Media Literacy Week Kick-Off

• 2:30-4 p.m.  Webster University / Sunnan Lounge, University Center
• Message from the President: “Media Literacy: Truth or Consequences”
• Proclamations
  
• Charles Klotzer Media Literacy Awards

Monday, October 4

Panel Discussion: “How Do You Make an App?”

• 1 p.m. STLCC-Meramec /  Business Administration Room 105
• Moderator: Kim Gordon
  

“Embrace Your Digital World With Schooltube”

• 11 a.m. Ladue Horton Watkins High School 1201 S. Warson Rd, 63124 Ladue Performance Arts Center, Black Box Theater (south parking Lot)
• With an abundance of video-hosting Web sites increasing available but school districts blocking most of them, please join Ladue School district’s broadcast technology teacher, Don Goble, as he talks about how he integrates Schooltube.com into his curriculum to teach his students to become mindful media creators. Don will also demonstrate how easy it is to upload student, teacher or district produced videos to Schooltube’s website.  Finally, learn about all the vaulable resources and services Schooltube offers educators and students.

Film and Panel Discussion: The Matrix

• 7 p.m.  Webster University / Winifred Moore Auditorium
• Moderator: Art Silverblatt
  

Tuesday, October 5

“Putting Media Literacy to Work in the Classroom”, A Frank Baker Workshop for Teachers

• 7-9 p.m.  STLCC-Meramec / Student Center room 200
  
• Join Frank Baker for this hands-on, interactive workshop designed to help K-12 educators feel more comfortable incorporating media literacy into instruction.

Wednesday, October 6

“Media Literacy and Political Campaigns/Political Advertising”, a Keynote Address by Frank Baker

• 11 a.m. —STLCC-Meramec / Student Center room 200

Panel Discussion: “Fact-Checking and the Politicians: Lies, Half-Truths, and the Consequences of Each”

• Noon,  STLCC-Meramec / Student Center room 200
• Panelists: Frank Baker, author of Political Campaigns and Political Advertising: A Media Literacy Guide; Dr. John Messmer, political science professor at Meramec
  
• Co-sponsored by The Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis

“Mental Health and Substance Abuse Messages: Truth or Consequences”

• 2 p.m.  Cori Auditorium/Washington University Medical Center
• Direct-to-consumer advertising and other media channels have had a major impact on how we receive, process, and evaluate messages about mental health, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Engage local experts in talk about these messages, and strategies for educating students and the public to be informed consumers of health messages.
  
• Panelists: Dorothy Van Buren, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, and Dan Duncan, Director of Community Services, National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse – St. Louis Area (NCADA).  Moderator: Will Olmstadt, Public Health Librarian, Becker Medical Library

Panel Discussion: “The Changing Face of Journalism: How the Internet Impacts News Gathering and Reporting”

• 7:15 p.m.  Lindenwood University-St. Charles Campus / Elizabeth Dunseth Auditorium, Harmon Hall
• Panelists: Eric Mink, Aaron Mermelstein, Brian Thouvenot of KMOV, and Casey Nolan of KSDK Moderator: Jill Falk, Lindenwood University Assistant Professor of Communications and LUTV News Director
  

Thursday, October 7

Panel Discussion: “Media and Environmental Literacy”

• 11 a.m.  STLCC-Meramec / Library Confluence Room
• Panelists: Dr. Suzanne Loui, Washington University, Dr. Don Corrigan, Webster University, Dr. Diane Carson, president of the University Film and Video Association, and Dr. Wil Loy, STLCC-Meramec

Panel Discussion: “Don’t Fall for Bad Reporting: Media Literacy and Elections”

• 7 p.m.  Washington University-University College / January Hall room 110
  Moderator: Repps Hudson

Friday, October 8

Student Panel Discussion–Sponsored by Meramec’s Award-Winning Student Newspaper, The Montage

