NAMLE Efforts Aimed at Easing Educators' Copyright Concerns

Have you found a great piece of video that drives home the point of a lesson? Are you feeling uneasy about the ‘legality' of using it? A new report issued last week aims to put to rest all the fears educators have felt for years about whether they can legitimately use video taped off the air or film clips – as well as other copyrighted material – in classroom lessons and projects. NAMLE was part of a coordinated effort by the media literacy community to develop "The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education", which simplifies the legalities of using copyrighted material in an academic setting. The report provides a framework for using those materials in classroom activities and student projects and lays out what applications are restricted or permitted by law.

For details on the report click here

NAMLE members help to set the agenda for civic engagement through news literacy

A group of journalists, researchers, scholars, educators, teachers, administrators, policy makers and leaders of non-profit and cultural organizations gathered in Philadelphia on Oct. 23-25, 2008 for "Rebooting the News: Reconsidering an Agenda for American Civic Education." Co-hosted by Temple University’s Media Education Lab, founded by Renee Hobbs, and the Media Giraffe Project at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, directed by Bill Densmore, the meeting was an opportunity to critically examine the relationship among media, news and U.S. public education, within the framework of news literacy.

The impetus for the conference grew out of concerns over the nation’s struggling news organizations, the abandonment by young people of traditional news sources and the implications of these developments for participatory democracy. Goals of the conference were to begin to define “news literacy,” to examine model projects and to produce a post-event report recommending promising directions for preparing young people to be informed, engaged citizens.

Unlike a traditional conference with a schedule of specific sessions, “Rebooting the News” was organized around a central question—What is news literacy? Facilitated by Stephen Silha and Peggy Holman using processes such as Open Space Technology  and World Café, the conference allowed participants to define the agenda and propose topics for discussion.

Among the approximately sixty participants were current and former NAMLE board members Frank Baker, Sherri Hope Culver, Paul Mihailidis, Duane Neil, Faith Rogow, and Karen Zill, who led discussions on the necessity of a free media for civil society (Mihailidis); the implementation of news literacy in middle school and high school (Baker); the role of media companies in advancing news literacy (Culver); and making news a non-commodity resource (Zill). In a presentation on NAMLE’s Core Principles of Media Literacy Education, Faith Rogow drew the connections between media literacy and news literacy, showing that they rest on the same definition of literacy and emphasize the same critical thinking skills.
 
In addition to participant-generated discussions, highlights of “Rebooting the News” included a pre-conference briefing by Fabrice Florin, executive director of News Trust, a social news network whose members evaluate news stories based on established principles of journalism. Howard Schneider, dean of the School of Journalism at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Long Island, NY, presented information on the News Literacy course he teaches, and Mark Goodman, director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University, spoke about First Amendment issues related to high school student journalism.

Before closing the meeting, the group convened in Philadelphia developed a defining statement:
News surrounds us and as such news literacy is an essential life skill for everyone. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: knowledge of current issues is essential to informed citizenship in a democracy. We are concerned about the effects of media messages on children and others. Modern participatory culture makes every citizen a potential creator of news in social media, blogs, email and the web. We believe a literate citizen understands the purposes, processes and economics of news.

Therefore, it is time for American education to include the acquisition of 21st-century, critical-thinking skills for analyzing and judging the reliability of news, differentiating among facts, opinions and assertions in the media we create and distribute. News literacy standards can be research based in multiple content areas. It can be taught most effectively in cross-curricular, inquiry-based format at all grade levels. It is a necessary component for literacy in contemporary society.

The reports from various working groups are being shared on a Mediagiraffe wiki.

NAMLE celebrates “Rebooting the News” as an expansion of media literacy to an ever-broader audience and will continue to work with colleagues from the conference and with our members to promote news literacy and media literacy education throughout the U.S.

Media Literacy Week in St. Louis

Gateway Media Literacy Partners, Inc. (GMLP) celebrated its second successful media literacy week, Oct. 12-18, by honoring three more media literacy award winners and presenting a feature-rich media literacy week. Many thanks go to partners, Webster University, Lindenwood University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), Washington University's Kemper Museum, Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, the Press Cub of Metropolitan St. Louis, Starbucks, Anne and Jack Bader, and noted media literacy educator, Frank Baker, who headlined the event!

Following acknowledgment of proclamations from the Missouri Governor, Senate, and House, as well as from the County Executive of St. Louis County, and the Mayors of St. Louis and St. Charles, GMLP's celebrated the accomplishments of the Charles Klotzer Media Literacy Award winners: educator, Douglas Russell, Pond Elementary School, Grover, Mo; journalist and KWMU public radio host, Don Marsh; and education consortium, Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis.

Following opening ceremonies, Oct. 12, region-wide citizens took advantage of numerous free-and-open-to-the-public offerings, throughout the week, including a rich academic symposium, featuring selected papers of area-wide university students studying media literacy, Lindenwood U's "Video Game Nation: An Insight into Gaming Culture;" SIUE professor Dr. Gary Hicks' research presentation: "Mediated Madness: Stigma, Media and Mental Illness;" Webster's U.'s film viewing of and panel discussion on "Idiocracy: Satire or Horror?"; Washington University professor Korina Jocson's look at the cultural style of "cool" in advertising; Frank Baker's interactive workshop on teaching the role of media in the political process, his keynoter, and, finally, informal media literacy conversations at a local Starbucks!

