never really had the opportunity to witness on a daily basis just how much of a role television plays in the life of a child today. However, I became more interested in this topic as we progressed through the course. Some of the initial statistics of just how much television kids watch and what they are viewing at such a young age were both surprising and a little disturbing to me. That led me to approach Slinger (WI) Elementary School –– where my nephew attends first grade –– about writing an article for their parent’s newsletter detailing some of the impacts of television on kids.
The areas my article touched upon included a look at how kids process what they see on television at different developmental stages, how prevalent television is in the lives of kids, what extensive television viewing takes away, an examination of advertising to kids, the ease of viewing mature themes and their impact on kids, and how television can serve as a positive experience.
Brittany Rawlings
Television has an undeniable influence over society. Viewership continues to grow, revenues climb, new programs emerge, and how we watch TV is constantly evolving. From traditional TV sets to computers, mobile devices and more, television is always a click away. Even with this intrusive degree of exposure, we still cannot seem to get enough. Postman (1985) offers that television has become our culture (p. 79); that it is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself (p. 92).
Through the sensation of television, violence plays an active role in entertaining and impacting the lives of today’s youth. This paper will (1) discuss the growing popularity of television, (2) provide evidence of violence on TV, (3) offer theoretical contributions and potential effects of viewing violent programming, and (4) outline the details of my media literacy outreach project designed to educate people on the realities of television violence.
Erin Waggoner
For my Media Literacy Outreach project, I gave a presentation to the TransKentucky group in Lexington, Kentucky. The presentation served as a starting point for open discussion on how transgender people are portrayed in the media and how the community can take action to see the transgender community more accurately and positively represented.
Martina Newell
Becoming a comprehensive and academically sound student stems from the moment that you enter your respected University to be utilized throughout your college career. Without formal introductory education skills on becoming a successful student in your discipline, you will not be able obtain the proficiency needed to aspire in your field. Using the University of Tampa’s Baccalaureate Gateways model for their incoming first year students, both nationally and internationally, I will articulate ways to incorporate media literacy models that may enhance the future progress for these students and generate better critical skills with much success. In addition, I will provide research that gives specific frameworks to classify what is defined as effective media literacy training.
Stephanie Watson
Baby boomers, in particular, have a heightened disadvantage and are often targeted by internet crime perpetrators (Seniors, 2008). Why? Because boomers are digital immigrants, a term coined by Dr. Gary Small to explain those who did not grow up in the digital era. Dr. Small (2008) explains that boomers “grew up during a less techno-frenetic era, and the current digital revolution occurred after their formative years... Some boomers find it easy to adapt to new technology – they may shop online, communicate via email, and use cell phones – but these are all conveniences the picked up as adults, after most of their brain’s hard-wiring was already set into place” (p. 40). Dr. Small claims, however, it is possible that “older brains” can learn the skills needed to be successful – and safe – while using the internet.
Fall 2010
Paul Toth
A podcast explaining media literacy to an addiction recovery organization is grounded in the group's primary means of addressing addiction, known as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy [REBT]. Familiarity with this cognitive approach allows SMART Recovery's audience to use REBT in reducing negative media effects on their recovery. Because REBT provides a simple means of rationally challenging the irrationality promoted by media, it is further proposed that REBT be incorporated into media literacy education.
Nikki Mitchell
In November 2010, media awareness seminars were conducted for approximately 30 high school seniors and 71 juniors at Brownsburg High School (Brownsburg, Indiana). These consisted of media statistics (Caputo) and a theoretical overview of media programming and media literacy (Potter, 2008) as an alternative to media programming. Participants watched the film Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies, and Alcohol, which examines the messages about alcohol propagated by media.. Finally, the seminar concluded with group examination of various alcohol advertisements in relation to the message tactics identified in the film. Surveys were used to gauge participant attitudes prior to and following the seminar.
Jenel Nels
This community outreach project takes media literacy straight to the source—the people of media. This project reaches out to both media professionals at NBC5 in Chicago, as well as broadcast students at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy. The sessions focus on understanding media literacy in branding, commercialism and community values. This project explores media literacy through its definition as described by W. James Porter.
Tiffany Hoffman, Amanda Rikard & Caitlin Robirds
This community outreach project brings media literacy to people directly in the surrounding community. This was achieved by holding a media literacy house party. The purpose of this event was to create awareness of the impact that our current media has on society, and more specifically reality television. According to the New Mexico Media Literacy Project, “some define reality TV as unscripted dramatic or humorous situations using “ordinary” people rather than paid actors or actresses”. The objective of the house party was to teach guests to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, and to examine gender, class and female body image in order to understand their role in reality television. The party included a diverse gathering of people ranging from high school to college educated and from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. This diversity enabled the house party to have rich dialogue with multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, each guest that attended the party walked away with a better understanding of media literacy and more specifically the impact reality television has on people’s day to day lives.
Peter Clark
For my Community outreach project I decided to try and raise awareness of media’s affects on nutrition and supplements. The average child see’s about 10,000 food advertisements per year, most of it for fast food and junk food. Even the so called health food and supplement companies have advertisements and the vast majority of them don’t do what they say they do. I presented to high school and college aged students and athletes to help them gain a better understanding of what the advertisements are trying to do, sell product! Not make them healthy or happy. Attached is a shortened version of what I presented and some repsonses to it.
AshleeTate
Our country expects its citizens to be well educated, critical thinkers who have the ability to discern valuable and invaluable information. In order to create a society of these types of citizens we must first help them understand how to analyze the information they receive. In a world with internet, IPods and television, children are exposed to media at all times. Whether they have the ability to choose the medium or the message is not always the case, therefore children should be equipped with the tools to analyze the information they are receiving in order to decrease the possible negative effects of media. Most schools have some form of media usage and even some aspects of a media literacy curriculum; however it is very rare for schools to have a complete media literacy program. This paper will address what media literacy is, how it affects children, why it should be in schools and possible approaches to incorporate it into education.
Alissa Kensok
On November 20, 2010 I conducted a training presentation on media literacy regarding television and radio, newspapers and social network media. Participants included Grasstops volunteers for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Oregon State. This was a three hour presentation that consisted of an interactive powerpoint, group discussions and small group and individual exercises pertaining to media literacy and representation as ACS CAN Grasstops Volunteers. Emphasis was made on the importance of being media literate in order to represent the views and policies of ACS CAN to our audiences as well as the audiences of specific media outlets in small and large communities around the state.
