The Global Critical Media Literacy Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
G C M L P The Global Critical Media Literacy Project Edited and compiled by Lori Bindig, Julie Frechette, Nolan Higdon, Mickey Huff, Andy Lee Roth, Peter Phillips, Rob Williams, and Bill Yousman Global Critical Media Literacy Project | 1 2 | Global Critical Media Literacy Project Ethics Alerts: Applied Learning Opportunity in Higher Education ......................................................... 77 Ethics Alert Assignment ........................................................................................................... 79 TABLE OF CONTENTS Critical Analysis of Gender Stereotypes on Television Assignment .......................................................... 82 Critical Analysis of Race, Ethnicity, and Class Stereotypes in Entertainment .............................................. 86 Introduction ............................................................................................... 3 18 Fun and Easy Classroom Activities for Media Education ................................................................. 90 About the GCMLP ....................................................................................... 5 Five Ways to Flex Your Media Literacy Muscles ................................................................................ 93 Contacts for GCMLP Publication ..................................................................... 17 List of Independent and Corporate News and News Criticism Outlets ..................................................... 94 Methods of Media Manipulation ...................................................................... 18 GCMLP Biographies and Participating Institutions ........................................................................... 96 Breaking the Corporate News Frame: Project Censored’s Networked News Commons ........ 21 GCMLP Event on Your Campus Instructions ................................................................................ 100 Validated Independent News Story Assignment ..................................................... 31 Sacred Heart University Graduate Program ................................................................................... 101 How to Find, Evaluate, and Summarize Validated Independent News Stories ................... 33 Media Education for a Digital Generation Book Flyer ...................................................................... 102 Validated Independent News Story Grading Rubric ................................................. 36 Validated Independent News Story Grading Criteria ............................................... 37 Student Guide For Evaluating Web Sources .......................................................... 38 ‘Becoming the Media:’ Experiential Learning through Media Criticism and Political Activism During National Presidential Elections ............................................................... 42 ACME Classroom Activities: Challenging Big Media and News Censorship .................... 46 Digging Deeper: Politico-Corporate Media Manipulation, Critical Thinking, and Democracy .................................................................... 48 Service Learning: The SUNY Buffalo State and Project Censored Partnership .................. 59 Commodifying the Public Sphere Through Advertising and Commercial Media ............... 63 Group Advertisement Assignment ..................................................................... 68 Junk Food News Assignment ........................................................................... 69 News Abuse Assignment ................................................................................ 71 Meme Assignment ....................................................................................... 73 Solutions Video Project ................................................................................. 74 Video Summary Assignment ............................................................................ 76 Global Critical Media Literacy Project | 3 4 | Global Critical Media Literacy Project Reporting (FAIR), and the many local Independent coalition of educators, students, researchers, artists, INTRODUCTION Media Centers, alongside many others, have inspired authors, filmmakers, and activists, all committed thousands of committed citizens to question to resisting the hyper-commercialism of corporate Bill Yousman and Lori Bindig the distorted ways of thinking encouraged by media while advancing the cause of critically Media Literacy and Digital Culture Graduate Program Communication and Media Studies Department consumerism, corporatism, and neoliberalism. Since informed media education. 1976, Project Sacred Heart University In this packet Censored has of activities, been at the n our media saturated 21st century, essentially optimistic project, one premised exercises, and forefront of as citizens of nations around the on the belief that education is the first thought-pieces, I this struggle globe find themselves awash in a tidal step in empowering individuals to think educators will and with their wave of information, misinformation, critically and then to turn that critical find a wealth new Global disinformation, and distraction, media thought into action that seeks to remake of ideas for Critical Media literacy education is more crucial than the world. integrating the Literacy ever. Digital media, including mobile 2016 Project As Kellner and Share (2007) frame it: Project technologies, the vast and growing Censored (GCMLP), Internet, and the explosion of social Critical media literacy expands the yearbook they are networks, have transformed how publics notion of literacy to include different and a critical intensifying receive, interact with, and create media. forms of mass communication and media literacy their focus Yet economic and political power still popular culture as well as deepens the approach on media resides with many of the same forces and potential of education to critically across the education. The institutions that have been flexing their analyze relationships between liberal arts GCMLP is a muscles since the industrial revolution and media and audiences, information curriculum in co-creation the ascendancy of corporate capitalism. and power. It involves cultivating high schools, skills in analyzing media codes and of Project A tiny handful of multinational colleges, conventions, abilities to criticize Censored and the Action Coalition for Media conglomerates control most of the and universities. We welcome your feedback and stereotypes, dominant values, and Education (ACME), the nation’s leading world’s media consumption, and their additional suggestions/submissions for future ideologies, and competencies to independent media literacy organization. Through stated goals are hyper-commercial, with editions of this packet. In the future, we will interpret the multiple meanings this alliance, along with a partnership with the profit serving as their first and only be accepting submissions of new exercises and and messages generated by media Media Literacy and Digital Culture (MLDC) imperative. Meanwhile, bloggers, citizen assignments for possible publication on the GCMLP texts. Media literacy helps people graduate program at Sacred Heart University, the journalists, podcasters, artists, independent website. G C M L P to discriminate and evaluate media Global Critical Media Literacy Project is creating a filmmakers, and ordinary citizens armed content, to critically dissect media with smart phone cameras seek to disrupt, forms, to investigate media effects and even if momentarily, the hegemony exerted uses, to use media intelligently, and to by the likes of Disney, Viacom, Time construct alternative media.2 Warner, Comcast, The News Corporation, CBS, and Google. Many critical media literacy organizations and projects have emerged in the last In an environment marked by this few decades to challenge the ideological ongoing struggle between David and and economic control of the corporate Goliath, media education—specifically, media giants. Grassroots organizations critical media literacy—is essential. Media like the Media Education Foundation literacy, defined as the ability to access, (MEF), California Newsreel, Paper Tiger analyze, evaluate, and create media,1 is an Television, Fairness and Accuracy in 1 Aspen Institute Report of the National Leadership 2 Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2007). Critical media literacy, Conference on Media Literacy (1992). Available at: http://medialit. democracy, and the reconstruction of education. In D. Macedo & net/reading-room/aspen-institute-report-national-leadership-con- S.R. Steinberg (Eds.), Media literacy: A reader (pp. 3-23). New York: ference-media-literacy Peter Lang Publishing. Global Critical Media Literacy Project | 5 6 | Global Critical Media Literacy Project Australia have about a thirty-five–year jump on a result, most young citizens get their understanding ABOUT THE GLOBAL CRITICAL the US in implementing media literacy courses as a of the democratic process from the “news.” This MEDIA LITERACY PROJECT crucial component of public education.2 The United “news” comprises a series of programming, 90 States’ twenty-first–century education standards— percent of which is controlled by six US-based Julie Frechette, Nolan Higdon, Mickey Huff, including No Child Left Behind and Common transnational corporations.5 Concentrated Peter Phillips, Andy Lee Roth, and Rob Williams Core—lack specific mandates for any media literacy ownership creates a host of problems: