Nineteen St. Louis Region/Bi-State area citizens representing numerous VOICES in our community are sharing their thoughts on WHY Media Literacy is Important. The effort is in celebration of Gateway Media Literacy Partners’ (GMLP’s) Fifth Media Literacy Week,
Nov. 6-12, 2011. Guest columnists representing media, education, community activism, theology, youth, science, health, libraries, the arts, and finance comprise the 2011 GMLP Guest Contributor section, this year. The columns were unveiled at the Week’s opening session at St. Louis University’s Walter J. Ong, S.J., Center, Nov. 6. As with last year’s columns, these will remain accessible on GMLP’s web site following Media Literacy Week.
“That such a cross-section of community citizens is again represented speaks loudly about the role of media in our society, today, for both consumers and media producers,” GMLP President Jessica Z. Brown said. “GMLP’s mission, in part, is to create awareness about what media literacy is and to strengthen the case for sustaining media literate communities. Media literacy’s worth gains traction when increasingly more citizens recognize the value of media literacy education in a democratic society where we are constantly making choices….and where media messages are a constant in our lives”
Gateway Media Literacy Partners (GMLP) is composed of members and supporters from the public, private, volunteer, and independent sectors who believe media literacy is an important critical-thinking skill….a democracy skill that can provide a nexus for change.
“We hope, by giving a platform to these diverse citizens, representing our asset- rich community, more thoughtful perspectives on the subject can make way for more dialogue and community engagement … now and in the future. Those conversations matter,” Brown said.
Information on Gateway Media Literacy Partners’ Fifth Annual Media Literacy Week, Media Literacy is the Message: The Legacy of Marshall McLuhan, along with the guest contributor’s columns can be found on GMLP’s Web site at: www.gmlpstl.org.
Guest Contributors in celebration of GMLP’s Fifth Annual Media Literacy Week
Media Literacy is the Message: The Legacy of Marshall McLuhan
Steve Brawley Executive Vice President, Area Resources for Community and Human Services (ARCHS), and former founding board member, Gateway Media Literacy Partners, Inc.
Suzanne Corbett - national award-winning writer and media producer
Don Corrigan – Editor, Kirkwood/Webster/South County Times and West End Word.
Bea Dageforde – Student, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Sandy Diamond – Executive Director, Citizens Education Clearing House and Kids Voting Missouri, UM-St. Louis.
Mary Pat Gallagher – Media Literacy Educator
Kurt Greenbaum – A Regional Editor for Patch.com,
Dan Hellinger – Professor of Political Science, Webster University and author of several books and articles on Latin American and US politics.
Magi Henderson, Director, Youth Services, Glen Carbon Library
Suzanne Carter Jenkins – Senior Communications Specialist, Public Affairs Department, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Nancy Kranzberg– Arts aficionado and Commentator
Elizabeth de Laparouse - Customer Relations – Marketing – Sales, Homes Without Limits
Larry Levin - Chief Executive Officer/Publisher, The Jewish Light –
David Oughton -Associate professor, Theology Department, Saint Louis University.
Rev. Dr. Martin Rafanan, Executive Director, Gateway 180: Homelessness Reversed
Tim Rodgers- Co-Founder / Chief Executive Officer, Rodgers-Townsend
David T. “Dave” Senay, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fleishman-Hillard International Communications.
Samantha Shanker, Junior, Ladue Horton Watkins High School
Jan Zuke, Professor/Librarian – Southwestern Illinois College
