Participatory Media Literacy Anyone?
By
Jessica Z. Brown
Greetings Media Literacy Proponents and Enthusiasts!
Ah, another Media Literacy Week has passed–GMLP’s seventh. (Enjoy our photos on the home page! ) These represent an array of activities, get-togethers and on-the-edge media literacy-related topics for which there was much interaction at the numerous institutions who participated in this year’s effort themed Media Literacy Across the Ages. We say THANK YOU to our committee for a fine job of programming. And we say THANK YOU to all our partners for participating and enlivening this year’s theme.
And, we added another dimension to our communications efforts during our special week: The locally engineered BONFYRE engagement and information app, we hope to use, again, was our effort to test how our week’s conversations might keep going and sustain various thoughts about media literacy!
And, finally, as with the previous three years, I’m thrilled to introduce yet another wonderful group of guest columnists who tell us “WHY MEDIA LITERACY IS IMPORTANT.” This collaborative allows a cross section of our region’s citizens, to speak from their own corners of the world…and tell us how and why media literacy matters. This “exercise” allows us all –including many readers around the world who tap into our network–to know, this community in particular, is thinking about media literacy. I know of no other collaborative like it.
Let me tell you, this collaborative–a poet, a media producer, a journalist, the head of a nonprofit that deals with burn survivors, another non-profit leader who advocates for independent disabled citizens, the head of a media-focused organization, several educators, a foreign student, and the director of a senior living center –prompts lively discussion, civic engagement and global awareness. And it gives voice to concerns that consume us, daily; or to those we take for granted, or to those we might not even think about.
Truly, I think these columnists might help us re-imagine citizenship; or give educators some “look fors” that might guide them on how better to use media literacy in inquiry-based teaching; or they may give us a leg up on media literacy as it relates to the common core standards now inhabiting many classrooms; or we might imagine what it’s like to teach journalism in high school, these days. Moreover, these narratives give us an opportunity to imagine being in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s those of people living at a senior citizens’ complex; or in those of someone who is in a wheel chair, or in those of someone who has survived a fire! And finally, what might we gather from a foreign-born student who tells us what she knew about America via media, before she got here, and how it really is, now that she has tasted America for herself?
Embracing the thoughts and mandates of our contributing columnists over the past four years–totaling more than 100, now– gives us all a chance to keep our hand on the pulse of this rich region, in a unique way, to be sure: we hear what they have to say as both consumers and creators of media, especially that we know they live in the same media-saturated world we do, and that all of our families, neighbors and communities at large are affected in ways we may never have even imagined. And it’s not about media bashing or censorship. As you’ll see, the notion of critical-thinking comes alive, from a variety of community sectors, as we contemplate media in our world today and tomorrow. As president of a media literacy -focused organization, now entering its eight year , I can only exclaim, “How nice is that?!?”
So, as we enter the new year, that recognition propels me to continue to travel the road of participatory media literacy..to do that alongside all those closely involved with GMLP and with those who have considered getting involved. It’s a satisfying thought to know we have support from a cross-section of individuals and groups. Working closely with them and connecting with new media literacy proponents and enthusiasts is something I relish and look forward to.
Thank you.
Warm wishes for 2014!
Respectfully,
Jessica Z. Brown
President and founder
Gateway Media Literacy Partners, Inc.
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Debbie Allen, “Gateways of Yesterday’s Today – Media Literacy Poem “
Bill Blass, “Consumption Influences Creation When it Comes to Media Literacy”
Linda Hansen, “Beauty is…”
Mitch Eden, “Why Media Literacy is Important: A Journalism Educator’s Perspective”
Florence Schachter, “What is this thing called Facebook? A Look at Media Literacy From My Corner of the World”
Tom Schweizer, “Finding Reliable Sources of Information”
Bill Smith, “Making the Pieces Fit: One Journalist’s View”
Colleen Starkloff, “Inclusion, Acceptance, and Equality”
Zoey (Xeuzhao) Wang, “Understanding America via Media Literacy: A Chinese Student’s View”
