Have you ever watched a news program that misrepresented your community? Or been offended at a prime time television show for its use of stereotypes? Can you afford cable or internet? Would you like the media you read, watch, and listen to be more representative of your community, town, or city?

We believe that communication is a human right, yet our communities are denied this fundamental right every day. To gain power in our social justice movements we must hold all institutions, public and private, to a higher standard of accountability, one that ensures that media serves the needs of all the people.

For this reason, the New Mexico Media Literacy Project (NMMLP), the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and Quote Unquote Channel 27 have formed a partnership to work on issues of media justice in our state.  Our three organizations are part of the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net), a project of the Center for Media Justice.

As media justice organizers, we are working to build meaningful participation from communities of color, poor communities, and indigenous communities to claim the undeniable right to communicate -- to liberate our airwaves, networks, and cultural spaces. We aim to fundamentally change the ownership structure, language usage, and policy discourse around media within New Mexico and the U.S.

New Mexico’s upcoming legislative session offers an opportunity for our state to take a step towards media justice. Representative Antonio Maestas will be introducing a bill mandating that all NM high schools offer a media literacy course as an elective.

Media literacy education seeks to empower students to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media. Someone who is media literate is better able to decipher the complex messages they receive from television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, signs, packaging, marketing materials, video games, recorded music, the Internet and other forms of media. They can understand not only the surface content of media messages but also the more important meanings hidden beneath the surface. People who are media literate can also create their own media, becoming active participants in our media culture.

It is our hope that you will join us in our support of the media literacy bill as part of our fight for media justice in New Mexico.

Advertising dominates our world. In our media, in our schools, in our communities, the values of commercial advertising permeate many aspects of our lives. It is that time of year again when concerned students, teachers, and community members can talk back to advertisers by participating in the New Mexico Media Literacy Project's Bad Ad and Counter Ad contests.

Here's how the contests work: Interested students in grades 6-12 select a current advertisement or advertising campaign that they find annoying, misleading, or offensive, and "talk back" to the ad by deconstructing the bad ad or creating a counter ad.

2008 Bad Ad Contest
Find a bad ad in a magazine, newspaper, or other print source.  Write an essay about why it's bad and how it could be better.

- Contest rules
- Scoring guidelines
- Entry form
- See the winning entries in last year's contest

Winners in each category (middle school & high school) receive $100.  Runners-up receive $50.


2008 Counter Ad Contest
Take an ad and change it into a counter ad, delivering a more truthful or constructive message using altered images, words, or persuasion techniques.

- Contest rules
- Scoring guidelines
- Entry form
- Sample counter ads

Winners in each category (middle school & high school) receive $100.  Runners-up receive $50.