• Calendar
• Featured Teacher Resources
• Classroom Connections
• Download This
• Around the Media World
• Action Item of the Month: Considering TiVO

It's not too early to start making plans for summer workshops in media literacy or attending a graduate seminar or institute. A number of universities now have ongoing programs of study featuring noted media literacy leaders as teachers — check the websites for complete details including costs, credit requirements, etc.


• June 14-25 — The University of Dayton is holding its annual Pastoral Communications Institute which includes several courses on media literacy in a faith-based context. Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, will be offering "Media Literacy II: Explorations into Learning, Theory and Practice" and Australian film expert Fr. Peter Malone will teach "Pastoral Initiatives With Movies" and "Movies, Spirituality and the Gospels." Visit the web for more information visit or email Jewell Truxal or call1-800-443-6348.
  
  
• June 18-20 — Bowling Green State University–College of Education & Human Development, Bowling Green, OH is offering a one-day "Symposium on Media Literacy in Education" Friday, June 18 followed by a two-day Allied Media Conference bringing together over 700 independent and alternative media makers who are creating and teaching with and about media ranging from video to photography to print. Symposium keynoters include AMLA president Faith Rogow, ACME president Rob Williams; workshops by David Considine and local Ohio teachers. The $35 cost entitles teachers to attend the follow-up conference free. Details to be posted online.
  
  
• July 9 -15 — Appalachian State University's Graduate Program in Media Literacy will feature a special mid-summer session with two internationally respected voices in media education: July 9-10, Jean Kilbourne, producer of Killing Us Softly and author of Can't Buy My Love will be the featured presenter. July 11-15, researcher and author David Buckingham, Director of the Center for the Study of Children and Media at the University of London, will join ASU's David Considine to teach Emerging Issues and Trends in Media and Technology. Interest in this exciting program is expected to be high, so if you're thinking of a week in the Appalachian highlands, register soon.
  
  
• July 12-16 — Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY will hold their annual Media Literacy Summer Institute. This 4½ day immersion will give K-12 teachers, technology media specialists, and librarians the knowledge, skills and training to integrate media analysis and production into curriculum. In addition, an online component for graduate level credit will be offered July 19-30 on "Critical Thinking and Media Literacy Education." For details email Project Look Sharp or call (607) 274-3471.

FEATURED TEACHER RESOURCES

Get ready for the 2004 Election Season with 2 Companion Resources on Political Campaign TV Ads
Perfect for social studies, civics and current affairs classes, these recently reissued resources give you a book/video teaching package to explore the history and influence of TV advertising on the electoral process. Ed Diamond's recently re-released classic, The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television and A&E's 60-minute video Living Room Campaign together provide historical context, actual scripts and storyboards, and analysis of dozens of classic campaign commercials including the infamous "Daisy Spot" (Johnson/Goldwater: 1964) and "Willie Horton" (Bush-Dukakis: 1988). The video also interviews creators of political spots to better understand how presidential candidates are "packaged" and sold to the electorate. A wealth of original source material at very low cost!

March New For You Debuts 10 New Teaching Tools
Among the 10 new resources CML is adding to our online catalog this month are three that demonstrate CML's growing collaboration with other national organizations to provide wider national distribution of important books and documents. Working with the National Telemedia Council (NTC), the National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) and the Free Expression Policy Project of the National Coalition against Censorship, we're very pleased to introduce to the wide media literacy marketplace:



• Visions/Revisions: Moving Forward with Media Education, NTC's 50th anniversary survey of media literacy worldwide.
  
  
• A Closer Look: Case Studies in Youth Media Production, A special edition of NAMAC's Media Arts 2003
  
  
• Free Expression Policy Pack, a collection of 3 important policy documents on censorship, copyright and the First Amendment issued by the FEPP - available separately or as a collection. (Librarians note this special arrangement.)

> Check out ALL 10 new resources in this months New For You!

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

A Closer Look at the Internet: Advertising and Information Accuracy
These increasingly important topics are examined in two recent lesson plans from the New York Times.
• TV Without the Television: Examining Internet Advertisements and Technologies examines the form and function of online ads and raises questions about their effectiveness and influence.
• Search Warrant: Mining the Internet for Accurate Information explores the issue of information accuracy online and how students can be better critical thinkers about content they find online.
If the above websites are helpful, you may also find additional teaching tools and background in these resources available from CML:
• The Web Savvy Student, 10 media literacy activities to help students use the Internet wisely, by Betsy Hedberg
• A Student's Guide to the Internet, by Charlene Beeler, M.S. Ed.
• Weaving a Virtual Web: Practical Approaches to New Information Technologies, a helpful book from the National Council of Teachers of English
• Teaching, Technology and Learning, a book of reflections by Canadian high school teachers.

