New Mexico Media Literacy Project | nmmlp.org

DECONSTRUCT THIS!

New Mexico Media Literacy Project offers a free monthly deconstruction available on our website.

What are the messages this example is sending? What other important questions should you be asking about this advertisement?

See the ad
Read a sample deconstruction
Submit your deconstruction

Read this month's sample deconstruction submitted by guest contributor Charlotte Wygant.

The NMMLP Deconstruction Gallery offers additional media examples and sample deconstructions.

MEDIA LITERACY TOOLBOX DVD-ROM

One of New Mexico Media Literacy Project's most recently released resources is the interactive DVD-ROM Media Literacy Toolbox.

Media Literacy Toolbox provides a complete introduction to media literacy concepts, skills and applications. It contains over 100 new media examples - television commercials, magazine ads, excerpts from TV and radio shows, newspaper and magazine articles and other media messages. The disc also includes over 30 printable activity and discussion guides with suggested media examples you can use to lead a conversation or teach a class.

The activity and discussion guides teach media literacy concepts, skills and techniques of persuasion. Topics include body image, alcohol, tobacco, race, class, and aging, and illustrate the new marketing techniques of stealth and viral marketing. Media Literacy Toolbox looks beyond the frame to investigate our media system and the power of Big Media, independent media, media justice and media activism. While it can be used for individual study, Media Literacy Toolbox is designed to be used in classrooms, community groups and other group settings.

This DVD-ROM can be used in any DVD player or in a DVD-ROM drive in a computer. Media Literacy Toolbox is available for $99 and can be ordered at NMMLP’s Online Store or by calling 505-828-3129.

NMMLP OFFERS SPANISH-LANGUAGE RESOURCES

Los medios y la salud (formerly Medios y remedios) is a Spanish-language media literacy CD-ROM addressing six key issues affecting the health of young people today. Designed to be used in classrooms, family discussions and other group settings, the CD-ROM helps teens become more critical consumers of media so they can make more informed choices about their health.

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The CD-ROM features 66 Spanish-language media examples from magazines, television shows and movies.

Also available in Spanish is Pantalla de humo: Como los agentes de publicidad enturbian la verdad. This popular action guide invites middle and high school-level learners to explore what media literacy is by examining tobacco advertising in a fun and engaging print fold-out. It has full-color graphics and contains vocabulary about the ad biz.

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The guide also features activities including a word search. It comes with a free teacher’s guide that offers suggested answers to the questions and a key to the word search.

Los medios y la salud is offered free of charge and Pantalla de humo is available for $3 each or $1 each for orders of 10 or more. Visit the NMMLP Store for ordering information.

FREE SPIT TOBACCO CD:
HARD TO SWALLOW

Did you know that spit tobacco is the only growing segment of tobacco sales in the US?

If you would like to learn more about snus and other spit tobacco marketing, New Mexico Media Literacy Project is offering a free educational CD titled Hard to Swallow: Spit Tobacco Marketing. Updated for 2008, Hard to Swallow contains movie clips, magazine ads, tobacco website images, and graphs with spit tobacco data. In addition, the Hard to Swallow CD contains discussion guides, two PowerPoint presentations, website information, and other printable resources for you to use in classes or trainings about tobacco education. This CD is appropriate to use with teens and adults in schools, clubs or community settings.

Thanks to our grant from the New Mexico Department of Health, Public Health Division, Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC), we can offer this CD free of charge to any organization or individual.

LETTER FROM NEW NMMLP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANDREA QUIJADA

Dear NMMLP Supporters,

It is with excitement and enthusiasm that I have accepted the Executive Director position at NMMLP. As you may know, I have had the amazing opportunity to be part of this dynamic organizational team for the past six years. I am happy to share with you that NMMLP will continue to build from our solid foundation of media literacy education as we strategically move into new areas of policy work and community organizing in pursuit of media justice.

This summer NMMLP proudly joins the Media Action Grassroots Network as a member organization as we work to build a strong media justice community organizing base in New Mexico. Our partner organizations, Quote-Unquote and the Southwest Organizing Project, are collaborating with us to achieve this goal. Over the next few months we will be launching an educational campaign on the 2009 digital transition followed by a media needs assessment of our local communities. Please stay tuned for action updates!

I am honored to be part of this important and revolutionary work.

Andrea I. Quijada
Executive Director
Outgoing Executive Director

FCC VOTES TO PUNISH COMCAST FOR VIOLATING NET NEUTRALITY

NOTE: The following article was distributed by SavetheInternet.com, a project of the Free Press Action Fund, a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to punish Comcast for violating Net Neutrality and blocking the right for people to do what they want on the Internet. Defying every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington, activists, bloggers, consumer advocates and everyday people have taken on a major corporation and won.

save the internet The FCC vote is also a precedent-setting victory that sends a powerful message to phone and cable companies that blocking access to the Internet will not be tolerated from this time forward.

