media literacy

The media prophets report no future for capacity building of Community Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: June 13, 2011
Contact: Belinda Rawlins, (617) 287-7371, belinda@transmissionproject.org

Outreach Presentation Outline & Resources

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Organization: 
Squeaky Wheel

A general outline for giving a presentation or workshop for outreach purposes created by corps member Goda Trakumaite. Also included is a list of questions for a media creation and media literacy workshop that she often gives at the end of her presentations.

Social Media Development

Organization: 
Portland Community Media
VISTA Name: 
Denise Cheng
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
7/2009
Project Description: 

Access 2.0 is a three year project to expand access to and viewership of community media through new media channels. In this project, PCM will upgrade its technology and training to integrate new media channels with traditional public access channels to expand and enhance access to media as a communications tool for community members, community-based and non-profit organizations, government partners and other stakeholders. Through Access 2.0, PCM is upgrading equipment, improving technology, upgrading the PCM website, redeveloping the PCM database and reaching out to a number of groups and organizations in the community with an emphasis on underrepresented populations.

The Access 2.0/New Media Vista will work with PCM’s Media Educators and Media Facilitators to:

-Develop media education training projects, classes and curricula for expanding the skills of community producers, organizations and other stakeholders through in new media areas
-Develop skill building activities and materials to improve the competency and confidence of community members and other stakeholders in the use of new media
-Further develop PCM’s drupal-based website to strengthen user participation and better meet user needs
-Actively participate in and contribute to technical planning for PCM’s Access 2.0 project to develop new media opportunities and distribution channels for community members, community-based and non-profit organizations, government partners and other organizations.
-Build skills of community members and stakeholders in new media applications to increase distribution and sharing of community media including blogging, podcasting, cross posting and others
-Initiate and develop participation of PCM in PEGSpace project of the Alliance for Community Media and other collaborative development projects
-Develop new opportunities for volunteer participation, particularly related to new media

Project Outcome: 

Denise’s activities are focused around research and development of new media services and education. She has assisted with development of two new classes that focus on teaching participants how to prepare content for distribution via the Internet, and how to utilize online video and social networking tools to increase distribution of content, and to connect with target audiences. Denise also participates on the PR and Marketing committee, is helping to redesign our website with the goal of building capacity, is participating in grant research and writing, and helps with proofreading and layout in creation of new documents.

Denise researched and proposed a new project that was submitted for consideration to the Knight foundation. Denise’s proposal made it through the first round but has been dropped from consideration by the Knight foundation. PCM will continue to try to secure grant funding to realize this proposal. The proposal would create a new acquisition and distribution path for audio content via a new website portal. The focus of the project targeted increasing participation from immigrant, minority and youth groups using cell phone and Internet technology. Denise’s research identified very high cell phone and Internet penetration among immigrant populations in the Portland area. Denise’s project would also create a backbone for a large scale expansion of Internet based acquisition and distribution for PCM participants.

Denise revised our existing Media Education schedule to create a more polished document to promote Media Education classes and workshops. Denise has routinely been proofreading and editing public documents to maintain voice and consistency.

Denise was asked to submit a design mock-up for our upcoming website redevelopment. Her mock-up showed an advanced understanding of the kind of content rich site that many Internet viewers would appreciate. Denise’s research on social networking and how different groups consume information via the Internet comes through in her clean and rich design concept. Denise is currently assisting with implementation of our new open source database project being developed in partnership with Denver Open Media.

Impact Quote: 

Denise participation in brainstorming and discussion has provided me with a new perspective on a variety of topics including community media, who we serve, immigrant issues, community engagement and a millenial perspective on technology. Denise has reshaped my views on my career field because she asks questions I’m not often asked, and she brings a different perspective and set of experiences to the organization. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her.”
- Bea Coulter, supervisor

Youth Media Curriculum Development

Organization: 
Portland Community Media
VISTA Name: 
Nickey Robare
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
7/2009
Project Description: 

The Oregon Learning Lab for Information Education (OLLIE) serves approximately 400 Portland-area youth ages 10 to18 annually. The Initiative is provided in collaboration with MetroEast Community Media, a sister community media organization serving east Multnomah County, combining the considerable youth media expertise of both organizations. Portland Community Media serves as the administrative organization.

OLLIE is a media education program that integrates media and technology literacy with core academic and community learning in classrooms and after-school programs. In each OLLIE project, participants plan and create works of video based on their academic curriculum or community learning focus.

