May 16th, 2012

The LAMP won a Hive grant from NY Community Trust, Mozilla and MacArthur!

5/16/12 – iPad Games, Digital Mapping, Media Remixing: $874,000 for 12 NYC Projects Working Together to Get Teens Excited about Learning

Contact: Ani Hurwitz, VP, Communications
212.686.0010 x224 | afh@nyct-cfi.org
nycommunitytrust.org | @nycommtrust

iPad Games, Digital Mapping, Media Remixing:
$874,000 for 12 NYC Projects Working Together to Get Teens Excited about Learning

5/16/12, New York—Using smart phones to map skateboarding hotspots in New York City, learning to view media critically by remixing commercials that reinforce stereotypes about older adults, projecting multimedia projects on building facades. Welcome to learning 3.0.

Grants from Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in The New York Community Trust support NYC nonprofits working with teens to develop ways of tapping into their digital lives to encourage creativity, interests, and learning. All grantees are members of Hive Learning Network NYC and work together on projects, sharing what works—and what doesn’t—in the ever-evolving worlds of digital media and education.

For more information about the projects listed below, or to arrange a visit to see the work in action, contact Ani Hurwitz at (212) 686-0010 x224 or at afh@nyct-cfi.org.

“These projects are driven by the topics, platforms, and technologies that interest youth most,” says Chris Lawrence, director of Mozilla’s Hive Learning Network NYC. “This third round of funding supports both expanded versions of existing projects as well as new initiatives that share resources, expertise, and best practices as we continue to build an innovative, collaborative network of informal learning organizations across the five boroughs.”

“The New York Community Trust’s role is not only to fund these exciting projects, but to use our knowledge about local arts and education to identify effective nonprofits developing digital media learning projects and to bring funders together to magnify impact,” says Kerry McCarthy, arts program officer at The Trust. “With the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and Mozilla Foundations, we are helping kids discover their interests, connect with others who share their passion, and tie it back to what they are learning in school.”

The following grants were approved in April 2012:

Bank Street College of Education, $50,000, for Civil Rights Remix, a youth-produced multimedia exhibition connecting contemporary and historic civil rights events in New York City. Partners: the Schomberg Center and People’s Production House

Bronx Museum of the Arts, $23,000, for a summer program in which teens will record audio and video interviews with residents in Joyce Kilmer Park about living and working in the Bronx. Partner: City Lore

Brooklyn Public Library, $32,000, for Brooklyn teens to develop multimedia book reviews and teach these skills to other teens at 10 library branches in Sunset Park, Crown Heights, Bushwick, and other poor neighborhoods. Partner: Eyebeam

City Lore, $83,000, to expand a project in which teen skateboarders record and share videos of skate culture in New York City. Daylong programs in skate parks will introduce skaters to digital mapping, video production, and other innovative ways to share their passion. Partners: Reel Works and Bank Street College of Education

Common Sense Media, $25,000, for a teen-produced activity kit that provides young people with the information, tools, and practical skills they need to consume and discuss media. Partner: WNYC’s Radio Rookies

Joan Ganz Cooney Center for Media and Research, $100,000, to develop a series of video game design workshops at Hive Learning Network member sites that also encourage youth to participate in the National STEM Video Game Competition. Partner: Global Kids

The LAMP, $50,000, for an intergenerational media literacy program covering biased media messages about seniors, in which participants respond by re-mixing video and audio clips on the topic. Partners: Museum of the Moving Image and OATS (Older Adults Technology Services)

Museum of the Moving Image, $42,000, to help teens create digital videos using the Museum’s archive of presidential campaign ads. Partner: YMCA of Greater New York

New York Public Radio/WNYC Radio Rookies, $150,000, for a program where teens learn journalism basics so they can produce print, audio, and video pieces that explain what it means to them to be Americans today. Partner: Facing History and Ourselves

Parsons the New School for Design, $7,000, to create a series of projects, quests, and games that engage and reward youth while they explore the ecology of the urban environment.

