President’s Message: Reclaiming Civility via Media Literacy

Hello, Media literacy proponents and enthusiasts,

As you’ll note from our home page, we are sending our congratulations to Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP  Director, Pauline Center for Media Studies in Culver City, CA., for a a recent and well-deserved honor.  If you know or know of Sister Rose, you’re not alone. She’s well-connected and known in both religious and secular circles, and in formal and informal education settings, locally, nationally and abroad.  She constantly reminds us we have much to learn from media’s messages, and we have much to enjoy from them.    Here in St. Louis, Lynne Lang,  Curriculum Development Manager of  BJC’s School Outreach and Youth  Development and GMLP board member,  is closely connected with Sr. Rose; it’s a relationship that started three years ago at the 2007 National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)GMLP served as local host conference for which .   Since then, Sr. Rose and Lynne have been  working closely, with shared excitement, to form a Catholic writers colony, Second Spring. “Our goal is to ignite energy among those yearning for a place to step away from the pace of life and begin sifting through those ideas for articles, manuscripts, books, poems, and stories.”  Lynne told me. We’ll look forward to her report on their inaugural gathering next January, at the Pauline Retreat center in Massachusetts.  I, especially, look forward to it because my connection with Sr. Rose, over the last five years or so, centers on numerous online and a few in-person conversations specifically focused on how media literacy education might be THE force that leads to a greater respect for and actual demonstrations of civility.  I think that topic would be a great one at the inaugural  gathering.

I’m sure Sr. Rose wouldn’t mind if I gave an “elevator speech” summarizing those many interactions between us,  relating to media literacy and civility.  Here goes: Civility has a common ideal with media literacy, and AUDIENCE is at the center of that. I suppose I’ll hear from Sr. Rose if I got that wrong.

Going along those lines, think about it…we’re able to share feelings, beliefs and knowledge about our worlds, via our audiences.   So, wouldn’t it be better if we, as audiences and communicators,  refined our skills?   And, while  I submit to you civility does begin with politeness,  as many simply assert, the whole discussion about  civility is actually much more complicated or deeper than “Please,” Thank you,” and Excuse me;”  we must travel beyond Civility 101 and consider other remedies that will slow the erosion of of these conditions called discourtesy  and incivility, and I strongly believe media literacy education is a great path to take to help bring back civility.

No question, the critical-thinking skills media literacy education teaches are life-long skills that can help us negotiate civic and home-life…for a lifetime,  if you choose to use them.   And they offer up a possible antidote to the ignorance some blame the information age for perpetuating.  Now, that’s civility, in my mind.

Further, I believe self-reflexivity might be offered up as a great pairing with media literacy education…looking inward to our own reserves in order to tackle complex and diverse worlds; more easily moving inside and outside our societies, having made ourselves that much more aware of them; and  taking into consideration our worlds from many viewpoints.   Ultimately tackling our  worlds this way, we are  simultaneously  growing and sustaining ourselves. That might be Civility 301, yes?

I’m confident Gateway Media Literacy Partners and other media literacy education-focused organizations and individuals can move this conversation forward,  at least with the media literacy education side of things, prompting a better world at home, in the neighborhood, in our schools, in our region; and around the globe.  And ultimately, with civility on the rise, help build the human family…and maybe, once again, celebrate civility.

I will be preparing a more detailed piece on this, so, PLEASE stay tuned.

Meanwhile, THANK YOU for reading, and continue to enjoy our web-site offerings.

Jessica Z. Brown