Rhiannon Rossi
I chose to author an article in hopes of getting it published on herrochester.com. I also constructed a Media Literacy blog on www.wordpress.com which will continue to be updated even after this class is over. I am bringing media literacy to my audience through the article and through my posts on my blog in regards to various aspects of the media, and how to become more media literate and aware. I am providing the article for download and the link to my blog. Please read the blog if you can and leave your thoughts and comments, as I will likely use this blog as a stepping stone for future projects.
Garrin Hertel
I wrote a media literacy article for my wife's quarterly publication.
PED Quarterly is a publication that serves the Inland Northwest's aging population, connecting them with resources and information, including the programs of PED (exercise and arts programs, as well as the annual Celebrate Life! Expo, in its 17th year). PED stands for Prevention, Education, and Development.My article is entitled "Aging Stereotypes, the Will to Live, and Media Literacy." The article will be published in the Winter 2011 issue of PED Quarterly, which has a distribution of about 5,000, though potentially, the audience could be closer to 10,000 given that the publication is distributed in hospitals, community centers, doctor's offices, and so on, as well as to the regular subscribers.Though the article has not yet been published, many people in the organization have read it, and it has already opened their eyes to the world of media literacy. Readers were eager to discuss the content of the article immediately, and many reported a sense of empowerment, as well as discovery and new awareness.
Chris Tohm
This project involved studying the broadcast industry to see how best to make stations obligated to do more public service announcements for non-profits and try to give them a voice where they have little. I found there is little support--and a letter writing campaign to FCC Commissioners, the Senate (that confirms the Commissioners) and member of Congress seems to be the best way to call attention to the cause. Broadcast and advertising associations have no real desire to give up air time. I chose to create a live website, www.psafairness.org, that gives an educational background and encourage people to write to their Senators, Congresspersons, and the FCC Commissioners. The site has letter templates and links to the contact information for lawmakers and the FCC.
Kashmere Fitch
Aimed at high school and college students and young adults (approximately ages 18-25), this project focused on informing the target group about media literacy and providing them with some simple tools that empower them to take control of their media literacy education. Presented in a colorful, tri-fold pamphlet form, the information focused on describing media literacy as well as awareness of media, critical viewing of media, and looking at the deeper meaning behind media messages.
Adrian Balbo
My Outreach Project was a media literacy presentation and discussion session for a Military Family Readiness Group. I want to address media literacy and discuss the media and the military with this group. Many people who were in attendance had a loved one overseas so I did not want to get to serious about the topic of media and military reporting but was more curious about the group's opinion on how the reporting of activities overseas has affected them. The group consisted of mostly teenage girls and older women; mothers, daughters and wives of a deployed soldier. Some of the participants were concerned with OpSec but I made sure that we kept the conversations focused on discussing media literacy and their opinions and not so much one what they soldier was doing as part of their mission.
Angela McNutt
To use Dr. Caputo's description, I "flirted" with the idea of editorializing media literacy for a local independent paper here in Spokane. I wrote my article, edited it, re-edited it, and finally decided I'd gone too far out of my comfort zone. The article was...meh. Not something I was truly passionate about. So, in the eleventh-hour, I chose to go with a subject area related to my interest in international education. The first key concept of media literacy is that media construct reality. Our world is shaped into stereotypes, and often times, stereotypes media construct. In oversimplifying generalizations of social groups, assumptions become realities. By staying ignorant of fabricated constructs, we are helping out the media.
To counter media stereotypes, this media literacy outreach project is a proposal to host a screening, at Gonzaga University, of the feature documentary film Crossing Borders by director Arnd Wächter. Four American students studying in Spain meet up with four Moroccan students in Morocco. They share dialogue together, travel to varying social landscapes, sharing conversation and experience. What they know of each other, as Americans and Moroccans, they’ve learned through what they’ve read or viewed in media.
Kimberly Coudreaut
This film encourages stereotypes to be cast aside, to go and seek the truth from the ordinary person, not the faux-reality media constructs.
We live in a media saturated society in which we are surrounded by and bombarded with messages. As adults, we can learn to filter out the unimportant information from the important. Our children are not so fortunate. Because they are young and trusting, they lack the experience and maturity to know what is real and what is fantasy. They are vulnerable to the messages created by the media to persuade them to live in a manner the media wants them to live. They do not yet understand that the goal of commercials is to create a need, real or imagined, and encourage them to spend money, or pester their parents to spend money, for the profit of the advertiser. With this in mind, I have chosen to make a presentation to a group of parents of pre-school aged children. My goal is to help them become more aware of the media their children use, and to help educate them to teach their children to be better able to understand what the media is trying to get them to do and to resist it.
Jessica Beckendorf
A multi-tiered, long-term approach to raising awareness to issues of media literacy in Northeast Wisconsin called the "Media Literacy Freedom Project". With a mission of education and action, this project adapted a workshop about portrayals of women in the media, and adopted a workshop from KQED's curriculum bank to be marketed to and conducted before local groups, colleges/universities, and parties. Planned a kick-off event for December 17, 2010 where three volunteers will participate in the About-Face Covert Dressing Room project, placing mirror clings in dressing rooms aimed at empowering women to not allow outside influences define what is ideal. Future plans include an annual award to a student who performed an outstanding outreach project related to media literacy. Finally, a basic framework for a business plan was developed to organize the three main legs of the project.
Roberta Walker
Young Inner City girls from Tacoma invited to a pajama party using Dove Campaign Beauty Series of Fact and Fiction Questionaire on powerpoint to help educate and encourage them to start talking about the importance of girls self-esteem and media literacy and also to challenge beauty stereotypes and discussion about beauty. The party helps to provide girls with a reality check on what is real verses Hollywood magic.
Spring 2010
Tricia Peetz-Ballweg
Title: Media Literacy
Audience: Children ages 10-18 / Grades 5-8 and 9-12
Location: Community Center / Middle School /High School
I developed a five day lesson plan which covered the topics of; what media literacy is and how these children can use the tools I demonstrated to look more critically at the media they encounter on a daily basis. I also created demonstrations to show the children how advertisements affect various aspects of their lives, from what they buy, what they eat, and how they dress. I also touched upon eating disorders and violence in the media they view and interact with. I included many notes on the slides to use in conjunction with the PowerPoint and will post a word document with these notes as well, so the PowerPoint can be viewed as a slide show so viewers can experience the full effect of pictures and information coming in a click at a time if they so desire.