• 11 a.m.  STLCC-Meramec / Business Administration room 105

“Steps Through Time: Journeys in the Middle East”, a Photography Exhibit

• 2-4 p.m.  Saint Louis University / The Walter J Ong Center for Language, Culture, and Media
  Thomas Oats Exhibit Opening
• Documentary photographs by Dr. Thomas Oates that will open with a reception and colloquium on the 2nd Floor of the Pius Memorial Library at Saint Louis University

Panel Discussion: “Labor Issues and the Media”

• 4:30 p.m. STLCC-Meramec / Business Administration room 105
  
• What happened to the Labor Beat in American Media?  Do the media avoid labor coverage, because they have their own problems?  How do the excessive labor demands on journalists in the new media environment affect news content?
  
• Panelists: Paul Rainsberger, Director, Labor Education-MU, Dana Spitzer, Labor Tribune, Shannon Duffy, The St. Louis Newspaper Guild, Moderated by Don Corrigan, Webster University
  

Saturday, October 9

Academic Symposium at Webster University

• Library Conference Room
• 9-10:15 Session I
• 10:30-noon Session II

Clyde Bentley, Ph.D. Journalism Professor at University of Missouri shared his experiences and observations in his talk “Using the Third Screen” at the St. Louis Chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) August 18th.

Right now in the United States 95% of the total population owns a cell phone.  That statistic translates to a cell phone for every working adult considering that 5 % of the population is under the age of 5 years old.  Nearly half of American families are not buying a family camera but rather using the camera on their phone.

Bentley said that soon there will be more cell phones than people in the US and that by 2013 more users will access the Internet by cell phone than by PC.  This means that cell phone technology is a communication medium with the capability of reaching nearly all people which makes it unique when compared with radio, TV, newspaper, Internet, social media, and Twitter.

Another distinction of cell phone technology is its portability and the way cell phones function as an extension of self—an extra eye, ear and piece of our brain–as opposed to being just a device or tool.  This element fundamentally changes the way human beings interact and conduct their daily lives in the way that the wristwatch did the same when it was adopted.

While it appears that Americans have embraced cell phone technology, the trends in other countries like the Philippines, Japan, India and China, indicate we that we’ve only just begun our love affair with our cell phones.

Bentley went on to discuss how the dissemination of real-time news is being transformed via cell phone technology.  News organizations find that over 100 pictures can be taken by citizens before a reporter has a chance to get to the scene of a newsworthy event.  It won’t be long before Americans will receive news updates via 160 character text messages embedded with phone numbers to call at 10 minute intervals to hear up-to- the-minute posts recorded by the reporter on the scene.

He said that today the future runs quickly and the future is not very long.  He experiences this when his college freshmen joke about how much more tech-savvy they are than his college seniors.

For early adopters of technology Bentley went on to outline use of QR codes, supercamera phones and LTE/4G technology.

For reluctant technology users he advised “Don’t be afraid.  You’re smarter than any device—the device is just a machine!”

This is also the  trip where I finish a book and enjoy a video or two.   Our good friend will be happy to know I finished Pulitzer Prize-winner  Chris Hedge’s“Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle,” a “must-read!”   And my husband is happy to know I finally did the marathon viewing of his gift to me:  the first season of AMC’s Mad Men.  I had only seen a few of  the first season’s episodes, before following the show into its next seasons, and I was particularly interested to see the energy that propelled the progam toward its subsequent success.  Don Draper, et al, did not disappoint.

So,  that’s what I did on my summer vacation!

Now, back here in St. Louis, refreshed to teach,  guest lecture and oversee GMLP business,  my mountain  immersion recollections and experiences have me thinking about how especially appropriate  this year’s GMLP media literacy week theme is:  “Media Literacy: Truth or Consequences.”

