The fifth event in our Speaker Series addresses the critical and timely topic of Media Literacy.

Resources

It was a lively and interesting discussion, and for those that could not make it, check out the HWCAM video:

We all consume and share media; increasingly, we ourselves are content creators. Our access to the vast majority of information, whether social, cultural, political, economic, or scientific, is not acquired directly through first hand experience, rather it is mediated by others. How do we evaluate information and sources in our everyday lives?

Self-government requires informed and cooperative participation. Fundamental to that is the ability of citizens to navigate a constant flood of information with varied and contradicting  perspectives and agendas driven by commercial, political, and cultural power. How do we train ourselves and future generations for that

Our panel of speakers brings a wealth of expertise and experience to help us explore this critical topic.

Erin McNeill is founder and CEO of Media Literacy Now, a national education policy initiative. She is leading a movement to create a public education system that ensures all students learn the 21st century media literacy skills they need for health, well-being, economic participation, and citizenship. Media Literacy Now has provided guidance and resources to advocates in more than two dozen states who have educated hundreds of legislators and education policymakers, and helped enact 19 laws in 10 states and state appropriations of more than $2 million in funding for professional development and program grants. Erin’s background is in journalism. Previously in her career she wrote on a wide range of topics from pandemics, disasters, and local politics in San Francisco; to environmental and economic policy at Congressional Quarterly in Washington D.C. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a former US Army reservist.

Paul Mihailidis is a professor of civic media and journalism and Special Advisor to the Provost at Emerson College in Boston, MA. He is founding program director of the MA in Media Design, and faculty chair and director of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. Dr. Mihailidis's academic interests in civic media and community engagement are closely connected to his leadership work in higher education. As a scholar with an established research record, 8 books and over 70 papers, book chapters, reports, etc, Dr. Mihailidis has collaborated across disciplines to explore how civic media interventions can support inclusive, just and equitable futures. He's consulted around the world on news and media literacies as tools for civic empowerment and meaningful engagement in communities. This past year, Dr. Mihailidis was commissioned by the Kettering Foundation to produce a report titled Restoring Civic Health in a Culture of Distance, that highlights how media have inserted distance between people and their proximal environments, and what we can do to re-establish meaningful relationships to the institutions we rely on for robust civic health. His research has been featured in The New York Times,The Washington Post, Scientific American, Slate, CNN, USA Today, and Newsweek,among others. Dr. Mihailidis was honored with the national researcher of the year award from the National Association of Media Literacy Education. Most recently, he oversaw the Mapping Impactful Media Literacy project to research and design more impactful media literacy approaches for educators and practitioners building equity-driven media-based initiatives with their communities. In addition to a report and field guide for community stakeholders, a forthcoming book, Equitable Media Literacy Futures, argues for more open, transparent and robust media and news interventions to support restorative civic practices.

Jean LaBelle-Pierce has been a teacher for 30 years. In that time, she has taught a variety of social studies subjects, including Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics, United States History, and Economics. She currently runs the Senior Project Capstone program at Maynard High School. Jean is also the librarian at Maynard High School. She served as an elected School Committee member for eight years in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In all these roles, Jean has been dedicated to teaching students about personal agency and responsibility to self and society. Recently, Jean has collaborated with the organization Media Literacy Now to measure and develop media literacy in the Maynard school district, resulting in a report Media Literacy in Maynard MA: A Community Survey, published by Media Education Lab in August 2023. This work was started by a student Senior Project initiative.

Resources:

• Mapping Impactful Media Literacy Practices (Paul Mihailidis)
• MediaLiteracyNow.org (Erin McNeill)
• Action links: https://medialiteracynow.org/take-action/
• Stay up to date: https://medialiteracynow.org/subscribe/ 
• Help with a donation: https://medialiteracynow.org/donate/ 
• Media Literacy in Maynard, Massachusetts - A Community Survey (Jean LaBelle-Pierce)
• LWV of Andover/NAndover video - Mary Robb’s presentation “Fact Checking 2024 Election News”
• News Literacy Project - source of our infographic handouts

Presented by LWVHW in partnership with theHamilton-Wenham Public Library and supported in part by a grant from the Hamilton-Wenham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.