Ramona L. Gabriel
Title: Media Reform: The Effects on Children
Audience: Probation Officers w/Children
Location: San Mateo County Probation Department Conference Room(Redwood City Office)
Since I was dealing with the negative effects that the media has on children, I only invited my co-workers who had children. Originally, I invited ten people to participate; however, due to scheduling conflicts, only eight were able attend. And it did not hurt that I offered food to help cajole the remaining eight's decision.
I conducted a “Presentation on Media Reform" as it pertained to children, at my office.
I chose this topic to present, because I wanted to gain insight into how others viewed the media; and what, if they felt there might be any negative ramifications that affected their children from watching TV. At the last minute, I decided to add a questionnaire, in addition to the power point presentation, to see just how aware my colleagues were with the amount of television that their children watched, and how aware they were to the content of their children's television viewing habits.
Christopher Malec
Title: Social Netwokring Literacy
Who: USCB baseball
The goal of this presentation was to assist students athletes in better understanding social networking websites. Student athletes are representatives of the school and are typically held to a higher standard than the general student body. It is imperative they understand the potential effects of social networking online. The information the student athletes display can be used against them in many ways. This presentation was given in order to give these student athletes knowledge of how to control and get the most out of social networking sites. Many student athletes are at risk with the information they display, and it is their responsibilty to control. This presentation can be expanded in the future to include all student athletes in high school and college so these athletes can enjoy this medium without fear of being taken advantage of.
Margaret Denninger
Title: Media Literacy Presentation
Audience: St. Leo Youth Group, St. Leo Parish
Location: Stamford, CT
90 minute powerpoint presentation introduces concept of media literacy and media reform to 30 teenagers aged 14-17. group comprised of media saturated suburban youngsters who belong to this social and service oriented volunteer club. Sunday night meetings include guest speakers, dinner, discussion and free time. Overall, kids appeared to have learned idea of media literacy although at times they appeared as though ML would ruin the media experience, take the fun out of TV, music, etc. Got past the concept by the end. Within presentation are two YouTube videos; 3 followup student video interviews are included. A brochure with ML tips and information was created and an op-ed supporting ML in schools sent to the Stamford Advocate newspaper.
Adrian Trejo
Title: The Need for Media Literacy and Education for our Children and Families
Audience: Legislators
Location: Washington D.C.
The Media Literacy Outreach/Service Learning Project I chose was drafting and sending letters to our legislators advocating for media literacy. In addition, I sent out a "generic" media literacy advocacy letter to family and friends so that they can easily download it and sign it. I explained the dire need for media literacy and education for our kids, and backed up my position with relevant information, such as citing recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that children 8-18 are occupied with some form of entertainment media for close to eight hours a day-and these alarming numbers get even worse and increase to nearly 4.5 more hours more for minority children.
Timoty Kreis:
Title: Media Mergers
Audience: Co-workers at job
Location: Workplace
I work for an electricity provider in rural Virginia, and as I watched and thought about the Rich Media Poor Democracy video from Module Two, I realized that the theories and information on media mergers presented by Robert McChesney could have an impact on the people I work with and the organization, itself. As my own eyes were opened, I began to wonder if the people that I work with were aware of or alert to what I call the “back story” – the facts behind the scenes of media presentations – and if so, how much? I decided to plan my project as a 45-minute media merger awareness workshop to be held during working hours at my organization.
Kara Knaack
Title: Deconstructing SuperBowl 2010 Advertisements
Organization: Johnston Evangelical Church Junior High Youth Group
Media Literacy Theme: Advertising
My project plan was to create a power point presentation that will feature popular SuperBowl advertisements that have been deconstructed. The presentation, “Deconstruct this! A lesson in media message deconstruction,” was designed to incorporate Caputo’s four key concepts of media literacy: media constructs reality, media use identifiable techniques, media are business/commercial interests, and all media contain ideology and value messages. The goal for my project was to teach youth, ages 12 – 14, how to deconstruct advertisements for themselves. It was my intention for youth to be able to develop deconstruction skills in order from them to be able to pick apart hidden and intended messages in advertisements. I took the following deconstruction aspects into consideration in my presentation: source, audience, text, subtext, persuasion techniques, and point of view.
Kevin Ashford
Title: Health Literacy
Abstract: My project is one of promoting health literacy through media education. Each year billions of advertising dollars are spent marketing unhealthy products to children. Media literacy provides the tools to empower youth to take control of the messages directed towards them every day.
Sheila Schooner
Title: Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs
Audience: A nurse, a marketing director for a medical clinic, a spokesperson for a statewide political organization, and an intergovernmental affairs person working for city government
The idea to do this project came for Fr. Staudenmaier's (n.d.), Moving at the Speed of Light. In it, he explains how advertising has changed over the years, from rational descriptions of products to emotionally charged manipulations based on what products can do for people (p. 41). Prescription drug advertising has become more prevalent on television so I wanted to research this area more to learn how this kind of advertising can have serious consequences to consumers. I used Dr. Caputo's notes for the Cone Effect and the four media literacy concepts to help my participants understand how media gets constructed and alters our perceptions as it related to the film. Teaching these principals allows my participants the opportunity to enhance understanding, control, and appreciation so that they become more aware of the messages around them and helps to solidify my own understanding as well (Potter, 2008, p. 25).
Wendy Tollefsen
Title: Deconstructing Media Generates Female Bias & Fitness Industry
Audience: Ten women.
Location: Prescott Family Racquet Club
A media literacy workshop that consisted of two 40-minute sessions took place at the Prescott Family Racquet Club on February 13 & 20, 2010. Approximately ten women (25-70) enrolled in a new health/lifestyle/fitness program (Prescott Women 2010) participated in the workshop. Information (media packets/handouts) at the workshop included: the definition of media literacy, media effects, (constructed media reality/perceived media reality, cone effect discussion), media bias (techniques/persuasion), the introduction of four, media core concepts (construction of media messages), and an explanation of five key, media deconstruction questions. A pre-test of five questions determined the extent of prior media literacy knowledge. The participants utilized the core concepts (first session) to answer and deconstruct two examples of media text, one print advertisement (Silpada Jewlery), and one magazine cover (SHAPE). Upon finishing the second session, the participants discussed their answers, demonstrated knowledge (post-test) and engaged in a lively discussion that incorporated a new understanding of media produced messages, sources, techniques, values and displayed interest in the further advancement of media literacy within their immediate environment (self/family/social relationships) and community.
