NM Media Literacy Project and collaborating organizations celebrated the resignation of longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs on Wednesday, Nov. 11th. For the past two months, NMMLP has been working to prevent and remove hateful speech from the media as part of its Siembra la palabra digna campaign.

NMMLP's media literacy education programs uncover how some media messages can lead individuals to take actions that are unhealthy and even dangerous for our communities.

As part of that work, NMMLP recently united with 18 other top U.S. cities to hold national news network CNN accountable for misinformation used during its programming, particularly by Dobbs.

NMMLP highlighted the national BastaDobbs.com campaign, calling on the longtime broadcaster to take responsibility for untrue statements made during his nightly show. On Oct. 21, a press conference was held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center to highlight the efforts locally and nationally and was supported by several Albuquerque groups, including Young Women United, El Centro de la Raza and El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos.

NMMLP held a Town Hall one week after its press conference at the Iglesia Congregacional Unida’s conference room shared by El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos. The town hall connected the local problems in our media with the larger problem of the national media. Attendees formed a team of volunteers to strategize with NMMLP around the issue of misinformation and hate speech used in our community and to develop our next action steps.

On November 1st, NMMLP participated in Albuquerque’s Dia de los Muertos Festival, where NMMLP connected with community members who expressed concern about inflammatory messages in New Mexico's media.

NM Media Literacy Project continues to work towards its mission of building healthy and just communities by informing the people of New Mexico about the power of media.

NMMLP and Presente.org were featured guests on Nuestra America the weekly radio program hosted by Somos Un Pueblo Unido in Santa Fe, NM on November 1st.  The interview featured talk about speech that prevents cultivating healthy communities, and what is being done locally to support a national effort to hold media accountable for misinformation and language that is potentially dangerous for our communities. The interview focused on Lou Dobbs and CNN.

Espejos de Aztlan, a weekly public radio show hosted by Roberta Rael on KUNM in Albuquerque, also invited NMMLP to speak on the issue of hate speech in the media, and the BastaDobbs.com campaign on October 26th. Emphasized during the interview was the fact that a community has the right to hold media corporations accountable for their content.

Youth Media Reporter, a professional multimedia journal that serves practitioners, educators, and academics in the youth media field, featured voices from New Mexico in their most recent issue.

NM Media Literacy Project staff members Andrea Quijada, Candelario Vazquez, and Jessica Collins contributed to this issue along with other youth media practitioners from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Visit www.youthmediareporter.org to read the articles submitted by NMMLP staff.

More people are responding with resistance to the national platform to use code words and race baiting to spread fear and mistrust. 

Folks who are fed up with the false accusations and outright lies that have cost good people their jobs and their reputations, while making already wealthy people even richer now have a new website to visit.

Please check out www.stopthewitchhunt.org to have your voice be heard and say "enough is enough".

The entry deadline for the 2009 Talk Back to Big Tobacco! Script & Storyboard Contest is coming up.  We’re looking for original scripts and storyboards for 30-second radio and television commercials aimed at preventing tobacco use by children and teens.

Middle school and high school students in New Mexico are eligible to participate. Entries must be postmarked by December 4, 2009. 

We'll pick eight winning scripts and storyboards in January 2010.  Each winner will receive $500.

For complete contest rules, entry forms and resources, visit www.talkback.nmmlp.org or call 505-858-8897.

On Saturday, May 8, 2010, middle and high school students from around the state will gather at the historic KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque, NM for an awards show like no other.

The Fame & Shame Awards is a statewide youth event that exposes the tobacco industry’s influence in Hollywood, mobilizes public support for smoke free movies, and honors the youth advocates from around New Mexico who work to keep their peers from starting smoking.

Research shows that smoking in the movies is the most powerful pro-tobacco influence on kids today, accounting for 52% of adolescents who start smoking. 

The Fame & Shame Awards are presented by New Mexico Voices for Children and NM Media Literacy Project, with support from the New Mexico Department of Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC).

For more information, visit www.fameandshame.com, email info@fameandshame.com, or call Brian Urban at 505-244-9505.

NM Media Literacy Project may be visiting your area soon! Please contact us if you would like a presentation in your community. Our upcoming plans include:

November:
10, Albuquerque, NM: First day of media literacy classes taught by NMMLP staff at the Media Arts Collaborative Charter School. Classes scheduled through January 8th, 2010.
17, Watertown, SD: Media Literacy and Tobacco Presentations for Human Service Agency.
17, Albuquerque, NM: Exhibiting at New Mexico Men’s Council for Boys and Young Men Conference.
18-20, Helena, MT: NMMLP participates in Strategic Planning for Montana Office of Public Instruction
20, Albuquerque, NM: NMMLP hosts Indy Media Show on Community Access Channel 27 at 7 p.m. MST. For live online streaming video please click here.

December:
8, Farmington, NM: Nutrition Presentations at Hermosa Middle School.
10-13, Washington D.C.: NMMLP participates in the Media Justice Leadership Institute hosted by the Center for Media Justice.