News of this win was covered by every major news outlet as a turning point for Net Neutrality. Many more people are discovering the people-powered movement for a free and open Internet.

Help to capitalize on this momentum to grow the movement and ensure that Net Neutrality is protected on all 21st-century networks. Send a message to this Congress -- and the next one:

Join the Internet Freedom Movement: Stand Up and Be Counted

In the past two years, more than 1.6 million supporters have already contacted Congress and the FCC. The victory is a milestone, but the work is far from done. Companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon are continuing to fight Net Neutrality using lobbyists, lawyers and campaign contributions. These special interests should not be allowed to set Internet policy for the nation.

Tell Congress: Keep the Internet Open for Everyone

The Internet's true greatness lies in those of us who use its level playing field to challenge the status quo, create and share new ideas, take part in our democracy and connect with others around the world -- without permission from any gatekeepers. With everyone's help and commitment, this win will be just the first of many to protect innovation, free speech and democracy on the Internet.

MEDIA LITERACY KITS NOW AVAILABLE AT MEDIALITERACYTOOLBOX.COM

Looking for teaching resources on media literacy?

NMMLP is excited to announce the launch of www.medialiteracytoolbox.com -- a new online resource for educators, media activists, media makers, parents and students.

You can use the new website to browse, purchase and download individual “media literacy kits” on a variety of topics. The kits can be used in classrooms, community groups, and other group settings to teach basic media literacy concepts, to “deconstruct” media messages, and to understand current media issues.

Each downloadable media literacy kit contains:

- Media examples (TV commercials, magazine ads, scenes from Hollywood movies, websites, etc.) you can show to your class or group.

- A printable discussion and activity guide with questions and answers for each media example, as well as background information, education standards, and resources for further study.

- Suggestions on how to use media literacy kits with students, community groups and others.

- Complete instructions and tech support information.

On medialiteracytoolbox.com, you can preview the media examples in each kit, and see sample pages of the discussion and activity guides.

Most kits can be used in a single class session or workshop, and they cost just $14.95.

The new website also offers several free kits, including Media Literacy Concepts & Skills, Food Marketing & Nutrition, and Media Activism.

Several of the media literacy kits initially offered on the site are included on NMMLP’s new Media Literacy Toolbox DVD-ROM. But you can also download some brand-new kits, including Reality TV and Censorship, only available on www.medialiteracytoolbox.com.

We’ll be creating and posting new media literacy kits on a regular basis. To receive email notifications when new kits are available, special offers, tips on doing media literacy and more, just sign up to receive our Toolbox Alerts.

We’ve been working on the new website for several months, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer new media literacy resources online. Please browse the new website and let us know what you think by posting a comment in our Discussion Forum. And if you like the site, please tell a friend about it!

This project is supported by the New Mexico Department of Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC).

MEDIA & BODY IMAGE IS THE PROJECT'S NEWEST MULTIMEDIA RESOURCE

Media & Body Image is a multimedia educational resource on media literacy and body image. It can help improve your ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce media messages, and to become an active participant in our media culture.

This interactive DVD-ROM contains 38 selected media examples -- video and audio clips and images? accessed through a menu system. The media examples include television commercials, magazine ads and excerpts from TV shows. Optional SDH subtitles can be played with all audio and video clips.

While it can be used for individual study, Media & Body Image is designed to be used in classrooms, community groups, and other group settings to:

- Teach media literacy concepts on the topic of body image
- Learn how to “deconstruct” media messages
- Access ideas and resources for making your own media
- Discover ways to improve impressions of body image and the media environment

Media & Body Image offers printable presentation guides and handouts - including two presentations (basic and intermediate/advanced) you can use to lead a conversation about the media examples on the disc. The presentation guides are available in Standard and Large Print versions.

This DVD-ROM can be used in any DVD player or in a DVD-ROM drive in a computer. Media & Body Image is available for $49 and can be ordered at NMMLP’s Online Store or by calling 505-828-3129.

NMMLP EVENT CALENDAR: WHERE WE'VE BEEN AND WHERE WE'RE GOING

New Mexico Media Literacy Project continues to expand its reach nationally and internationally. Here is a look at where staff have been recently and where we will be in upcoming weeks:

NMMLP staff hosted a group of 30 participants from across the country for the 2008 Catalyst

Institute on July 22-25 at the campus of Albuquerque Academy.

Andrea Quijada will return to the state of Oklahoma for the second time in a year, as she conducts a three-day catalyst training for the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and Students Working Against Tobacco in Oklahoma City on August 20th-22nd.

Check back with NMMLP to see if we are coming to a community near you, or invite a speaker to your school, organization or community.