David Fairwell
Title: Media Awareness: Developing a Personal Strategy for Increasing Media Literacy
Audience: Community Leaders
This outreach project will immediately increase media literacy awareness among a group of people that have city, county, state, national and worldwide trust and influence. As a part of the plan, media literacy tools were left in the hands of these opinion leaders that they can put to work right away in the groups that they lead in order to affect positive outcomes. Special emphasis was placed on the “Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media” as a key resource going forward.
Steven Fought
Title: A Big Fat Media Wedding
Audience: The local community
Location: Local Branch Library in Vermont
The proposed joint venture between Comcast Corporation and NBC-Universal, Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric Company, would marry the nation’s largest cable television distributor and one of the largest content providers in the world. Government regulators will assess the proposed merger on the basis of its consistency with the public interest and its impact on competition in the marketplace. In this paper, I will use the terms “joint venture” and “merger” interchangeably. References to NBC and NBC-Universal and their many divisions imply an understanding that they are currently controlled by their parent company, General Electric.
Molly Ormsby
Title: Media Literacy and Body Image
Audience: College students, and campus community at the University of Washington Bothell
Location: University of Washington Bothell
For the media literacy outreach project I decided early on that I wanted my target audience to be college students. After unsuccessfully trying to start a club on campus dedicated to media literacy, I approached an existing club about talking to their members. I will be presenting at their next meeting on March 3rd. We have also decided to open it up to the campus community and have advertised for non-club members to join us.
I will begin the workshop by passing around popular magazines like People, US Weekly, Rolling Stone, and GQ. They will have a few minutes to look them over then we will engage in a discussion answering some questions about the advertisements in the magazine. The rest of the presentation will explain media literacy, the principals of media literacy and how the club can learn more and promote media literacy.
Mark Koves
Title: “The Fair Learning Society”
Audience: High School Students
Location: Merrillville, IN
You know the saying “History repeats itself” People always say the best way to deal with current issues are to look back to see how similar problems were dealt with before. What happens when our history has been rewritten and is being taught to our children incorrectly? Who is to prevent a teacher, school, book publisher, etc. from teaching falsehoods as truth?
This project will analyze how students are taught… what they are taught, and what historians really say about the stories of our past. The media aspect will be based on the companies that publish, produce, and write the textbooks.
I have initiated a group of students from my high school alma mater to create a group called the Fair Learning Society. I have provided the group with my thoughts on what they can do to if they feel that history is not being taught correctly to them. I have also provided them with the contact information for the CEO of Pearson Education, Inc., William Etheridge. I personally have tried calling and have heard no response, and have written a letter questioning information left out or misrepresented in the history books used by Merrillville High School and published by Pearson Education, Inc.
Thomas Dietz
Title: Las Vegas Blog Community Literacy Project
Audience: I will be delivering my presentation at the April 23 PRSA Luncheon Seminar to the local Las Vegas chapter. The intended audience for the attached PowerPoint presentation is people who practice public relations in the city of Las Vegas. Audience members will consist of PR colleagues from Kirvin Doak Communications, R&R Partners, PR Plus, Preferred PR and other public relations practitioners from the large resort and entertainment corporations.
The goal/ purpose of this project was to spend time working with and supporting independent media outlets such as The Gold Plated Door ( http://www.goldplateddoor.com/), Vegas Deluxe (http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/) and Vegas Happens Here (http://thestrippodcast.blogspot.com/). As blogs become increasingly popular, they cover stories that may not get the attention from a larger news organization (local TV affiliates, daily newspaper, radio stations, news magazines, etc.). I have created a media literacy presentation for my fellow public relations colleagues in Las Vegas that raises awareness of how to better understand the role of media and blogs in our city. Throughout the presentation, I showcase the importance of independent news organizations, such as blogs, and how they can offer differing/refreshing viewpoints from what we are accustomed to. I evaluated the messages behind traditional media and compare it to an independent news sources, that cover relevant local issues. It was important for me to share an understanding of where our news and information comes from. As active consumers/ participants of the media, I believe that it is important for us to understand the various messages we receive, and our role as an audience member. I also conducted two case studies in the presentation and analyzed how the same story was covered by traditional media vs. the independent blogs. At the end of the case study I evaluated the results. It is important for public relations professional to understand the media landscape as it is continually changing. Because blogs are often viewed as offering diverse voices, I highlight this fact throughout my presentation. Blogs are an alternative media source for my community, and because of their position in the media hierarchy, they chose to address other issues that might not see the light of day.
Heidi Baldwin
Title: A [Literate] Social Media World
Audience/Location: Kirvin Doak Communications
As a public relations professional, I work directly with the media on a daily basis, which means my knowledge of the media's impact on its audience is extremely important. For this project, I chose to analyze media literacy among two social media portals: Twitter and Facebook. I presented a link to a survey several times throughout a week's span on both sites and garnered over 200 responses. The questions ranged from media literacy (taken from the PBS survey presented in Module One) to media usage questions. In addition, I asked whether or not participants were aware of the highly successful American Red Cross "Help for Haiti" text message campaign. To date, "Help for Haiti" has raised over $41 million (Choney, MSNBC.com). Sixty-two percent of participants were aware of the campaign and 38% had donated.
I shared the survey results and this presentation in a monthly agency meeting to my colleagues at Kirvin Doak Communications, a public relations agency specializing in entertainment, travel and lifestyle in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our agency prides itself on being experts across several fields, therefore, it is imperative that we are knowledgeable on the rising trend of social media. Kirvin Doak's Web site currently includes links to its Twitter handle ( @KDCLasVegas) and also features our ownblog. Though we consider ourselves active in the trend of social media, I felt it was important to develop media literacy when it comes to social media. Therefore, not only understanding social media and the outlets available, but the impact they have on their audiences and what these sites mean to our clients.