Queens Library Foundation, $38,400, to help youth who use the Far Rockaway Teen Library to look critically at the media they consume and produce their own print, digital, and broadcast news stories. Partners: the LAMP and People’s Production House

Reel Works, $50,000, to help film and science students create an online database of short science clips and make films from the Museum’s archives. Partner: American Museum of Natural History

Urban Word NYC, $150,000, for the Words on Walls project, in which teens create poems, blogs, and videos and present them at events around the City against the backdrop of their multimedia projections cast by City Lore’s POEMobile. Partners: City Lore, Bowery Arts & Science, Nuit Blanche NY/Bring to Light Festival, and Global Action Project

Wildlife Conservation Society, $48,224, to help Bronx teens learn about climate change and create online games, oral histories, and other multimedia projects on the topic. Partner: Eyebeam

World Up, $25,000, to help youth to create original music using digital recording tools. Partners: DreamYard and the New York Hall of Science

About Hive Digital Media Learning Fund

In December 2010, The Trust joined with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to create Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in The New York Community Trust to promote adolescents’ and teens’ learning anytime, anywhere through digital media. This year, funds also are provided by the Mozilla Foundation and the Joan Ganz Cooney and Beth M. Uffner funds in The Trust.

For more information, follow: @HiveLearningNYC and @SpotlightDML, and visit bit.ly/tyhvqG and explorecreateshare.org.

About The New York Community Trust

Through the generosity of New Yorkers past and present, The New York Community Trust makes grants for a range of charitable activity important to the well-being and vitality of our city. We’ve helped make donors’ charitable dreams come true since 1924. Grants made from these funds meet the changing needs of children, youth, and families; aid in community development; improve the environment; promote health; assist people with special needs; and support education, arts, and human justice. The Trust ended 2011 with assets of nearly $2 billion and made grants totaling $137 million.

Press release originally posted here.

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May 14th, 2012

New LAMPlatoon Videos from the First Amendment Hack Jam!

Last Saturday, The LAMP participated in the First Amendment Hack Jam with the Hive Learning Network NYC. Along with other Hive members, students explored ways they can use their first amendment rights to advocate for causes and to express themselves creatively. Our LAMPlatoon project teaches people how fair use is used to create original media and talk back to mass media messages. You can see all three videos from the Hack Jam on our YouTube channel, but here’s one on Justin Bieber’s SOMEDAY fragrance to get you started:

Ready to take on big media with your own LAMPlatoon video? Click here to learn more, or send us an email to get started!

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May 8th, 2012

5 Must-Read Books for a Media Literate Society

The quality of democratic governance in any country is contingent upon the quality of its public discourse. A well-informed public with a sense of civic responsibility allows democracy the opportunity to prosper, and the quality of this public discourse is reliant upon the mediums through which information and ideas are imparted. Of course, in order to become well-informed, the public must first be educated and capable of discerning reality from falsehood.

Here is a brief list that I have compiled of authors worth reading–the beginner’s reading list for a media-literate society, if you will.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness by Neil Postman

The typical dystopian construct is that of George Orwell’s 1984. The public is under watch by Big Brother, living in fear and oppressed by the authoritarian state in which they live. Such a fate is many a person’s greatest fear, but Postman argues that we should instead concern ourselves with the circumstances of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, where the public is controlled not by fear but rather by apathy. Written in the 1980s, Postman’s book is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was first published several decades ago. With advancements in technology dating as far back as the invention of the telegraph, the age of “infotainment” has infiltrated aspects of society which should not be susceptible to the commoditization of information. As Postman writes, two of the most dangerous words in the English language – “Now…this” – serve as a warning against the incessant stream of information and highlight the necessity to reflect upon and, when necessary, criticize the information transmitted to the public.

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

It is difficult for most to envision a life without the internet. Advancements in technology have had undeniable effects on society, but as Nicholas Carr argues, not all of these effects are advantageous to society’s overall development and progress. Technology has shaped and continues to shape the way we think. The influence of the internet on our cognitive development is not unprecedented, as Carr demonstrates by exploring everything from the invention of maps to the printing press. Information is now available quickly, more efficiently than ever, but our ability to grasp and comprehend this information is being threatened by this so-called efficacy.