For instance, during  my mountain hikes I witnessed  folks  totally oblivious to  signs urging us to respect the terrain so as NOT to disturb  the vegetation!  I thought,  “What’s wrong with you?, even if you ignore the signs, don’t you  pay attention to the warnings in the media about our  precious environment?”   I had those same feelings for some of the mountain bikers taking short cuts, vigorously peddling  down the delicate mountainside.      Is it about instant gratification? Denial?   Could it be they’ve tuned out?  THAT’s a consequence to consider.  Just like me saying “no” to my camera!

I must say, too, Chris Hedge’s book  gave life and worth to our media literacy week theme AND to  some of my own UNscientific research of the last two months.  You see,  as both an attempt to curb my curiosity about what I believe REALLY interests people, day-to-day, in times of recession, atypical weather, home foreclosures, oil spills, bed-bug epidemics and protracted war, I decided to track subjects that were trending each day on Yahoo.    With that daily task behind me,  Chris Hedges’ following quote really hit a home run for me:   “The worse reality becomes, the less a beleagered population wants to hear about it and the more it distracts itself with squalid pseudo-events of celebrity breakdowns, gossip and trivia.”

Well, by golly, my informal content analysis certainly supports this, that’s for sure.   My tracking found mostly celebrity-watching making the top twenty, with just a hint of interest in healthcare reform,   the G2Summit, the economy and war 17th-20th-place!

Well, there’s a price to pay for hiding our heads in the sand… and some of that discussion that points to some of those consequences  of not being engaged or not having the critical thinking skills to deal with media’s numerous messages will be freatured during Gateway Media Literacy Partners’ fourth annual media literacy week, Oct. 3-10.

During this time, too, community citizens from various walks of life, here in Missouri and Illinois,  will be  guest web site contributors,  specifying why they believe media literacy plays an integral role in the work they are doing, and why they believe  our community must support media literacy education.  Thank you to all who have agreed to enliven community engagement in  media literacy during this special week.

May you enjoy the final days of summer!  And may I get the smell of smoke out of my hair from almost too much MAD MEN!

More details, registration and a list of community participants already signed up for the offering are available at  www.pubcampstl.eventbrite.com

Guest Contributor, Frank Baker

By Frank W. Baker

In 1998, I created the Media Literacy Clearinghouse website because I wanted to offer K-12 educators (and others) an online venue for locating appropriate resources that would help in the teaching of media literacy. Thousands of teachers have discovered the resources offered there.  Over time, the site has grown and includes more original content since its inception.

Since that time, the web has not only become larger, but also more interactive. A large number of interactive, online websites now offer teachers more opportunities to engage students.  What follows is a brief overview of some of these sites:

Creating Your Own Animated Movie  (UK)

At the heart of the Tate Movie Project is the website www.tatemovie.co.uk. Children will be able to be involved in the whole movie making process online, from the hand-drawn characters and plot twists, down to costumes and sound effects. When children enter the website they are welcomed by Ronnie, the animated “Movie Director”, alongside a host of other cartoon characters who will guide them through the process. The website has been designed to appeal to children aged 5-13 and will enable them to explore animation, scripting, editing and sound effects. Their creations and contributions to the movie are uploaded directly onto the website where they can interact with all the activities and resources it provides. (NOTE: related UK websites include Me & My Movie,  and FilmStreet.

Advertising Literacy for Tweens: Admongo (FTC)

This online video game, located at http://admongo.gov, (with additional resources for parents and teachers) is designed for the tweenager.  The online initiative is designed around three questions: who is responsible for the ad; what is the ad actually saying, and; what does the ad want me to do?  According to the website: “Admongo.gov teaches kids to apply critical thinking skills through a series of fun and challenging interactive games.”  Admongo was developed by the Federal Trade Commission in a partnership with Scholastic.

MediaSmart  A UK WebSite About Advertising

MediaSmart is a curriculum initiative in the United Kingdom. It is aimed at students from 6 to 11 years old.  The project was coproduced by an advertising organization.  The games on the site can be found here.   Information for parents and teachers can also be found on the site.