Themed "Media Literacy: A Survival Skill," the week also saw a lively discussion between audience and panelists when GMLP and the St. Louis Press Club presented "Media Literacy and Political Media," with moderator/panelist, GMLP Media Literacy Week chair, Dr. Art Silverblatt, former Missouri Governor, Bob Holden, and Frank Baker.

A media literacy education discussion between Danish and American social studies students, originally scheduled for this week, is rescheduled for after the U.S. election. At that time, the students will interact via SKYPE and discuss the U.S. election and also talk about stereotyping in the media, discussion that had begun in January, when GMLP hosted Danish journalists and educators who were interested in meeting with GMLP to explore starting a media literacy education program in Denmark.

BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE NAME CHANGE!

The Board of AMLA recently voted to officially change the name of the organization to the National Association for Media Literacy Education. Our new logo was designed (and donated) by NAMLE member John Engerman of Bicameral Design.

The Board appreciates the time that many members took to provide comments during the feedback period.  The feedback was extremely helpful to the Board in making a final decision. Special thanks to the members of the Name Change/Review Committee; Brian Primack, Renee Cherow O'Leary, Robert Kubey, Cyndy Scheibe, Lynda Bergsma and Sherri Hope Culver.

Next comes the implementation phase.  Official notice of the “change-over” date will be sent to members soon.  Stay tuned for updates and information. 

Thank you for your interest in this important growth moment for media literacy education!

CONSIDINE WINS LEADERS IN LEARNING AWARD

Former Board Member of AMLA/NAMLE David Considine has received Cable's 2008 Leaders in Learning Award in Media LIteracy for helping to shape the field of media literacy during his distinguished 35-year career. A professor at Appalachian State University, Considine designed the first graduate degree program in the United States for media literacy, which Appalachian State University approved and implemented starting in 1999. Considine has conducted media literacy programs for parents, teachers, students, administrators, clergy and citizens in 38 states and four countries. This year, he will host "Media, Diversity and Democracy," a staff development program open to educators across the country interested in media literacy.

Considine was chosen as one of the 14 national winners in a range of categories, selected from a pool of 44 finalist applications. He models an interdisciplinary approach to media literacy that connects it to traditional and emerging state and national standards in key areas of the curriculum, including English language arts, library science, health, art and the social studies. 2008 Finalists also included former AMLA/NAMLE Board Members Elana Yonah Rosen and Art Silverblatt. Past winners of the award include former AMLA/NAMLE Board Member Frank Baker (2007), current NAMLE Board Member Liz Thoman (2006) and NAMLE members Sue Lockwood Summers (2006) and Chris Sperry (2005).

For more information: http://www.leadersinlearningawards.org/

KELLY MENDOZA WINS RESEARCH AWARD

AMLA Graduate Caucus member Kelly Mendoza has been selected to receive Cable in the Classroom's Media Smart Research Award for her paper "Mapping Parental Mediation and Making Connections with Media Literacy." The paper reviews recent literature on the role parents play in their children's media literacy education.

Kelly is Ph.D student at Temple University's Mass Media and Communication program. Other notable achievements include work on online media literacy game projects and media workshops for tweens and parents.

You can read "Mapping Parental Mediation and Making Connections with Media Literacy" online.

The Media Smart Research Award is given annually to emerging media literacy scholars. Last year's winner was AMLA member Mary Carney for her paper "Using Media Literacy Education for Health Promotion." For More information on CIC's Media Smart Awards visit ciconline.

NAMLE INVITED TO SUBMIT IDEAS FOR WORLD SUMMIT PROGRAM

NAMLE member, Per Lundgren, has been named Director for the World Summit on Media for Children and Youth to take place in Karlstad, Sweden in 2010. He has invited AMLA President, Lynda Bergsma to serve on the Summit Advisory Reference Group and has invited the NAMLE to provide suggestions for the conference program. From April 1 through May 25, all NAMLE members have the opportunity to submit ideas as follows:

A contribution may range from suggesting one topic, to several topics, activities and names involving your own organization or network. Program ideas from NAMLE members will be coordinated through Lynda Bergsma, who has the logon capacity to upload ideas to the Summit Website. So please send all your ideas by email to lyndabergsma@gmail.com.

This is your chance to make sure many important topics in the field of media literacy education for children and youth are considered for inclusion in the Summit program.

Here's how the World Summit 2010 is being described:

"Putting children's well-being at the heart of the media agenda, and media at the heart of children´s agenda. A world conference with opportunities for networking, debate, challenge, interactivity, and workshops to share perspective, experience and expertise."

For more information on the visions for the 2010 Summit, a video and downloadable visions flyer are available at www.wskarlstad2010.se.

GROUNDBREAKING THREE-YEAR STUDY PROVES QUANTIFIABLE BENEFITS OF MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION

The Alliance for a Media Literate America and Just Think announce Conclusive Data of Significant Increases in Core Academic Skills after implementation of media literacy education programs. Read the press release at Just Think's website or read all about the MEAL project on the AMLA site and check out the numerous resources for media literacy educators.

Every day, members of the AMLA - both individuals and organizations - are hard at work, advancing the cause of media literacy education in the U.S. and around the world. We are proud to share news coverage of their efforts. If you have a press clipping about an AMLA member, please send it to namle@namle.net.