Kevin Lamb
Title: A Community United in Artistic Expression
Audience: Royal Oak Community
For my media literacy project, I sought to create a blog for the city of Royal Oak to promote understanding and awareness in an ever growing media present society. Royal Oak is a young, hip town featuring Metro Detroit's most popular and populated downtown. The city is full of culture and arts; it was my effort in this outreach project to tap into that passion for the arts, and channel its energies into the subject of media literacy with the goal of community improvement and unity through shared expression and experiences.
Over a two week period I flyered the downtown area: coffee shops, the community college, the Royal Oak Music Theatre, the Landmark Movie Theatre, and bars. This past Saturday I held a group gathering at a local coffee shop. Helped by a few friends, we attracted a surprisingly decent crowd consisting of 10 individuals. While my target flyer demographic was 16 to 30, possibly arts related, we attracted a few interested 40 +. I provide everyone in attendance with an agenda, but we mostly just talked, shared thoughts and feelings over the idea of a community blog, and most significantly, the idea of building awareness and common bond through various forms of artistic expression. People were sincere, open, and walked away with an excitement that made me quite content. Everyone left with the assignment of finding a video on the web that targets the issue of media literacy and awareness, and sending me a link with their thoughts or chosen form of expression. Our blog is growing by the day; as it grows I believe it will attract a growing body of Royal Oak citizens that become comfortable with sharing possibly intimate and personal experiences.
Spring 2009
Christine Anthony
Title: Girl scouts, beauty product ads, and media literacy
Audience: Girl scouts
Location: Steilacoom, WA
I worked with my Girl Scout troop and gave some presentations and workshops about media literacy, especially from the advertising women's beauty project angle. I showed them some of the Dove commercials, went through women’s magazines and talked about messages and their impression of the advertisements for beauty products. After the discussion, I asked them to develop ads for beauty products with positive messages for girls their age. The girls will earn a “Media Savvy” badge. The girls are so excited about this badge, and even see possibilities in adapting the badge to the younger troops. It might be a bigger project next year.
Liudmila Bishop
Title: Russian Speaking Community Form “Privet”
Audience: Russian speaking community in the US
Location: Spokane, WA
I choose to select the media literacy theme on the effects of commercialism on the Russian speaking community. I used Privet community forum which is the largest Russian speaking community online in the United States. I created a poll that asked questions about how American commercials influenced their buying habits. I also was interested in how they felt about commercials affecting their children. For their education I introduced a link to my blog about media literacy. The results of my poll showed an obvious change from the idea that commercials don’t have an effect on them to the awareness that media might have a negative consequence.
Lyndsey Buschbacher
Title: Jesuit Communication Project Las Vegas- Media Literacy for Students
Audience: Teachers in Las Vegas
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
This project made use of the Jesuit Communication Project already in place to reach local students in Los Vegas. Lyndsey reached out to teachers so that they could be informed enough to teach their students about media literacy. She did so through a website (www.jcp-lasvegas.org), presentation and survey. She spread the word about this information through business cards and other connections, and she even went to a local elementary school to present her information to teachers. They learned a lot from her presentation and some even visited her website.
Stacy Cochran
Title: How the Media Affects You
Audience: Class of 8th grade girls
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
I designed a questionnaire for teenaged girls, with questions regarding media, their participation/viewing time, and feelings they had about images portrayed and their self-image. I collected the data and presented it to them in PowerPoint form, and conducted a dialogue to discuss the issues further. We discussed advertising images that I passed around, meanings those images portrayed and their effects. We finished with a viewing of Dove’s “Evolution”, discussed ways to act and change the messages the media uses. I am going to continue to speak to teenage girls, and hope to expand the project to include boys, as well.
Mark Emoto
Title: Media Literacy for Seniors
Audience: 50 years and older
Location: Redlands, CA
The website "Media Literacy for the 50 & Older Crowd" was created to introduce media literacy to seniors and to provide for them an avenue of awareness of the pros and cons of the media. The site also offers access to resources for seniors who wish to file complaints or inquire about media-related matters that can directly impact them. The website uses media from the past such as old TV or radio shows to capture the viewer's attention in it message delivery. Awareness, control of the media, and responsibility for self and the media are what the audience should learn from viewing the presentation.
http://www.in-motion.ws/Media_Literacy/home.html
Michael Harris
Title: MediateNOW
Audience: Parents
Location: Lake Forest Park, WA
MediateNOW.info is a website created to educated parents on media literacy and issues concerning their children. The opening to the website reads: Welcome to MediateNOW.info, a resource for parents who hope to help their children become media literate as they grow in a world becoming more and more saturated with messages from the media, many which we don't even realize are impacting us.
Edie Hill
Title: MOPS Presentation
Audience: Mothers of Preschoolers
Location: Lynden, WA
Media literacy begins with education and awareness. Because our children are at a higher risk for the negative effects of media influences, it is important that not only their media consumption be monitored, but that they are involved in discussions about content and influence. The following presentation was given to a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in hopes of raising awareness of media influence in the Lynden, WA community. In addition to the newsletter, the mothers engaged in a discussion about household media consumption and the effects on their children.
Carolyn Hudman
Title: Advocating for Media Education in Kentucky’s Public Schools
Audience: Public schools in Kentucky
Location: Kentucky
Pulling the plug—it seems like an easy solution to the increasingly complex nature of media saturation and youth. This service project addresses the need for media literacy and education in the public school systems across Kentucky through advocacy efforts at the state congressional level. Research of current and proposed legislation led to key opinion leaders in the Kentucky House of Representatives. A letter was crafted to support their leadership and a call to action for media education in schools. Continued advocacy efforts will include establishment of dialogue with legislators and a grassroots campaign with the help of concerned parents and caring adults.
Thomas Jaime
Title: Media Literacy for fourth graders
Audience: 4th grade class
Location: Los Angeles, CA
This project was a presentation given to a fourth grade class. The class viewed a presentation about media literacy, along with a few handouts to help teach. The students responded well to the presentation, asking lots of questions making many comments about the media.
Deborah Johnson
Title: Supporting Independent Media
Audience: Politicians, PR professionals, and freelance writers
Location: St. Louis, MO
This project supported the St. Louis Beacon, a non-profit online publication focusing on the St. Louis region. The Beacon’s mission is to “provide news that matters to people in our region and a place where we can thoughtfully discuss it.” Since the Beacon is less than a year old, it is important to create awareness among several communities of the publication’s existence. The communities chosen for outreach are politicians who are based in St. Louis and politicians with ties to St. Louis; St. Louis based public relations professionals; and freelance writers. Through letter writing and blogging, Deborah spread outreach to these communities.