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You by Eli Pariser

Technological advancements are driven by profit for the companies responsible for them, but for the public they are driven primarily by convenience. However, is this really the best solution? Pariser highlights the commoditization of internet users’ personal information, and how this has resulted in the internet becoming an increasingly personalized experience. A simple Google search on the same subject can result in different search results for different people, depending on their internet history. As a result, we exist in a bubble, receiving only information that is supposed to benefit us. But how reliable is a search algorithm? And what information is being kept from us in the process?

The New Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian

First published in the 1980s, Bagdikian predicted the ever-increasing concentration of media ownership – and he was correct. Today, a small handful of companies have assumed control of US media ownership, and the consequences of this are unpromising not only for the quality of media, but for the political system and social values, as well. Bagdikian’s critique of media ownership is both incredibly alarming and thought-provoking. It is accessible to even the most casual reader, and it is essential reading for everyone hoping to understand the current state of the US media.

The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas by Robert McChesney

Robert McChesney’s book is a meticulous historical resource for anyone interested in learning the history of  the US media, and how the centralization of media ownership is no recent phenomenon. There are various aspects of the US media that McChesney  examines, such as the myth of the so-called liberal ,edia, how objectivity is not necessarily the best solution in regards to journalistic integrity, and the decline of serious, investigative journalism. Our system is incredibly flawed, and McChesney demonstrates, like Bagdikian, how the influence of this flawed system has consequences on the political system as well.

–Caitlyn Garcia

Caitlyn Garcia is a student at William Paterson University, double-majoring in French language & literature and political science.

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May 7th, 2012

Video: Supernanny Deconstructed, Part 1

Reality television uses a wide variety of techniques to construct narratives, build characters and provoke an emotional response. Inherent to the genre is the challenge of having several hours of footage which must be condensed into one episode, leaving little time to address complexities of conflict and characters while adhering to the narrative format that provides a backbone for the series. Stories and people are carefully selected and shaped by the camera and editing choices, as shown in the video below. This is the focus of “Supernanny Deconstructed: Part 1,” created for The LAMP by Italian media educator and sociologist Enzo Corsetti, which uses the popular show to demonstrate how the sausage of reality television is made. Take a look, and keep an eye out for Part 2 coming soon:

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May 3rd, 2012

Join The LAMP at the First Amendment Hack Jam–it’s free!

Click here for the press release.

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May 2nd, 2012

“Like you’re in a wonderland of happiness”: How kids feel about cigarette packaging

Browsing around the web this morning, I came across this video on Fast Company made by AMV BBDO London for Cancer Research U.K.’s campaign against unethical marketing and branding on cigarette packages. It’s a huge wake-up call for anyone who thinks that kids aren’t really that susceptible to advertising, or that tobacco marketers don’t know exactly what they’re doing and who they’re targeting when they design bright, eye-catching packaging that resembles candy.

Tobacco marketing is a highly controversial issue. While I’m not against cigarette branding altogether, I do think tobacco companies need to use a bit more discretion and be responsible about how they go about it. As we can see in this video, they’ve got a long way to go.

–Emily Long

Follow The LAMP on Twitter: @thelampnyc

Follow me on Twitter: @emlong

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April 30th, 2012

Watch LAMP students tackle bullying and bias with their own PSAs

Over the weekend, The LAMP wrapped up a six-week session with a group of teens in Queens who created their own Public Service Announcements (PSAs) talking back to issues of discrimination, bias and bullying. The workshops were held in partnership with the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR). We are so proud of our students, who wrote, shot, directed, edited and acted in the PSAs which will soon be available from the NYCCHR website, used in the hundreds of presentations conducted by the NYCCHR every year, and broadcast on local television stations.

It is a sad truth that media are often complicit in creating and reinforcing stereotypes and celebrating bully behavior through reality television shows, advertising, video games and much more. These students should be commended for using media to fight back against the media, replacing messages of hate with messages of respect. At the same time, they also learned how to create their own media, and how they can use their new skills to make their voices heard and effect positive change in their communities. Watch the PSAs below:

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April 24th, 2012

The LAMP’s D.C. Vito to New York City Council: “Equipment and high-speed broadband alone are not enough to bridge the digital divide”

On April 23, 2012, members of the Social Impact Technology Network (SITN) testified during a New York City Council public hearing titled “Broadband Access: Closing the Digital Divide.” As a member of SITN, The LAMP’s Executive Director D.C. Vito testified about why media literacy is such an important part of the movement to expand broadband access and bridge the technology gaps in place for many New York communities. The following is a transcript of his remarks:

Giving people computers and broadband access is not enough to bridge the digital divide. It’s a start, to be sure, but just as we wouldn’t give our car keys to a teenager that hadn’t passed the driving test, we can’t throw equipment and connections around and expect our problems to be fixed. Young people—and their parents, and their teachers—need digital literacy skills in order to  think critically about the world of new media that opens up with access to computers and high-speed Internet.

