Riding the Wave of Media Literacy in the USA

By Rose Pacatte, fsp

A Brief History

I was first introduced to media literacy at the Unda-USA Assembly in Portland, Oregon in 1990. Sr. Elizabeth Thoman, CHM, founder of the Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org) in Los Angeles, gave a seminar promoting media literacy and the publication (now defunct) Media&Values. As a Daughter of St. Paul I began to think not only about "making" media, but also about how media, culture and communication intersect and what that might mean to young people, families, church, society and everyone else, including me.

At the 1992 Unda-USA Assembly in St. Louis, Elizabeth spoke again and this time my interest took the form of a life-changing encounter that resulted in going to the University of London’s Institute of Education for two years (1993-1995) to obtain an MA in Education in Media Studies (www.ioe.ac.uk/scripts/ioecourse.exe). With this degree I can now teach media literacy education as content and process as a life skill both within and outside faith communities through our Pauline Center for Media Studies. So far about ten people from the USA have gone to the UK to obtain advanced degrees in education in media education (for serving teachers) or media studies (for others who want to teach media literacy), but there are only two that I am aware of who actually work in the field: myself and Steve Baird, SJ.

Sister Elizabeth Thoman and the Center for Media Literacy deserve a great deal of credit for catching the swell of the wave in the 1970’s when media literacy education was almost solely an inter-faith effort. There was little overflow into public education at that time. Then, as interest grew, the Reagan Administration scrapped a major media education program for public schools in the early 1980’s because of its "return to the basics" view of the curriculum. However, due to Elizabeth Thoman’s pioneering efforts along with those of Dr. Renee Hobbs of Babson College in Massachusetts and Kathleen Tyner the Director of Strategies for Media Literacy in San Francisco, media literacy education caught the imagination of educators as both a movement and a community. The tide is changing in the United States as the waves of media awareness flow relentlessly to the shore.

The US was a latecomer to media literacy education in many ways, with the UK, Canada and Australia leading off efforts in the English-speaking world. The US remains indebted to our colleagues to the north for their pioneering efforts and willingness to mentor and dialogue.

How the US Defines Media Literacy Education

There are many groups in existence in the US today who have media literacy as their purpose. However, not all groups subscribe to the same definition of what media literacy means, and often there is confusion between teaching about technology and teaching critical thinking skills regarding media consumption. Therefore many if not most media educators have decided to keep the word ‘literacy’ in the terminology to keep the distinction clear.

In an effort to come to a common understanding of media literacy education, the Aspen Institute on media literacy defined this educational field in 1992 as the ability to access, understand, evaluate and communicate about media products, processes and institutions. In 2000, the new fledgling US media literacy membership organization, Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA: www.nmec.org) built on this foundational definition and stated that media literacy

AMLA (www.nmec.org) will hold its first national media education conference in Austin, Texas, June 23-26 and is "committed to promoting media literacy education that is focused on critical inquiry, learning and skill-building rather than on media-bashing and blame." This is an important pedagogical distinction based on various approaches to education and media education in existence in the US: inoculation, prevention and critical awareness. Depending on our perception of the human person, the media and education (and our view of God if media literacy is carried out in the faith community) will determine what media literacy may mean and how it is practiced.

Media Literacy in the US Today

+ Public school curricula

It is important to know that each state in the US develops and controls its own school curriculum. According to a study carried out by Robert Kubey and Frank Baker (www.med.sc.edu:81/medialit.) media education elements that provide the opportunity to teach and develop media literacy skills are present in English, language and the communication arts in public schools curricula in 46 of our 50 states. This is also true for social studies, history, civics, and health in the curricula of 30 states and in specific media strands in the curricula of 7 states. As of 2001, therefore, media literacy education is a curricular reality in the United States.

The New Mexico Media Literacy Project (www.nmmlp.org) is sponsored by public and private funding and has developed teacher training programs and multidisciplinary curricula for students. The project’s stated purpose is "helping children through media activism" and that media literacy "must educate, entertain and inspire." However, the NMMLP also states that the organization "accepts the thesis that our mainstream media, led by the major global media corporations have joined the Dark Side". This kind of rhetoric has not endeared the NMMLP to media educators in the US probably because this premise seems to limit free academic inquiry and determine outcomes. The NMMLP is not accepted as a national norm for the practice of media literacy in the US, possibly due to its particular methodology, pedagogy and educational approach, and it professes to want to become the most media literate state in the country.

