• Spotlight on CML
• For the Holidays - Give the Gift of Media Literacy
• Classroom Connections
• Download This
• Around the Media World
• Action idea of the Month

SPOTLIGHT ON CML

MediaLit Kit™ Now in Spanish!
At last a preeminent media literacy resource – CML's MediaLit Kit™ – has material in Spanish! Partnering with the Eduteka and the Fundacion Gabriel Piedrahita Uribe in Cali, Columbia, CML is excited to announce the availability of the Spanish language version of the CML MediaLit Kit™ Orientation Guide – available for FREE. In addition to the collection of color posters, handouts and Orientation Guide available in English, the Orientation Guide and handouts are now available in Spanish. Download now!

FOR THE HOLIDAYS—GIVE THE GIFT OF MEDIA LITERACY

Looking for just the right gift for a teen poet who aspires to be published? A favorite preschooler who's into superheroes? A feminist movie-lover? Many of the resources in CML's media literacy catalog make unique and thoughtful gifts. All are available online for ordering with CML's secure e-commerce connection through GPN Educational Media. Click on each title for a complete description finish up your holiday shopping.

For Children:

• Teddy's TV Troubles
• Eye Spy: An Interactive Coloring Book for Kids 3 - 8 gives parents (or grandparents!) an opportunity to see TV from a child's point of view. Also available in Spanish!
• Arthur's TV Trouble – The popular PBS star learns about TV commercials - the hard way!
• Bionic Bunny Show – Classic storybook about superheroes and the power of special effects

• Teen's Guide to Getting Published – written by teens for teens.
• Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud's brilliant classic reveals the secrets behind "sequential art."

• World War II on the Air – the original radio broadcasts of the London Blitz, the invasion of Normandy and 35 other wartime events by Edward R. Morrow and the first news reporters. A wonderful way to spark conversation with veterans or those who worked on the home front during WWII.
• And the Crowd Goes Wild: The Most Celebrated Sports Events Ever Broadcast! – a unique gift from a grandchild to a sports-loving grandpa - or vice versa!
• Stay Tuned: Television's Unforgettable Moments – Over 35 news and sports events plus classic sitcom and drama scenes including the finale to M*A*S*H
• The Complete War of the Worlds – the novel, the script, the broadcast – and the aftermath of this notorious 1938 radio show that panicked the nation.

Or consider these titles; several based on outstanding photography:

• Talking Pictures: A Parents' Guide to Using Movies to Discuss Issues with Children
• Great Women of Film
• Photolanguage: How Photos Reveal the Fascinating Stories of our Lives
• How to Read a Film / Multimedia Edition – the famous introduction to filmmaking – now on DVD!
  

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

In each issue of Connect, we highlight lesson plans that relate to media literacy topics.

Points of View


• Tell It Like It Is: Debating the Reliability of Online Information Resources New York Times
  
• Right to Remain Silent(?): Investigating The New York Times's Use of Sources New York Times
  
  • The Web-Savvy Student – 10 Media Literacy Activities to Help Students Use the Internet Wisely
    
  • Free Speech Policy Pack: Exploring Copyright, Free Expression, and Censorship


Economics

• Funding Films: Considering the Costs of Making Movies New York Times
  
  • Video: the monster that ate Hollywood
    


News

• Hard News to Hear: Evaluating Breaking News of the Russian School Hostage Crisis New York Times
  
  • How To Watch TV News
    
  • Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw The Line?
    
  • Media & Morality
    


Production

• Taking To The Airwaves: Examining the Value of Talk through Mock Radio Programs New York Times
  
  • It's Only Talk: The Real Story of America's Talk Shows
    
  • Talking Radio: An Oral History of American Radio in the Television Age
    
  • Television Talk – A History of the TV Talk Show
    
  • Empire of the Air
    
  • World War II On the Air: Edward R. Murrow and the Broadcasts that Riveted a Nation

DOWNLOAD THIS

Articles
Keeping Current: Media Literacy, School Library Media Activities Monthly, by Frank Baker
A summary by Frank Baker on the current state of Media Literacy in schools across the United States.

Plato's Dilemma & The Media Literacy Movement, SIMILE, Aug. 2004
This article by Johanne Provençal of Simon Fraser University, explores the current definition and scope of media literacy in today's environment in the context of Plato's dilemma, "the question of whether or not the transition from an oral culture to a script culture was more emancipatory than it was a form of social control."

TV's Not a Black-and-White Issue: The Editors of US Catholic Interview Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP, U.S. Catholic Magazine, August 2004
This interview provides wonderful insights and perspectives from a media literacy practitioner and includes "Four Ways to Help Your Kids Be Media-Savvy" and "Six Summer Movies to Watch with Your Kids." Pacette directs the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles. She co-authored Lights, Camera, Faith! A Movie Lover's Guide to the Scripture.


Reports
Alcohol Ads Up - Youth Still Watching
Alcohol Advertising on Television, 2001 to 2003: More of the Same, a study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, looks at increased alcohol advertising and the alcohol industries promise to reduce such ads viewed by teens. The report includes a breakdown by location of ads that appeared during the reporting time.


Media, Youth and Civic Engagement
Yes, the election of 2004 has passed, but the role of media in civic engagement is still highly relevant. The Kaiser Family Foundation has produced a fact sheet, "Media, Youth, and Civic Engagement," that looks at how politics and government are presented in film and television and how media, especially the Internet, are used to engage youth in civic and political activities. Access the report.

Kids, Games and the New Media
Machinima (machine + cinema) is a film medium born of role-playing games, such as Quake, over eight years ago. This new media empowers kids to produce movies from within their video games. What does this mean for digital media production? "Deus ex machinima?"(The Economist, Sept. 16, 2004) seeks to find out.

AROUND THE MEDIA WORLD

Media Mosaic Blog Launched
Media Mosaic is a project that provides tools for students 13-19 who participate in iEarn (the International Education and Resource Network), with media literacy education based on CML's MediaLit Kit™ . The blog for the project team consists of content in four strands: Getting to Know You, Breaking News and Views, The Persuaders (advertising), and Teacher's corner. Access the blog


What makes a credible news organization?
The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, as a guest on, offered a challenge to his hosts on CNN's Crossfire. Stewart said "you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably," "Why not create a news organization that isn't liberal but credible?" he asked.

Suggested classroom activity: Download the video, brainstorm and debate the questions "what do you look for in a credible news" and "how do you know one when you see it?" Send your classroom decisions to Crossfire or Jon Stewart.
Links to the video can be found at: http://homepage.mac.com/duffyb/nobush/iMovieTheater231.html

ACTION IDEA OF THE MONTH

A Unique Gift For a Unique Cause
CML Tribute Cards give you a concrete way to support media literacy AND honor those you love and care about! Holidays, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Sympathy, CML Tribute Cards can be sent to anyone to celebrate any occasion, express your appreciation or honor any event. Just make a $20 tax-deductible contribution to the Center for Media Literacy for each Tribute Card you wish to order. We send the blank cards (with envelopes) to you and you fill them out and send them as you wish for any special occasion. Keep several on hand for emergency gifts!

Support the valuable and pioneering work of the Center for Media Literacy. Help kids of all ages have the opportunity to learn the media literacy skills they need to navigate their way through their media culture. Order Tribute Cards today!