Who Supports Media Literacy?
Those of us who teach media literacy, need to be aware of the support that media literacy has won from prestigious individuals and institutions. The following statements of support are derived from a variety of sources and can be useful ice-breakers when working with parents, community groups, teachers or other organizations with limited awareness of media literacy.
"The more I grasp the pervasive influence of media on our children, the more I worry about the media literacy gap in our nation's educational curriculum. We need a sustained K-12 media literacy program -something to teach kids not only how to use the media but how the media uses them. Kids needs to know how particular messages get crafted and why, what devices are used to hold their attention and what ideas are left out. In a culture where media is pervasive and invasive, kids need to think critically about what they see , hear and read. No child's education can be complete without this"

[Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner, June 2006]

"Accomplished teachers understand that what students read is no longer limited to words on the page: today's students must be intelligent readers of texts in different media including illustrations, graphics, photographs, television programs and newscasts, advertisements, magazines, films, songs, speeches, debates, Websites, multimedia resources and works of art"

[ELA guidelines, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards]

"Media literacy helps children and adolescents gain skills to intelligently navigate the media and filter the hundreds of messages they receive daily....In addition to providing youth with protective skills against the negative influences of the media, media literacy may equally offer young people preparatory skills for responsible citizenship. For example media literacy can empower youth to be positive contributors to society, challenge cynicism and apathy and serve as agents of social change"

[Office of National Drug Control Policy - The White House]

"For all the good work which they do and are capable of doing , mass media which can be effective instruments of unity and understanding , can also sometimes be vehicles for a deformed outlook on the family, on religion and on morality..One also finds the source of certain individual and social problems in the replacement of human interaction by increased media use and the intense attachment of fictitious media characters..the solution to this difficulty also may lie largely in the media :through their use in ways -dialogue groups, discussions of film and broadcasts- which stimulate interpersonal communication rather than substituting for it"

[Pontifical Council for Social Communications - Church Documents on Social Communication, 2003]

"Our Founding Fathers understood that a democratic society could not survive without an informed and participatory citizenry..It is essential in our citizenship role to view critically, analyze, ask powerful questions and draw our own conclusions. Media literacy then, is essential to the citizenship role"

[Denee Mattioli, president National Council for the Social Studies, 2003]

"There are many opportunites to address media literacy throughout the school day, whether in Language Arts, Science, Social Studies or Math classes, or through Art , Computer Technology, or Health and Physical Education classes. Spending faculty professional development time to discuss media literacy and its impact on your students , as well as appropriate ways to address it within your school's curricula would be especially worthwhile"

[Sue Swaim, Executive director, National Middle School Association]

"We want to take full advantage of the positive elements of the media. We're looking for that balance, where our children are active , thoughtful, smart and effective users of media , yet are reasonably safe from its perils"

[Linda Hodge, National PTA President]


Who's Who in Media Literacy?

ASU Program coordinator David Considine shown with the following individuals:
  1. Barrie McMahon, Western Australia.
  2. Canadian media literacy pioneers Barry Duncan and John Pungente.
  3. In Chicago with then president of National Council for the Social Studies, Denee Mattioli and ASU student, Nicki Soice.
  4. On the ASU campus with Kathleen Tyner and Barry Duncan.
  5. Introducing Robert Denniston ONDCP in Baltimore.
  6. U.K. media education authority, Len Masterman.
  7. Back at the Boone campus with U.K. expert, David Buckingham.