Media Access
Organizations
adbusters.org
Home page of Adbusters magazine and "buy nothing" day.
Media Reform Network
Comprehensive media reform activism portal with indexed links
to reform organizations and information on myriad issue areas, including children.
Press Action
Press Action: "In the Battle over the Airwaves, Hype and Hypocrisy Distract Us from a Free Expression Crisis."
Media Education Foundation
Media Education Foundation which "produces and distributes video documentaries to encourage critical thinking and debate about the relationship between media ownership, commercial media content, and the democratic demand for free flows of information, diverse representations of ideas and people, and informed citizen participation."
(Also a great source for video purchases.)
Media Literacy -- Media and Children
"Our society isn't driven by finding out what we don't know; it's driven by the dollar. If it sells and doesn't kill anybody the first week, nobody takes a closer look....Parents need to step up with more than rules alone. The solution is...to teach children how to make good choices."
Dr. Sam Goldstein
University of Utah neuropsychologist
Media and Children -- statistics
(Fron Common Sense media)
Media Literacy.com
The web's major portal to media literacy education. Good resources for parents and teachers.
Just Think
Just Think teaches young people to understand the words and images in media, and think for themselves.
A Plea for Media Literacy in our Nation's Schools
Common Sense Media
This fine organization has one of the most comprehensive websites for parents and everyone else who cares about children's media issues. Their mission is "to give parents, educators, and kids a choice and a voice about the media they consume. We are a non-partisan, non-profit organization. Membership is free. Our goal is to provide trustworthy information and create a forum where adults and kids can learn from each other, speak out, and participate in creating a responsible and enjoyable media environment for everyone." Includes reviews of children's media.
The Television Project
The Television Project
is an educational organization. We help parents understand how television affects their families and community, and propose alternatives that foster positive emotional, cognitive, and spiritual development within families and communities.
Children Now
A non-partisan, research and action organization with extensive information and news on children's media issues.
Why They Whine: How Corporations Prey on our Children from Commercial Alert
Family Friendly Programming Forum
An initiative of American advertisers to encourage more TV programs that parents and children can enjoy together.
Georgetown University Children & Media Project
The Children and Media Project at Georgetown University, under the direction of Dr. Sandra Calvert, is examining children's learning from the television programs that broadcasters have labeled as educational and informational.
The Kaiser Family Foundation's study on children and media.
A seminal study finished in 2004 that is sited in almost all articles on children and media.
About Face
About-Face is a media literacy organization focused on the impact mass media has on the physical, mental and emotional well being of women and girls. Through practical and activist methods we challenge our culture's overemphasis on physical appearance.
Media Education Foundation
The Media Education Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization devoted to media research and production of resources to aid educators and others in fostering analytical media literacy.
Media Lit Web Site
From the University of Oregon Department of Education, an extensive list of resources on media literacy, cultural studies, and children and the media.
Medialiteracy.net
Medialiteracy.net is intended to create a cultural revolution around media. This site contains research, information and materials about media literacy.
Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA)
A national organization committed to promoting media literacy education that is focused on critical inquiry, learning, and skill-building.
Don't Buy It
A media literacy Web site from PBS for young people that encourages users to think critically about media and become smart consumers.
Cable in the Classroom
The Cable industry's effort to improve teaching and learning for children in schools, at home, and in their communities. The site includes media literacy resources.
Childrens Digital Media Project
A
consortium of universities funded by the National Science Foundation whose goal is to shed light on how entertainment media impact the development of youth.
Children Now: Children & the Media Program
A nonprofit, nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization that speaks out for children in the legislature, in the media and in the community. Through research and communications strategies, they promote solutions to improve the lives of America's children.
The Family Friendly Programming Forum
A group of over 40 major national advertisers, all members of the Association of National Advertisers and representing approximately 30% of all U.S. television advertising dollars, who are taking positive steps to increase family friendly programming choices on television.
Movie Mom's Guide to Family Movies
A guide for parents on managing the media onslaught-finding good movies and videos, avoiding the bad ones, and talking with kids about what they see.
National Institute on Media and the Family
The National Institute on Media and the Family is a national organization dedicated to maximizing the benefits and minimizing the harm of media's impact on children through research and education. The Institute develops tools and resources for parents and educators about media's impact on children. The web site offers a variety of resources for adults.
Why Ads are Bad for Kids
From New Moon magazine
Alternate News/Media Sites
Media criticism does exist in America. But by and large, it is not citizen-based criticism designed to make media a better source of information in a democracy. Instead, it is a cynical manipulation of the discourse designed to silence even the mildest dissent from the conservative, militantly pro-corporate dogma that has come to pass for news in an era when 'reporters' brag about the size of their American-flag lapel pins.
- Robert McChesney and John Nichols
Guerrilla News Network
News reports from behind the smoke and mirrors
Freespeech TV
Finally, after 50 years of television broadcasting, there now exists a national television channel that reflects the diversity of our society, provides perspectives that are under-represented or ignored by the mainstream media, and shines a national spotlight on engaged citizens working for progressive social change. Seizing the power of television to expand social consciousness, FSTV fuels the movement for progressive social, economic, and political transformation. By exposing the public to perspectives excluded from the corporate-owned media, FSTV empowers citizens to fight injustices, to revitalize democracy, and to build a more compassionate world.
Dissident Voice
Dissident Voice is a newsletter dedicated to challenging the lies of the corporate press and the privileged classes it serves. "To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair inevitable.
Misc.
Pitchfork
Bible of the indie-music world
Suggested Reading
Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times, Robert McChesney
The Myth of the Liberal Media: An Edward Herman Reader, Edward Herman
Manufacturing Consent : The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, Noam Chomsky
Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, Noam Chomsky
The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School, Neil Postman
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Neil Postman
The Disappearance of Childhood, Neil Postman
Culture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge--And Why We Must, Kalle Lasn
No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, Naomi Klein
Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers, Alissa Quart
Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood, Susan Linn
The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on Our Children, James P. Steyer
The Corporation : The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, Joel Bakan
Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton
Bad News : The Decline of Reporting, the Business of News, and the Danger to Us All, Tom Fenton
The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them, Amy Goodman, David Goodman
Inclusion on this page does not imply endorsement from the Rural Media Arts and Education Project or its sponsors. If you know of a link or organization that should be included on this page, please email us and let us know.
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