The OLLIE Youth Media VISTA will work with the OLLIE coordinator, educators from Portland Community Media and MetroEast Community Media, and area schools and community centers to meet the goals of the OLLIE project.
Activities include:
- Working with the project staff to develop project curriculum, youth and community outreach efforts (including website), local and national distribution, and evaluation practices
- Establishing ongoing youth involvement opportunities at the media centers
- Building a volunteer and internship program to support the project
- Learning and training others to teach project curriculum and equipment
- Participating in OLLIE Youth Media productions as a media educator

Project Outcome: 

Nickey’s first success with OLLIE came during the culmination of our Moving Images summer workshop – a community screening event. Nickey leveraged her community connections and communication skills to secure donations from local businesses to support the event. She also assisted in a larger campaign to promote the event, which brought over 100 community members to Portland Community Media to watch and discuss videos created by 16 local youth. As a part of her larger efforts to develop ongoing youth involvement activities at the media centers, Nickey has undertaken a research project designed to understand community needs and best practices from other organizations. She has compiled interviews from youth media educators and facilitators from our parent organizations, as well as other local and national youth media projects. As a part of her work with OLLIE Youth Media Nickey has spent time in the field, getting to know the young people, teachers, and organizations we serve. She has excelled at motivating our students to express their ideas though video. Nickey also has made connections between OLLIE and other organizations, encouraging collaboration and outreach for the program.

Nickey has been a great addition to the OLLIE Youth Media team and is still working on several projects. Recently she has done some design work for the project that will be used for program promotion.

Youth Channel Development/Education Department Assistant

Organization: 
Media Bridges Cincinnati
VISTA Name: 
Elizabeth Goussetis
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
7/2009
Project Description: 

Media Bridges Youth Channel (MBYC) is a project-based learning experience focused towards the youth through a mentor-based initiative.

In the course of his/her duties the Youth Channel Development/Education Assistant will provide development assistance in the areas of volunteers, grant writing, event/class coordination and fund development with the additional specific charge of developing the resources, policies, procedures and outreach to launch Media Bridge’s Youth Channel efforts.

Assist the Media Bridges education department in providing video technical skills to the public.

Assist at the Media Bridges Master Control Center, assuring the smooth application of the implementation of the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Project Outcome: 

Elizabeth has assisted the education department in all of the stated areas, and has built a solid framework for a sustainable youth channel program. She launched the Youth Media Club, a new program which has attracted new youth to Media Bridges. She produced several videos with elementary school students as part of a 20-week outreach class at a local public school, which initiated an ongoing partnership with the school. She applied for a $1,000 grant to fund our summer camp program. She recruited two high school interns through a media internship program for minority high school students. She also established Media Bridges as a partner organization for a media career exploration program for high school students sponsored by an association of journalism professionals. She developed a youth policies and procedures handbook for Media Bridges, opening the door to more youth involvement in the future. She expanded the youth channel from a four hour block of programming per week, with an additional youth block timeslot for college student productions. She structured the youth page on the new web site, manages the content of the page providing information about the youth program to the public, and has also developed social networking outreach through Twitter, and avenues for video distribution through youtube, vimeo, ListenUp, and local youth filmmaking site IndieViz.

Establishing a youth leadership board was part of our original plan for the youth channel, but that was not completed. The initial lack of youth involved with the organization made that difficult and also unrealistic at this time. Elizabeth has been able to recruit youth participants, which will pave the way for a youth leadership board in the future. There has not been a full-scale volunteer management system put into place for the youth program. Although Elizabeth recruited volunteers and worked with staff to improve volunteer procedures, the Media Bridges volunteer management system is in the process of restructuring, so a youth volunteer management system was put on hold until a better structure is implemented by the operations department. In the meantime, Elizabeth has worked to create opportunities for youth volunteers and has streamlined youth volunteers into the overall volunteer process

Although it was not originally included in the project proposal, Elizabeth created, designed and maintained a youth section on the Media Bridges Web site, created social network outreach (Twitter, Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook) and established additional distribution methods for youth-produced videos online, through video-sharing sites. At the beginning of her service year, the Media Bridges Web site had no information regarding youth programs and was not being updated because we were in the middle of a redesign. When the new site went live, Elizabeth became active in overall site maintenance, specifically in creating the youth section

Impact Quote: 

There are significantly more youth in the building, on a regular basis, than there have ever been in recent memory. New precedents, policies and procedures have been set that have made Media Bridges a more youth-friendly organization and have broken down barriers to youth participation. Elizabeth has also provided support for youth-oriented projects initiated by Media Bridges producers, volunteers, staff, and other nonprofits. We plan to absorb the new programs and activities into the current staff, continue initiated programs such as the youth media club, and continue using the youth policies developed.”
- Jeremy Wolford, supervisor

Youth Media Program Coordinator

VISTA Name: 
Sarah Pierantoni
Program Start: 
6/2007
Program End: 
6/2008
Project Description: 

Our Community Media Center is a cooperative of public access, nonprofit media including, GRTV, WYCE, GrandNet, the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID), the Mobile Learning Lab for Information Educaiton (MOLLIE) and the Wealthy Theater. We provide individuals and groups with access to the tools training and means of transmission they need to join our mission of “Building community through media”.