Lisa Johnson
Title: Newspaper article on girls’ self esteem
Audience: Readers in North Idaho
Location: Coeur d’Alene, ID
Lisa wrote an article on the self-esteem of teenage girls, and particularly, how the media affects self-esteem. Her article was published, including a picture of Lisa and her daughters, by the Coeur d’Alene Press on Sunday, March 8.
Katie Leon
Title: Positive News
Audience: Universities, libraries, community colleges, parents
Location: San Francisco, CA
The project is two-part: the outreach part is to help Positive News improve circulation. Positive News is a non-profit newspaper that emphasizes areas of sustainability, social equality and education. I distributed the paper and promoted subscriptions to local Universities and public libraries. So far, I’ve been to two local community colleges and the University as well as two branches of the library. The second part is an article I submitted to Positive News titled: How to talk with your child about TV. The article is about teaching your child to become more media literate by actively talking with them about what they see on TV.
Kiesha Marusa
Title: Media Matters for America
Audience: Wesbite
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
I became a media monitor and advocate for Media Matters for America, a web-based, not-for-profit research and information center committed to “monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.” As a media monitor, I am responsible for critically viewing news stories and reporting inaccurate information to Media Matters. As an advocate, I participate in outreach campaigns requesting that inaccurate information be corrected by the media. As a media monitor, I have yet to witness or report any misinformation. As an advocate, I have participated in two outreach efforts. Going forward, I will continue to work with Media Matters.
Charity Mason
Title: Intro to Media Literacy Video
Audience: Family and friends
Location: Oldtown, Idaho
The Introduction to Media Literacy video is a brief primer to media literacy, covering what media is, and definitions for media literacy, propaganda, censorship, and bias. The video also details media ownership, media funding, and the five filters to media content as discussed by Chomsky and Herman in Manufacturing Consent. Lastly, the video gives brief examples of how Chomsky and Herman's five filters, propaganda, censorship, bias, media ownership, and media funding factor into real life examples of how media and its presentation of ideas, things, and people attempts to influence our opinions, and how media literacy can lessen this impact.
Aaren Newman
Title: MediaLitProject.com
Audience: Website
Location: Spokane, WA
I am proud to present my first ever web site. Please check out www.medialitproject.com . This site is intended for people who are interested in media literacy, but who have never explored it before. In a sense, like many of us were just a short time ago. The site uses many of the resources found on BlackBoard, as well as many others. I used Open Source materials for the site including a web template and the photographs. If you are interested in making an inexpensive (and legal) site, I encourage you to take a look at the links in the bottom right-hand corner of each page. Every journey begins somewhere. Why not start here? We spend so much time involved in our day-to-day activities that revolve around television, internet, and print media, but we seldom stop to ask who is sending us these messages and why. On an even darker note, we often allow our children to spend hours with these devices- totally unsupervised. It is the hope of this site that its readers will leave better informed and more cautious about the messages we receive every day.
Kimberly Newman
Title: Advertiser Accountability
Audience: TV Advertisers
Location: Spokane, WA
This project was based on a suggestion from the Parents Television Council (parentstv.org). Family-friendly hour has been set aside between 8 and 9 p.m. over broadcast channels. Far too often, non-family friendly programming has made its way into this time slot. Advertisers are neither wholly to blame, nor are they blameless. Their advertising money encourages broadcasters to continue the showing of non-family friendly programming. This project was designed not only to assess current family hour programming, it also helped to make advertisers aware of their part in supporting broadcast shows during that time. Sponsors were contacted via letters, email, and telephone. Both supportive and critical contact was made. Advertisers were evaluated on ease of contact, quality, and directness of response, and willingness to support family hour programming.
Lauren Penning
Title: DTV Transition Community Outreach Project
Audience: TV watchers switching to digital
Location: Seattle, WA
This project helped spread the word about the digital TV transition by working with Reclaim the Media, a local non-profit organization. By volunteering with Reclaim the Media, Lauren helped people who came in with questions. She explained to them the details of switching to digital, and did so by setting up a TV with a digital converter box to demonstrate.
Alvin Price
Title: Uncovering the Goal of Media
Audience: 13 people age 17 to 62 from community
Location: Austin, TX
This presentation will provide an in-depth look into the media, their objectives, and the few conglomerates who own the majority of the organizations that have formed a complex web of business relationships that now form America’s media and pop culture. The presentation also investigates the four concepts of media literacy, the definition of media literacy, the need to study media literacy, the goals of media literacy, and media effects. The presentation concludes with a call to action which lists several steps citizens can take in order to move towards becoming media literate.
Russ Riesinger
RRiesinger@aol.com
Title: Public Service Announcement (PSA) for Media Literacy
Audience: Parents
Location: Savannah. GA
Russ produced a public service announcement (PSA) for television and the internet about the negative effects of violence on children and the importance of parents monitoring their children’s electronic media use and familiarizing themselves with the ratings system. The PSA and article were published on the television website, WSAV.com, and also picked up by several aggregator sites. The hope is that this will be the beginning of a media literacy campaign that will also air on television. Russ believes this is one way that members of the media can be more responsible and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
Jennifer Romsos
Title: Media Literacy Blog
Audience: People in their 30s-50s
Location: Twin Cities, MN
The blog Saturated TC takes a critical look at the local media in the Twin Cities (MN) region and offers a place for open dialogue on the subject. The objective of this blog is to teach my peers basic concepts of media literacy, as well as application of those concepts through analysis of media messages being produced at a local level. As I progress, I hope to expand my audience and number of contributors and become a respected and trusted location to find valuable discussion on this topic.
Constance Skingel
Title: Service Club Internet Literacy
Audience: Rotary Club
Status: Goal to make presentation to Lions Club
This presentation provided information on media literacy to Rotarians. It focused on the use of Internet social networks, why and how they are used, and the impact they have. The presentation went well in a small setting, and hopefully she will also be able to present to her Lions Club in the near future.