+ Pre-service Teacher Training

Yet there is a problem with what seems like an educational victory in the curriculum statements noted above, and it is that the concept of media literacy education in general has not been ‘institutionalized’ by schools of education so that pre-service teachers are adequately trained in this area of education. Media literacy education is still very "new" to much of academia.

There are signs of hope, however. The University of Dayton’s School of Education (www.udayton.edu) offers courses in media education and the university’s Institute for Pastoral Initiatives (www.udayton.edu/~ipi) offers brief summer courses for religious educators and ministers leading to a Master Teacher Certificate and has also begun an online program for teachers. Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina began a Masters degree program in Media Education last year (http://www.ci.appstate.edu/programs/edmedia/medialit/article.html)

In recent years, the state of Texas developed an excellent "Viewing and Reviewing" standard for public education and created a 199 page guide to assist teachers in implementing this critical viewing standard throughout school systems in the state (see www.tea.state.tx.us/teks/).

Also, notes Dick Puffer, a college instructor at Coker College in South Carolina who teaches mass communications, "there has been a shift in textbook emphasis from just an overview of mass communications to the overview and the media literacy implications." He notes the textbooks authored by Stanley J. Baran in particular (Baran’s new book Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture is due out soon and can be pre-ordered through www.Amazon.com).

The University of Oregon’s Media Literacy On-Line Project has been a unifying force for media education in the US and its website is well worth exploring. Among the information, resources and links it provides, the Media-L listserv is, in my opinion, everything good and challenging about media literacy education in the US today. Why? Because it is a "place" where helpful dialogue and heated debate takes place and helpful resources shared by people actively involved in media literacy education. Go to the main site at www.interact.uoregon.edu/medialit/homepage for a complete tour and to

www.interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/FA/MLlistserv/Media-L.html for listserv information.

+Catholic Schools

In 1992, the Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org), in collaboration with the Catholic Communications Campaign (www.nccbuscc.org) and the National Catholic Educational Association (www.ncea.org), developed a compact media literacy course called "Catholic Connections to Media Literacy", comprised of a brief video and teaching guides. However, the program was not widely adopted for use, probably because of the lack of teacher awareness as well as that of local Catholic office of education.

In 1997 the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Catholic School Office updated its language arts curriculum guidelines and included a multi-page section on media literacy that included an introduction by Sr. Fran Trampiets, SC. This is the only Catholic diocese to have done so according to Sr. Trampiets and my own research as of this writing.

In 1998, the National Catholic Educational Association provided a 10-seminar media literacy track during its annual convention in Los Angeles. More than 1,000 teachers from across the country participated.

+Faith Communities

While everyone interested and involved in the furthering of media education supports its inclusion in the curriculum, many individuals and groups carry out direct media literacy training for children, youth and adults in faith communities. Here are some examples:

• Catholic: Most Catholic community efforts in media education are non-systematic and depend on the interest and dedication of individuals and religious communities. For example, NACMP, the National Association of Catechetical Media Professionals made media literacy one of its main goals in 1996 and encourages media librarians to teach critical thinking skills to teachers and students; Gail Violette began a media literacy initiative in the Diocese of Charlotte, NC in the late 1990’s through the communications office; in 1995, the Daughters of St. Paul began the Pauline Center for Media Studies (www.pauline.org) in Boston; Frank Morock, Director for Communications of the Diocese of Raleigh, and President of Unda-USA, is interested in media literacy and promotes it in his diocese through workshops; in 2000 the Communications Office of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, SD sponsored 10 presentations introducing media literacy to diocesan and parish leaders; the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles (www.medialit.org) provides some media literacy training to Catholic school teachers in the archdiocese; Steve Baird, SJ operates the Gabriel Media Studies Center in Colorado and has an active web site (connect through www.medialit.org/othersites.html) dealing with controversial film openings, television debates, and government and media; the Archdiocese of Boston’s Religious Education Conference has offered media literacy workshops at its annual meeting for the past five years and other dioceses have expressed interest in this field; Kevin Kersten, SJ, uses media education materials and methods as a section of his course on media ethics at Boston College; Unda-USA (www.undausa.org) provides at least one media literacy workshop at its Assembly every year.