Our VISTA member will assist in video and other media productions, primarily with the Mobile Learning Lab for Information Education (MoLLIE). MoLLIE works in large part with youth in the local financially struggling school system to help teachers fulfill curriculum requirements while also teaching the students the skills of video production using digital video cameras and iBook computers for editing.

Project Outcome: 

Over the course of Sarah’s Vistaship she has been instrumental in working with our various youth training programs providing a wide variety of skills. She was responsible for helping students make the best videos possible and teaching them to think critically about media and media messages. She took the initiative to outreach to communities we hadn’t worked with in the past including GLBT and the Triangle Foundation, and solidified relationships with them and our organization. She helped plan a film festival and worked on several video installations dealing with issues such as the war and discrimination. In addition, Sarah has helped out in our theater by operating the lighting board for concerts, selling tickets and running concessions. She teaches video production and editing classes to our members and so much more.

Here is a list of projects Sarah was involved in during her VISTA year:

1.Allegan County Community Mental Health: produced, shot and edited a documentary about the stigma of mental illness.

2. G.E.T. Girls Empowering Together: since January worked with a group of High School girls in a leadership mentoring program to mentor, produce, shot and edit a documentary about the program, “Breaking the Surface,” available for viewing at www.archive.org

3. The MOLLIE Club: a weekly video club for students in middle School that provides an opportunity for them to come in and Make videos.

4. MOLLIE (Mobile Learning Lab for Information Education): Went to area schools and non-profits teaching youth how to produce, shoot and edit videos.

5. Real Pride: helped start the planning process for a film and documentary series about LGBT issues.

Impact Quote: 

Sarah had an especially strong bond with [the G.E.T. program participants] and it was great to see their reaction to the documentary we helped them produce. They had a really fancy dinner with a lot of area dignitaries in attendance when the documentary was screened for the first time. Many commented to us afterwards about what a great project this was and committed to funding another program this year.”
- Gretchen Vinnedge, supervisor

Youth Media Lab Assistant

Organization: 
Reel Works Teen Filmmaking
VISTA Name: 
Micheil Yohannes
Program Start: 
1/2008
Program End: 
1/2009
Project Description: 

Our core media arts education program, The Lab, is a free after-school workshop that challenges Brooklyn high school students to produce short documentary videos about their lives. This program incorporates lessons in literacy (story-telling, scripting, editing), self-esteem and tolerance, technology and media literacy within the context of 1:1 mentoring with professional filmmakers.

The Lab Assistant will work with the Lab Coordinator, Directors, and other staff to enhance the capacity of The Lab, Reel Impact, and all other programs of Reel Works Teen Filmmaking. Duties include, but are not limited to

- media arts instruction;

- maintenance of technical equipment and media collection;

- assisting with the recruitment and training of volunteer filmmaker mentors;

- developing and maintaining relationships with schools, community centers, and neighborhoods in Brooklyn served by Reel Works;

- developing a youth advisory board;

- assisting with the distribution/outreach and public relations;

- and performing various administrative duties as needed.

Project Outcome: 

In a lab used mainly by young people on a daily basis we run into many technical/equipment malfunctions that oftentimes have no explanation. Reel Works Teen Filmmaking operates on a “shoe-string” budget and would not have been as successful in the past year had it not been for Micheil’s superior troubleshooting skills. Oftentimes, the members of our skeleton staff would attempt to trouble shoot errors while simultaneously running other programs and teaching a class - making for a very hectic and crazy work day. The days we were fortunate enough to work with Micheil were always the most productive. The young people in our program owe a lot of their stress-free success to Micheil.

CTC Youth Program Building

Organization: 
HOME Inc.
VISTA Name: 
Stephen LoVerme
Program Start: 
11/2007
Program End: 
6/2009
Project Description: 

As a CTC HOME, Inc has been working with the Boston Public schools to develop community computer/media labs in several schools. The main thrust of the program has been based on a Media Literacy and Health project that was funded by the U.S. Department Education under which we have been developing media and technology curriculum in five schools.

This Summer we are projecting having 25 teens in a 30 hour per week six week, media intensive at the BNN studio in Roxbury

The media lab project has five areas of focus:

1) strengthening teens’ confidence through projects after school in media arts, that include self expression through media and computer techonologies.

2) providing professional development for teachers in project-based learning and media literacy to help connect after school with in school learning,

3) providing workshops and projects after school that increase teens’ critical thinking, communications and problem solving skills,

4) building an in-school and after school network of teachers, parents and mentors to support teens.

5) building a broad base of funding support for the program.

Currently HOME, Inc has two full time staff devoted to the project.