There are many reasons why digital literacy training is so important, but one reason in particular is that people need to learn how to be responsible and productive citizens in the digital world of social networking, social gaming, blogs, news sites and more. Bullying and bias discrimination have always been issues in schools, workplaces and public spaces, but now, this harmful behavior is crossing from the physical into the digital world. Increased broadband access allows people to build more relationships online. This power and freedom requires the ability to think critically about media, and comprehend how your behavior impacts others within the digital space. Called digital citizenship, this is where The LAMP comes in.

Recently, together with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, we have been running a series of workshops in Queens with a group of young people, and have been exploring this very concept. They have been analyzing popular media, and identifying the subtle ways in which media can reinforce stereotypes about gender, sexuality, race and religion that can impact the way we treat others. Not only can the teens completing this workshop now recognize harmful and misleading representations in advertising, music, television, video games and more, but they are also now using media to talk back to media. Since February, they have been working on Public Service Announcements, or PSAs, about the impact of bullying both online and offline. These PSAs are entirely written, shot and edited by these teens, and our goal with the Commission on Human Rights has been that they walk away empowered with critical thinking and digital literacy skills to practice and advocate for healthy digital citizenship.

For many of the young people we serve, The LAMP’s workshops are among their first explorations with media as potentially positive and educational elements in their lives. This is somewhat remarkable, given that our students, many of which are black and Latino, spend an average of 13 hours a day with media—their white peers spend just over eight and a half hours. Nonetheless, most of our youth have been taught that computers, mobile phones and other technologies are mere toys. In fact, these devices are tools, and powerful tools at that, capable of opening doors to homework help, social networking, health resources, breaking news and so much more. But when we hand them access to technologies like broadband, we need to teach them how to use these tools effectively and positively. Otherwise, it’s as if we are just souping up their car, and sending them on their way. Meaningful use of increased broadband access depends on digital literacy training.

In order for work like ours to continue and expand, The LAMP needs support from leaders like you. Equipment and high-speed broadband alone are not enough to bridge the digital divide, much less gaps in education and job readiness. Education about digital citizenship and digital literacy training have to be part of the plan to level the technology playing field, or else the communities we mean to connect will remain on the sidelines.

Follow The LAMP on Twitter: @thelampnyc

Follow D.C. Vito on Twitter: @dcvito

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April 20th, 2012

Just how much money will mobile ad and content sales generate in 2012? [Graphic]

Answer: $67 billion. And with it, a renewed sense of urgency for media literacy. As advertising becomes more aggressive and more prevalent in our lives, we must learn to be critical–and fight back when ads are doing harm. Ads aren’t going away, but with so much power, the industry has a responsibility to tell us the truth and be held accountable when they reinforce harmful stereotypes and leave out key pieces of information.

$67 billion is a lot of money, but it can be hard to comprehend a number that large. So, to put things in perspective:

Now are you ready to take action and join LAMPlatoon?

 

(Sources: Harry Potter film gross, human trafficking revenue, 2011 estimated pet industry expenditures in United States, Japan to loan $60bn to IMF, size of 2008 Bernie Madoff fraud, value of Facebook.)

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April 18th, 2012

Infographic: How Social Media is Changing Your News Diet

Today we stumbled across this lovely infographic by Schools.com, which shows just how important social media are to our daily news intake–and also addresses the issue of how trusting we should be of stories and news we find through social media. We think it’s well done, and very relevant to the issue of medium literacy. How does your perception of a news story change when you get it through Facebook or Twitter, as opposed to your local television station or newspaper? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Social Media: The New News Source
Courtesy of: Schools.com

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