media literacy

Hey everyone, …read more

Check out my appearance on a panel about changing the media on Cambridge's cable access station, CCTV Critical Focus …read more

as a vista in the city i am alway looking out for free and interesting events. the public library in san francisco is pretty amazing at showing free films a couple of times per month and last night i had the pleasure of checking out the awesome documentary by Byron Hurt entitled " Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." The documentary take as in-depth look at masculinity, misogyny, violence and homophobia within mainstream hip hop music and culture. although i thought the analysis could have run a bit deeper, the film makes a point to trace the interconnections of white supremacy, racism, homophobia, sexism and capitalism. and not only that, there are appearances by 50cent, mos def, fat joe and a bunch of other famous artists. …read more

Sorry for the delay, but here’s the notes from the last Digital Media group call on November 3rd.  As a whole, a lot of our conversation centered on the challenges of working with youth media projects, such as lack of equipment, youth motivation, developing handouts and guides.  Subsequently, AJ followed up by volunteering to gather any curriculum and handouts people are willing to share.  [Check out the archives of the discussion list at http://www.ctcvista.org/forum/] In future calls, we plan to center on topics such as web design techniques (Dreamweaver or Drupal), video editing help and youth development. Our next call is scheduled for Friday, December 15th at 2pm EST. …read more

Dear Mr. Mayer, I've been a fan of your songwriting and style for quite a while. I've persisted in this admiration even in the face of people calling you a "sell-out", your experimentation with new genres, and your screaming female co-ed fan base. Many times, I've marveled on how well you articulated moments of behavior and feelings around growing as a post college adult and finding a purpose in the world. I tend to actually pay for your albums and listen to what you have to say, as do millions of other people. In this way, I've become a consumer of both your goods and your philosophy. …read more

by Colleen Kelly You would think creating a new media literacy series would be easy enough. There are enough of them out there. Thus, when I was asked as a brand new VISTA to create a new media literacy curriculum for Project: Think Different, I figured I would just quote some Noam Chomsky and maybe throw in some media statistics and get something at least presentable together. The task seemed simple. …read more

Media literacy is basically the "ability to “access, analyse, evaluate and use” media." (Wikipedia).  Many non-profit digital media programs find it essential to incorporate media literacy components into their workshops and programs, but what's the best approach?  Are there free curriculum available out there for CTC VISTAs to use?  Does it make sense to teach media literacy to CTC VISTAs themselves? Here's the ideas generated during the brainstorming at the Fall '06 PSO around this topic:  …read more