Each CTC ProjectCoordinator/VISTA will work with the administrators at each of the school and after school programs to help develop the in-school and after school network of teachers, parents and mentors that can provide support to the students utilizing the media lab.

Project Outcome: 

Stephen was the primary link between HOME, Inc. and Brighton High School. providing technical support to four teachers and supporting teachers in two media classes by helping to develop curriculum, provide professional development support including support to the teachers as they learned new computer applications. Stephen provided additional help to some of the students and helped our Media Lab Coordinator organize his work and program at Social Justice Academy. Stephen updated our website and helped develop and update our summer Teen TV content management system for our six week long summer intensive.

Stephen is a dedicated, sensitive and creative teacher who in his low key style gains the trust of hardened and skeptical teachers and students at the schools. He has outstanding problem solving skills and accepts most difficulties with grace and a can do attitude. Stephen was able to provide a high degree of leadership during our summer Teen TV intensive, providing both technical and creative support that encouraged staff and students to excel. His work on our website has helped to ensure that the content management system will continue to be an important factor in our organization’s growth and success.

Impact Quote: 

Stephen has been an outstanding and dedicated VISTA. An example is how he is willing to devote time to bring others up to speed in areas where they are having difficulty. He is extremely patient and dedicated others success and this has won him the support of technophobic teachers, hurried administrators and skeptical students.”
- Alan Michel, supervisor

Digital Expansion Initiative Program Developer

Organization: 
People's Production House
VISTA Name: 
Kristofer Rios
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
7/2010
Project Description: 

PPH has three major projects: Radio Rootz, which teaches classes in radio journalism and media literacy in public schools; the Community News Production Institute (CNPI), which trains low wage and immigrant workers as radio journalists; and our Digital Expansion Initiative, which works to educate and organize the public around access to digital technology. We build media organizers: media literate youth and workers who can create and demand a media system that works in their interests.

This position is part of the Digital Expansion Initiative. For 2008 to 2009, the CTC Vista participant will
• formalize our Digital Expansion curriculum and conduct educational workshops for community organizations and public school classes throughout New York City;
• work with the Digital Expansion team to analyze data from our surveys and interviews;
• conduct original research into the state of Internet access in New York City and train others to do the same;
• record, edit, and produce radio journalism and train others to do the same;
• review and compile new research and articles related to Internet access and Internet policy.

Project Outcome: 

This year, Kristofer took the lead in developing and formalizing the curriculum for our youth-led policy program, the Digital Expansion Fellowship (DEF). After taking feedback and evaluations from our first DEF summer project, Kristofer redesigned the summer curriculum into a full 8-week summer course for a new round of fellows. The new curriculum is a comprehensive training in media policy research; combing basics in digital journalism and an introduction to policy analysis. This summer the fellows used their newly acquired digital reporting skills to examined mobile broadband and cellphone policy from a community perspective. They produced a news feature looking at how a proposed bill requiring ID for prepaid cellphones would impact low income and immigrant communities. They also produced four cell phone literacy workshops that will be included in a collaborative tool kit project focused on expanding cell phone literacy.

People’s Production House proposed a large community media network project during the second application round of the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program. Our proposal brought together 21 New York City community organizations to imagine a constellation of community media centers across New York that would work as media production centers for a community news outlet. Kristofer was the main outreach organizer for this application. He helped recruit many of the organizations to the project proposal and coordinated a lot of the application process with the groups. While we weren’t awarded our BTOP grant, the organizing provided us with an opportunity to advance our goal of strengthening our community media network. We are taking the momentum from our BTOP organizing to develop a New York City Digital Justice Coalition. Throughout the year, Kristofer also engaged with other community media organizations to share or work, exchange ideas, and collaborate on larger national projects.

One of the goals that Kristofer set for him self was to help us develop workshops and training materials in Spanish. Kristofer lead our first Spanish language community journalism training in his first year as a VISTA and he wanted to take it further by developing media literacy tools that could accompany the trainings. This year Kristofer helped organize the first Spanish language track at the 2010 Allied Media Conference. In developing the Spanish language track, Kristofer engaged some organizations that serve the Spanish speaking in New York, helping to develop Spanish language community reporters.

In addition to the work completed in our project proposal, Kristofer also helped refine our 12-week media community journalism training curriculum. The curriculum needed an upgraded and he assisted with the process. Kristofer also helped strengthen ties to partner organizations through his involvement in organizing the Allied Media Conference and his participation in the Media Action Grassroots Network. Through these conferences and networks, Kristofer has helped facilitate projects on a national scope, including our upcoming Cellphone Literacy Toolkit, which is a collaboration between allies in New Mexico, California, and New York.

Media Literacy Critical in Today’s Schools

John Urkevich, Executive Director of Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, Inc. discusses the need for media literacy training in schools:

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