MyPopStudio: Media Literacy + Edutainment (Media Education Lab)

MyPop Studio is an online creative play experience for girls ages 9 – 14 that promotes media literacy with edutainment gaming.  According to the site, girls can go “behind the scenes” to think critically about how media is created and to question the messages we see. Lesson plans and activities accompany the website and are available as free downloads to enhance the digital learning experience.

Girl Power (Understanding Magazine Cover Image Manipulation)

The Girl Power website, from Sweden, starts with a photo of a teenage girl dressed in a shirt and blue jeans. By clicking on a lengthy list, students can see what has been altered. The site uses digital manipulation to create a magazine cover of the girl.

Cover Girl (Coming in September 2010)   Producer: Channel 4 Education (UK)

This media literacy game explores image manipulation by asking the player to take the role of a Photoshopper on a women’s magazine. Players have to ‘uglify or prettify’ the celebrity according to be agenda.

Don’t Buy It! Get Media Smart (PBS)

PBS describes this site as “a media literacy Web site for young people that encourages users to think critically about media and become smart consumers. Activities on the site are designed to provide users with some of the skills and knowledge needed to question, analyze, interpret and evaluate media messages.” There are activities related to advertising, consumerism, and entertainment.  Also included are resources for parents and teachers.

You Are Here: Where Kids Learn To Be Smarter Consumers (FTC)

According to the site, http://www.ftc.gov/youarehere/ “In our virtual mall, you can play games, design ads, chat with customers and store owners, and much more. You’ll learn key consumer concepts, such as how advertising affects you, how you benefit when businesses compete, how (and why) to protect your information, and how to spot scams. What better place to do it than at the mall!”  The site is intended for students in 5th through 8th grade. The website also includes material for parents and teachers.

Create Your Own Comics

The developer of the website MakeBelieveComix says: “I envisioned MakeBeliefsComix.com as a place for you to come to and have fun by creating your own world of comic strips. My hope is that by giving you a choice of characters with different moods and the chance to write words and thoughts for them, you will tap into your creativity and explore new possibilities.”

Related site: http://www.scholastic.com/amulet/makeyourown/

Media Awareness Network produced games

A number of other games have been created by the Canada based Media Awareness Network.  A complete list of these games can be found here.

We recognized that great journalism is both labor intensive and at times costly. If we wanted to see reporting that genuinely improves and enhances civic life, we knew that we would have to find a way to pay for it.  We decided that one way to do that was to put our money where our mouths are.

The Press Club provided grants to journalists who proposed stories that shine a light on an under-reported community topic. With $5,000 in assistance from the family of the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch feature writer and editor Nancy Miller, the Press Club set aside $20,000 for the first round of enterprising stories.

Initial grants were awarded to:

• Nancy Larson, a freelance writer whose work was the first enterprise project and was published last fall in the St. Louis Beacon. It is a three-part series called “Ready or Not: Can St. Louis Cope with a Catastrophe”.  http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/12535/143/
• Ellen Futterman, editor, and Larry Levin, publisher, St. Louis Jewish Light.  Their series on hate crimes, “The Faces of Hate”, ran in the Light on May 26 and began running in the St. Louis Beacon the same day.  http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/102620/482/
• C.D. Stelzer, a freelance writer whose two-part story on a mysterious East Side military aviation business, “Under the Radar”, appeared May 7 in the online site Focus Midwest. http://focusmidwest.com/
• Phil Dine, a freelance writer, author and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter whose story on the impact of immigration in our region will soon appear in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Press Club offered these grants at a time when the region’s media outlets are suffering through the worst recession in decades and have cut their staffs and reporting budgets.

We are proud that the Press Club can provide this vital service and we are proud of the results.  And we are looking forward to doing more. We continue to accept applications and intend to raise more money to fund new projects. More information on how to both donate to the program and apply for fellowships can be found on the Press Club’s website at stlpressclub.org.