Fall 2008
Media Literacy Activism and Articles
Kelsey Off
Title: Media Watchdog
Audience: People affected by eating disorders
Location: Spokane, Washington
Kelsey signed up to volunteer as a Media Watchdog for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a non-profit organization that acts as a “catalyst for prevention, cures, and access to quality care” for those affected by eating disorders. NEDA’s Media Watchdog program was created to improve media messages about size, weight and beauty. Media Watchdogs for NEDA closely monitor various forms of media, commending or critiquing ads that positively or negatively impact body image and self-concept. The Watchdogs assist NEDA in writing letters of protest or praise to advertisers, and continue to correspond until they respond to the request to change their advertising strategies and messages. Kelsey has already sent three letters in response to negative ads, and continues to volunteer for NEDA.
Cindi Kurczewski
Title: Be aware of media’s power; once you are, use it for good
Audience: The Atlanta Journal- Constitution
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Cindi wrote an article about the subject matter and mission of media literacy which will be published in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The article discussed media literacy and why its importance. She wrote, “What can you and I do today to increase our media literacy? Be aware—be very aware… It can be done; there are hopeful signs for how we might use media in a positive way.” After submitting her article to the education-opinion section of the AJC, Cindi was informed that her article would be published. The AJC reaches readers in 27 counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area, with many more online. Cindi’s article can be found at: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/opinion/stories/2008/12/20/kurczed_1220.html%3Fcxntlid%3Dinform_artr.
Robert KcKeever
Title: Media-Savvy children in the 21st century
Audience: The Triangle Area of North Carolina’s Mom-to-Mom Connection
Location: North Carolina
Robert wrote an article that is awaiting publication on http://www.trianglemommies.com. TriangleMommies.com is a free community with the goal of providing “a safe, secure, free place for mothers to find support and encouragement from other mothers and to empower them to be better women, parents and community leaders.” Robert submitted an article about the responsibility of both parents and children to avoid negative media content and promote media literacy. He wrote, “It is important to appreciate how teaching your children about the media itself will benefit them in multiple facets of life.” His article has been submitted to Triangle Mommies’ national database and could be published in a newsletter in many cities across the country.
Media Literacy Brochures and Books
Rhonda Curry
Title: Book Club Donations
Audience: Pediatric Clinic
Location: Port Angeles, Washington
Rhonda and her book club donated books to a pediatric clinic. The books contained book plates printed with media literacy tips. Rhonda and her book club agreed to donate children’s books to the pediatric clinic with media literacy tips in the front of the book. She wrote, “This way, mothers and fathers who may not understand media literacy will have easy access to some basic media literacy facts.” Rhonda estimated that if fifty parents a day see two messages about media literacy, she will have informed 12,000 parents in one year.
Bobby Beeman
Title: Understanding the Influence of Media
Audience: Families at First Step Family Center
Location: Port Angeles, Washington
Bobby created a Media Influence Brochure for families at the First Step Family Center in Port Angeles, WA, and he is looking into other organizations who may be interested. He wrote, “The purpose of the brochure is not to provide all-inclusive informative as much as it is to serve as a wake-up call to parents as to the influence media has on their children.” He distributed his brochure not only to First Step, but also other organizations and library branches.
Media Literacy Presentations to Groups and Meetings
Martha Johnson
Title: Media Literacy: Increasing Awareness in Northern Kentucky
Audience: Residents of Northern Kentucky and The Raintree Ladies’ Book Club
Location: Melbourne, Kentucky
Martha’s outreach project included two components: inviting residents of Northern Kentucky to a forum on media literacy at a public library and holding a media literacy discussion with members of her local book club. She explained, “The Northern Kentucky Forum session is planned for January 29, 2009, at the Boone County Public Library, which has meeting room capacity for 350 people.” She recruited 12 local citizens to serve on a Media Literacy Advisory Committee, which has decided to focus the topic of the 2008 presidential campaign and its use of old and new media. She wrote, “We will seat a four-person panel of political and media experts and discussion will be led by a moderator. Using the five key questions for deconstruction as a guide, the panel will investigate the ideas that media construct messages, that all media contain ideology and value messages, and that media are business and commercial interests.” The audience will provide immediate feedback through “clicker” technology, as well as participate with questions and comments. The event will be publicized through blogs and email lists, a news release, and follow up. In addition, Martha conducted a media literacy session with the members of her local Raintree Ladies’ Book Club. She found that the session with the book club allowed her to better prepare for the upcoming forum.
Sandy Robinson
Title: Media Literacy—Why Should I Care?
Audience: Speakeasy Toastmasters Club #291
Location: Great Falls, Montana
Sandy presented a speech to her local Speakeasy Toastmasters Club #291 whose mission is to “provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster confidence and self growth.” She wrote, “I presented a 10 minute speech and Power Point presentation to my club about media literacy and its importance for leadership on December 2, 2008. My focus was to take our course material and condense it down to a workable speech discussing what media literacy IS, what it IS NOT, some statistics from some of our class discussions, some ideas for them as to how to get further involved with media literacy if they are interested, and why media literacy is important to Toastmasters as leaders in their families, their places of work, and their communities.” After receiving good feedback from her audience, Sandy concluded that her audience’s media consciousness was raised by the presentation and information she provided.
L. Michelle Kuwasaki
Title: PEO Meeting, Girl Scout project, and education
Audience: Members of PEO, Girl Scouts, and students
Location: Kent, Washington
Michelle undertook various projects that she continues to develop. The first was a presentation at a PEO meeting held in December. She created a presentation that included an opening activity, PowerPoint presentation, and discussion on media literacy. She taught a member of PEO to give the presentation, which provoked discussion about the media. Currently, Michelle continues to work on her pending projects of creating a possible media literacy badge for girl scouts and helping her school district include media literacy in their curriculum.
Michael Van Zummeren
Title: Greater NY Public Affairs Officer Consortium
Audience: Members of the Greater NY Public Affairs Officer Consortium
Location: Rochester, New York
Michael delivered a presentation on media literacy to the members of the Greater NY Public Affairs Officer Consortium for his project. His presentation was interactive and informative, and it sparked detailed discussion and debate. Participants in the presentation took away many important lessons in media literacy.
Jason Catlett
Title: Community Outreach to the YMCA
Audience: Parents at the YMCA
Location: Monterey, California
Jason organized a discussion and presentation to parents through his local YMCA, and in his process of organization, he also gave a presentation to his colleagues on an “Effective Use of Technology in the Classroom.” In the training session with his colleagues, he integrated lessons about technology and media. He planned to hold a similar presentation and discussion at the YMCA.