DOWNLOAD THIS

FREE Study Guides for the hit TV Show Joan of Arcadia
Who would have thought that Joan of Arc would become a 21st century media celebrity? But the teenager Joan of Arcadia who hears voices and talks to God is indeed becoming a teen viewing favorite Friday nights on CBS. The program is all the more intriguing for its contemporary treatment of religious themes and linking Joan's life to that of teenagers today. Now faith-based media literacy author Teresa Blythe (Watching What We Watch: Primetime Television through the Lens of Faith) has written a general study guide applicable to any episode plus episode–specific guides for the re-runs that are due to air later this season. The study guides are FREE for download on the website of Presbyterians Today and are useful to facilitate faith and ethics conversations by classes or groups or for personal journaling or reflection on the episodes.

Available Now! Media Policy Action Directory
The Media Policy Action Directory, a publication of The Center for International Media Action (CIMA), profiles of more than 90 organizations and a state-by-state listing of more than 240 groups, that took action to stop FCC deregulation of media ownership. The directory also includes collections of research and reports on media ownership, media diversity and the FCC, and online tools for media democracy advocates. Download the Directory. Contact the Media Action Center with any questions, suggestions or feedback, or call (866) 470-2954.

AROUND THE MEDIA WORLD

Now that Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ is in theatres, there is an abundance of reviews discussing the many controversial elements of the film, from the horrific violence to the political implications of any antisemitic tone. We encourage you to read widely about this film before you decide to attend or to discuss it with students. One reviewer who offers a unique perspective is Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, a graduate of the media studies program at the University of London and co-author of Lights, Camera...Faith!: A Movie Lover's Guide to Scripture. Thanks, Rose for your valuable and practical insights. In her review, Pacatte:

• Analyzes the film from both a feminist and a media literacy point of view, and
  
• Concludes with a valuable series of questions parents should ask when considering whether to ignore the 'R' rating and let under 17-children attend.

If you are an educator and hesitate to handle this controversial film because of its religious nature, consider taking a censorship approach, such as this one presented by the New York Times Learning web site:
• Talk About the Passion: Creating an Educational Guide to Encourage Critical Thinking about the Film The Passion of The Christ


Media Literacy a top priority in the UK
UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, (no — not CML's Tessa Jolls!), has made media literacy a top priority for her department. In a recent article in The Scotsman (1/21/04) she noted, "As the electronic media environment grows and diversifies, we need to ensure that we give the public the tools they need to make their way through the electronic world. Everyone needs to be able to decode the way the media works, questioning everything in order to understand everything."

ACTION ITEM OF THE MONTH: CONSIDERING TiVO

TiVO — the Tip of the Iceberg?
February was a big month for TiVO, the digital video recorder now commonplace in homes across the U.S. The company announced that Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" set a record for the number of TiVO replays in the technology company's short history. How was TiVo able to report this information? The technology allows the company to track user viewing habits. Consider how the decisions you make are tracked to allow advertisers to better target your purchasing habits.



• What do you buy and where you buy it? Why? (Consider coupons, store discount cards with UPC codes, mailers, print ads, products seen on television programs)
  
  
• What you view on television? Why? (How do you find out about new shows - television promotion of upcoming programs? Friends?)
  
  
• What web sites do you visit regularly? For the first time? Where do you learn about them? (Friends, television promotion in programming or in commercials)


What does all of this have to do with personal privacy issues? Considering these questions in the context of a one-to-one media culture can lead to very interesting and eye-opening discussions!

Please forward this to a colleague or post it to listservs whose subscribers may be interested in these resources or information. Thank you. Subscribe to this E-Letter. Information on how to un-subscribe is sent to the registered e-mail address upon registration and is also included at the bottom of CML E-Letters. We do not share this list with any other organization.

The CENTER FOR MEDIA LITERACY is a non-profit organization established to promote critical thinking about the media and to provide leadership, training and resources for media education in schools, religious and community organizations.

In the global media culture of the 21st century, we believe in empowerment through education for children, young people and adults. We rely on tax-deductible grants and individual donations to sustain and expand our work. Thank you for your support.