 | Who Tells the Stories?: Catholic Media Literacy Curriculum Published
Multimedia program to be used in schools and parishes nationwide
LOS ANGELES, CA, September,
1993 — Reclaiming the story-telling and value-assigning roles that media, especially
television, have taken over from families, schools and religion is the goal of
a unique media literacy project developed this fall by The Catholic Communication
Campaign for use in Catholic classrooms, parishes and homes.
The new multimedia learning program, called Catholic Connections to Media
Literacy, was developed to answer the urgent need for a new educational approach
to the issues of mass media in society today.
"Media literacy helps us decode the data," said Sister Elizabeth Thoman,
CHM, director of the Los Angeles-based Center for Media and Values and executive
producer of the project. "We need to process the publications, translate
the television, make sense of the music videos."
"Those who tell the stories shape the values," she added. "Media
literacy provides a way to empower teachers, leaders and parents to take an active
role in challenging the stories and therefore the influence that media, especially
TV, can have on our attitudes and behavior."
The Catholic Connections to Media Literacy package offers "user-friendly"
resources including a leader's guide with 15 basic lesson plans and handout masters,
a sourcebook for parish and family-related applications, a 12-page directory listing
over 150 available teaching resources, copies of a special issue of Media&Values
magazine providing background on media's impact, and — to tie the program together
— a 20 minute motivational video.
A project of The Catholic Communication Campaign, Catholic Connections to Media
Literacy was produced by the Center for Media and Values in collaboration
with the National Catholic Educational Association.
According to Ramon Rodriguez, national director of The Catholic Communication
Campaign, "we can no longer ignore the impact of media in our lives. We need
to be able to analyze critically how we interact as people of faith in a culture
influenced more and more by commercial media."
Catholic Connections provides the "starter tools and background"
for introducing media literacy activities not only in classrooms but in youth
and young adult programs, religious education, marriage preparation and faith
groups.
Although widespread in Europe, England, Australia and Canada, media literacy programs
have not been developed to date in private or public schools in the U.S. According
to Thoman, Catholic Connections is the first comprehensive media literacy
package developed for use in the United States.
Sister Regina Haney, OSF, of the National Catholic Educational Association, described
the multimedia learning program as "an excellent way of learning to think
critically and reflectively about the world we live in today."
"It's just the beginning of a targeted program of media literacy for the
1990's," she added. "Our goal is to have every school and parish participating
by the end of the decade."
The Catholic Communication Campaign was established by the U.S. Catholic bishops
in 1978. Funded by annual parish collection, the Campaign, in turn, provides funding
for network television specials, quality films, projects in the Catholic press
and other values-centered media projects that have national impact.
Founded in 1989 as an expansion of Media&Values magazine, the Centre
for Media and Values is pioneering the field of media literacy education in the
United States. The National Catholic Educational Association represents more than
200,000 educators serving 7.6 million students in Catholic education at all levels.
Note: Catholic Connections
to Media Literacy, published in 1993, is no longer available for purchase. Still-relevant
sections are posted on this website.
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