So, again, no surprise that Google is censored, and has been since Google.cn was started. But what is surprising is that in recent months, China has been taking steps to incorporate media literacy into its educational institutions.  In November, days after Hu’s resignation, British, Japanese and Chinese scholars gathered in Beijing and formulated an action plan to incorporate media literacy with existing primary school curricula.  The forum itself was organized by the University of China. Just three days ago, Li Xiguang was announced as the head of a new journalism academy in Chongqing; Li also happens to be known for his recommendations to the Chinese government for increased transparency, and his Tsinghua International Center for Communication (TICC) is the designated as the training base for government spokespersons. He also plans to bring his existing media literacy course from TICC over to the new academy.

Given these steps, it will be especially disappointing if China wants to continue censoring Google results and hacking Gmail with zeal, prompting Google to remove itself entirely from the country. A decision to stop censoring Google (and YouTube, and other sites) would fly in the face of China’s deep-seated policy towards free speech, but do the people of China really believe media literacy is possible without the embrace of an open Internet? Obviously, Google and YouTube were still being censored during the forum in Beijing and when the announcement was made about Li Xiguang; perhaps the hope that this was a herald of change in Chinese media policy was sheer naivete. News literacy is an essential component of media literacy, and without it, progress seems unlikely.

Every blank screen that shows up after a search for “Dalai Lama” is like a light bulb reminding the Chinese people who is in control (though, I’m sure if you ask them, it is not easily forgotten). In Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles, television screens went blank when the station was not allowed to broadcast a documentary about alleged prisoner abuse in Belfast. This was done in favor of running a comedy program; everyone who tried to watch at that time was alerted to the fact that something was being kept from them. During political unrest in Fiji last summer, the Sunday edition of the Fiji Times was published blank, except for a statement announcing that content had been censored.

The power of blank can be great, and surely Google knows that. I don’t blame them for perceiving their Chinese operations as a waste of time and money if they will continue to be censored and have their systems hacked by the government, and I would be very surprised if they do not carry out their threat to leave. It won’t be long before the people of China are left without even a blank from Google, and the dream of media literacy slips further away.

–Emily Long

To illustrate this point, I’d like to point you over to Google’s 10th birthday celebration. By typing in “Colorado Avalanche”, the first entry that comes up is the hockey team’s official website. What Google is allowing you to do is see what it looked like back in 2001 (the farthest their most complete index of the Internet goes). By clicking on the View old version on the Internet Archive, it takes you to the webpage as it looked in 2001 at this time of year. And look! The Avalanche are the Stanley Cup Champions again, just like that!

In all seriousness, what this means is that there are hundreds and thousands of copies made of the Internet (aka indexes) by Google and many other organizations and people. So the next time you think to speak poorly online about the finest run hockey club around, you should remember, it’s nearly impossible to take it back.

You know how when you visit Google on various holidays, they’ve done something really fun with their logo to commemorate the occasion?  With their contest, Doodle 4 Google, kids from kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to have some fun with their logo using the open-ended theme of, “What if…?”.  A panel of judges will pick 40 of their favorites, and then the general public votes for 4 national finalists, and one overall winner is selected from that group.  The school attended by the student with the winning entry will win a $25,000 grant towards the establishment or improvement of a computer lab, while the individual winner will receive a $10,000 college scholarship, a laptop, a trip to the Googleplex and a t-shirt with their drawing printed on it.  The folks at Google have even come up with ways to incorporate their contest into existing lesson plans for all age groups.  If your school, or your child’s school, is not yet participating, you have until March 28th to register.  Be sure to visit the contest’s website for details.

Grammy-winning artist Common is at the front of a contest with MTV’s It’s Your [Sex] Life campaign.  The contest, called A:Minute, asks anyone between the ages of 13 and 25 to write one minute of original lyrics in any musical style about why people should get tested for HIV.  Common will then perform the winning lyrics on all MTV networks.  In addition to MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Common Ground Foundation are also sponsoring the contest.  Lyrics can be submitted by video, audio or in writing, but they have to be in by midnight on March 27–exactly one month from today.

Well, what are you waiting for?  Pick up those markers, paper, pens, crayons, mics and cameras and get going!

The study is important because it asserts the need for and importance of media literacy.  It tells us that information is absorbed but not necessarily processed–clearly problematic since the ability to gather and use data and research is a key component of the learning process.

If you haven’t done so already, please sign up your child for one of our media literacy classes (see ‘Programs’ at the top of the page).  Also, be sure to check out our workshop called On the Web, which is targeted to adults who want to learn more about the Internet.  Media literacy is important for the younger generation, but it’s also important for the adults who raise them.

Click here for an article about the study.