A meme is a story or element that is transmitted throughout a culture. The term “Meme” was originally used to describe a certain kind of biological system. Over time, this concept of memes has been applied to transmission of culture from one mind to another, through the channels of mass communication.

A memetic approach to media analysis examines reasons behind the construction and  recurrence of memes in the media: what makes certain stories “stick” in the media? These memes reflect particular areas of cultural concern.

In general, memes are clearly identifiable, in that the identical story is repeated through the various channels of mass communication. But in addition, thematic memes are stories that, on the surface, do not appear to be related. However, considering these stories as aspects of a single theme provides insight into why these stories appear and helps to put the appearance of these stories into perspective.

To illustrate, a number of apparently unrelated stories involving President Barack Obama, appear in the media:

• Obama is Muslim
• Obama is not U.S. Citizen
• Obama is a Socialist
• Obama is Gay

Although the specifics of these stories differ, they share a thematic narrative, appearing on an ongoing basis, stressing that Obama is a foreigner.

Seeing these disparate stories as a derivation of the same meme furnishes perspective into the motivation behind the appearance of these stories in the media. These stories tie into a body of research revealing that most Americans associate the idea of “American” with white skin. Reporter Nicholas Kristoff observes,

One study found that although people realize that (Chinese-American actress) Lucy Liu is American and that Kate Winslet is British, their minds automatically process an Asian face as foreign and a white face as American — hence this title in an academic journal: ‘Is Kate Winslet More American Than Lucy Liu?’ (Nicholas D. Kristof, “What? Me Biased?”)

This manifestation of social bias is a mechanism that is common to the human species—even groups that are targets of racial discrimination, such as Latinos and Asian-Americans. Kristof explains,

Some scholars link racial attitudes to a benefit in evolutionary times from an ability to form snap judgments about who is a likely friend and foe. There may have been an evolutionary advantage in recognizing instantaneously whether a stranger was from one’s own tribe or from an enemy tribe. There’s some evidence that the amygdala, a center in the brain for emotions, flashes a threat warning when it perceives people who look ‘different.’…

It’s not that any of them actually believed Mr. Obama to be foreign. But the implicit association test measured the way the unconscious mind works, and in following instructions to sort images rapidly, the mind balked at accepting a black candidate as fully American. (Nicholas D. Kristof, “What? Me Biased?”)

Using the implicit association test, researchers found that subjects subconsciously considered Barack Obama less American than either Hillary Clinton or John McCain. (Nicholas D. Kristof, “What? Me Biased?”) Thus, the recurrence of these thematic memes—that Obama is Muslim, an illegal alien, or a socialist– are tied to racial attitudes, in which people who are perceived as different—even when they belong to the same culture—are regarded as outsiders.

Eric Mink, Assistant Professor, Webster University

First…. If you’ve wondered where former St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer and editor Eric Mink has been…not to worry!    He has stayed busy doing what he does  so well: thoughtful and timely writing for local and national media, and he’s also an adjunct teaching film at Webster University. You may recall, Eric was first a  P-D reporter,  many years ago,  where he distinguished himself as a television columnist, among other duties.  He left the  P-D to work  at the New York Daily News. further distinguishing himself as a writer/reporter of  media and television stories.   He returned home, several years ago, and re-emerged in the role for which many of you  most recently remember him:  P-D Op-Ed editor and columnist .

Eric’s most recent column can be seen on  Mink colleague/ television critic David Bianculli’s web site.  Eric’s timely piece comes on the heels of freelancer Michael Hastings’ story in Rolling Stone, featuring the now erstwhile leader of the U.S. Afghanistan war effort    For anyone who’s curious, here’s Eric’s  new web-only piece on media aspects of the Gen. McChrystal story.

Second,  listen to/or read the transcript of  ON THE MEDIA’s interview with  Jamie McIntyre, CNN’s former senior Pentagon reporter.  See what you think of his theory on why a military official might speak so candidly in front of a reporter.   Ultimately, this is a discussion on the difference between beat reporters/journalists and freelance journalists.