• Presbyterian: The Electronic Great Awakening Project promotes "media literacy education to members and churches in order that they may become ‘faith empowered critics of the media culture’. (Connect through www.medialit.org/othersites.html).

• Lutheran: in 1998, John Tape began the Christian Media Literacy Institute (www.smli.org) that is recognized by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The purpose of CMLI is to help children learn to think critically and use their Christian faith to evaluate the culture in which they live. They have developed resources for the home, Sunday school and for classroom use.

• Individual media educators in faith communities, such as Teresa Blythe (tblythe@jps.net) work to integrate critical thinking skills about media with spirituality through spiritual direction, conversations about theology, culture, prayer and discernment.

• There is an inter-faith online community for those interested in media literacy (connect through www.medialit.org/othersites.html).

+Community-based Media Education

Community groups, parents and families can access a number of media literacy organizations that provide services and materials through web sites, for example, The

National Institute on Media and the Family (www.mediafamily.org). I suggest going to www.medialit.othersites/html for a thorough listing of gateway sites into this field.

+ The US Government

In 2000, the US Department of Education, in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, began to offer grants to schools that created media arts initiatives that involved critical thinking about messages that contain violence. These projects are described at www.arts.endow.gov.

+ The Television Industry and Media Literacy

In the last few years, commercial television has become involved in media literacy and this has caused much controversy for the media literacy movement and within the media education community. Some take a purist approach to media literacy and believe it should be totally separated from any commercial involvement. Others take a different approach and have decided to use television to become critical consumers of it.

According to Frank Baker, President of the Board that is creating the new US media literacy organization, AMLA (www.nmec.org), the Maryland based Discovery Channel, following the shooting at Columbine High School in 2000, resurrected its KNOW TV curriculum and made the commitment to bring media literacy to every school in the state of Maryland. "Assignment Media Literacy" was developed by Dr. Renee Hobbs and is strongly tied to state standards for the teaching of English (www.assignmentmedialit.com).

Www.TurnerLearning.com, a division of the Turner Broadcasting System (CNN), has developed educational materials about cable television programming and Internet technology and has created a superb daily 30-minute advertising free news program for high schools.

Www.Teachworld.com, sponsored by Channel One, is perhaps the most controversial of all because Channel One itself offers free equipment to schools who commit to broadcasting commercials to students for several minutes every day. The web site, however, offers daily lesson plans for breaking news and free resources for teachers and grade-by-grade standards for teaching media literacy systematically.

Conclusion

In 1953, America’s first media literacy organization was founded: the National Telemedia Council. The present Executive Director and editor of the organization’s journal, Telemedium (Ntelemedia@aol.com), Marieli Rowe, recently said that the landscape of media literacy (or media education or media literacy education), is like an American "crazy quilt" of opinions, approaches and points of view, with most of the work being done on an individual level, with some notable exceptions.

There is no one theory, pedagogy or unified practice for media literacy education in the US. This is our biggest challenge as concerned citizens because without a unified voice it is difficult to present a credible vision to educators, government, community and church leaders. The Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA), by providing a common definition as a starting point, may help to unify the movement in its diversity and create a community that can address the culture of mediated information and entertainment communication in meaningful ways.

The future of media literacy education is here, however, as AMLA arrives this June in Austin on the swelling wave of interest in the media culture in which we live, move, breathe and have our being. AMLA hopes to become the umbrella organization for all media awareness groups so that media literacy will effectively reach the "60 million students in the United States, their parents, their teachers and others who care about youth."

One thing is for sure -- media literacy education is here to stay. And this, in itself, is a very good thing.

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Rose Pacatte, fsp, MA in Education in Media Studies (Mediastudies@pauline.org), is the founding Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Boston, MA. She is a member of the executive committee of Unda-USA and National Director of Cine&Media, the US affiliate of O.C.I.C. She authored "Guide to In-house Film Festivals in Ten Easy Steps: A Media Education Opportunity" in 2000.