Nicky Kroupa
Title: Viewing Monk in Alternative Ways
Audience: Friends and acquaintances
Location: Washington
Nicole performed a survey with the purpose of determining if a group of people would answer differently on the survey after given a media literacy plan. Ten people participated in a night of viewing an hour-long Monk Christmas special. She explained, “All ten people were to watch the program but five of the participants were to be given a media literacy lesson before the program began.” She found that most participants commented that media did not influence them, and became defensive when given examples of how media might affect them.
Media Literacy for Schools and Students
Kristy Smith
Title: Media Literacy and What it Means to Me
Audience: Students at The READ Center
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Kristy volunteered with the Junior League of Richmond, an organization of women designed to train women for leadership roles, to help a local non-profit adult literacy program in Richmond. The READ (Reading and Education for Adult Development) Center is for low-level reading adults to help meet their individual literacy goals and communication skills. Kristy presented a media literacy presentation that concentrated on advertising, with the goal of educating on how the READ students were affected by television and advertising. The students responded well to her presentation, and she wrote, “That evening, I received an email from her stating that the adults were interested in having another presentation on media but wanted to learn more about the news and the information it provides.” Therefore, Kristy is currently working with the READ Center to provide further information and media literacy curriculum.
Emily Hedges
Title: Newseum Education Center Lessons
Audience: Middle school and high school students
Location: Washington, D.C.
Emily created a lesson plan for middle school and high school age students for the Newseum Education Center, where any teacher can bring a class and request a supplement to its curriculum. She created a media literacy course that met the standards of the Newseum, and she sent out pre-visit activities to get the students starting to think about the topics they would learn. During the visit, students attend a class on media literacy, and after the visit, she sends a post-visit activity to keep them thinking on the topic. After this lesson plan was achieved at the Newseum, Emily received positive feedback from the educators.
Shannon Leinen
Title: Outreach at York College
Audience: Students at York College
Location: York, Nebraska
Shannon directed her outreach toward the campus of York College. She created her own version of a Media Usage Survey to give to students, and developed a way to survey a good representation of the student body. She distributed the survey in classes at the college, tabulated the results, and presented her information in two of the classes in which she had collected data. Her presentation provoked good discussion in the classroom. She wrote, “The students were very receptive of the points that I had made and were full of questions about things that they should be aware of and analyze in themselves.”
Kim Noel-Gill
Title: Media Literacy Awareness Day
Audience: Wilkes Community College
Location: West Jefferson, North Carolina
Kim worked with 10 members of her American Women Studies class to produce Media Literacy Awareness Day on the Ashe campus of Wilkes Community College. She wrote, “Our goal was to define, understand and promote Media Literacy Awareness… the event was well-attended and hugely successful.” At the event, she gave a presentation and was amazed to find that even in a rural community, her students were greatly influenced and affected by the media.
Jay Rickerts
Title: Media Literacy for 6th Graders—Is what you see really what you get?
Audience: 6th graders in a North Carolina public school
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
Jay Rickerts created a presentation and held a discussion with about 90 sixth-graders broken up into three classes at Northwest Guilford Middle School in Greensboro, North Carolina. He spoke to the kids about being aware of the media, where it comes from, and what messages it sends to them. Jay wrote, “Some kids admitted they had never though twice about the fact that someone has to write the news or the commercials they see… Others were far more savvy about what they saw.”
Vicki Hertz
Title: Launching the Media Literacy Lesson
Audience: 7th Grade Students
Location: Spokane, Washington
Vicki created a lesson plan in media literacy for 7th grade students through Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALR) for Washington State. She taught the lesson in four classes, and designed the lesson plan so that it could be further implemented by teachers without her. She commented, “Overall, I believe the literacy lessons were well received by the students, inviting engaging discussion about the influence advertising and programming can have on their behavior, their thinking, and their relationships.”
Catherine Lavelle
Title: Presentation to High School Students
Audience: High school students at Academy of Finance
Location: Seattle, Washington
Catherine spoke with about 15 high school juniors and seniors from two local high schools through the Academy of Finance (AOF). The students got the day off school to participate in programs and break-out sessions. She created a lesson plan focused on marketing and advertising to teach and discuss with the students.
Lara Fluharty
Title: Television Literacy
Audience: Teenage students
Location: Sitka, Alaska
Lara created a lesson plan for students with the goal of helping them analyze the portrayals of teens in television, stereotypes, and influence of media. Her lesson included analysis of specific television shows and class interaction and discussion. She taught a series of lessons to a class and was able to see their development and learning. At the end of her project, the student performed skits on how media affects them and what they learned from her media literacy outreach.
Media Literacy House Parties
Mickey Evey
Title: Media Literacy Party
Audience: Friends and acquaintances in Spokane
Location: Spokane, Washington
Michael organized a Media Literacy Party as outreach to people in his community. He said, “I invited a diverse group of people to come to my house, watch a short film produced by the Media Education foundation, and participate in a discussion about the film, it’s message, and other issues related to media literacy.” At the party he showed a film and succeeded in provoking fruitful discussion and feedback about media literacy.
Erica Byfield
Title: Media Reform House Party
Audience: A group of women in St. Louis
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Erica hosted a Media Reform House Party for her project, in which she invited a group of friends to her house to learn about and discuss media literacy. She presented a presentation on media literacy and its importance, and the information provoked a good discussion with the women. The group agreed upon the importance of the information, and hoped to spread it to their friends and family.
Cheryl Patrick
Title: Media Literacy Presentation
Audience: Group of Christian single women
Location: Ft. Bragg, North Carolina
Cheryl designed a presentation on media literacy for a group of Christian single women with children and some grandchildren. Her presentation included an interactive survey and discussion, as well as information especially pertinent to women and children in the media. She wrote, “My main goal, however, was not make major changes in their lifestyles but rather to create an awareness of how it can and does affect their lives.” The women were very receptive and interested.
Heidi Peterson
Title: Media Literacy Presentation
Audience: Friends and acquaintances
Location: Seattle, Washington
Heidi created a media literacy presentation for a group of women in her kickboxing class. She addressed many issues in media literacy, and she received a good response and discussion from the women.