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News from The LAMP! Our February Illuminations Newsletter

The Lamp — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:48:14 +0000

The LAMP Illuminations

February 2010

In This Issue

Spotlight: Chesley Andrews, The LAMP’s Web Designer

Highlight: “Digital Nation” Reviewed

Gaslight: February in Media History

News from The LAMP!

The LAMP is all set for its spring programs with Rooftop Filmsand Brooklyn Technical High School, as well as PS 107 and other pilot workshops. We’ve also been working on our library of free LAMPlit resource guides, as we’ve put out a revised version of Beginner’s Guide to Going Online and recently published Check Out the News!, our guide to basic news literacy. Visit our Resources page to download both of them for free today!

And, it’s the perfect time to schedule LAMPcamp–The LAMP’s media literacy summer intensive launched last summer for teens. Check out our LAMPcamp videos, and email us or call 718-789-8170 for more information!

Spotlight: Chesley Andrews, The LAMP’s Web Designer

This month, we interviewed Chesley Andrews, web designer for The LAMP. Last summer she took on the daunting task of overhauling our website, and launched her own studio,Dossier. We talked to her about her inspiration, how she approaches her projects and the business of web design.Click here for the interview!

Highlight: “Digital Nation” Reviewed

On February 2nd, PBS Frontlinepremiered “Digital Nation,” the follow-up to writer/producer Rachel Dretzin’s “Growing Up Online” (Douglas Rushkoff also shares writer/producer credit here). Emily Long, The LAMP’s Communications Director, wrote about the documentary on The LAMPpost, plus her “compelling review” caught the eye of HASTAC. DId you watch “Digital Nation”? Tell us your thoughts on The LAMPpost!

To help us continue our services as New York City’s only nonprofit organization giving free media literacy workshops to parents, youth and educators, please consider a small tax-deductible donation. Your donation goes to work immediately supporting workshop equipment, supplies, and administrative and facilitator fees.

The LAMP will not share or sell your email address. Period.

Vote for The LAMP on Change.org!

As part of Change.org’s Ideas for Change in Americacontest, The LAMP has proposed an increase funding for media literacy programming which would support our work in New York City and lead the way for similar funding in other cities.Vote for The LAMP, and help us make it to the final round for meaningful media literacy funding. Vote now!

Gaslight:
February
in Media History

In honor of Black History Month, The LAMP dedicatesFebruary’s Gaslight to African American pioneers in journalism.

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LAMP Home

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LAMPlit Resource Guides

Our Latest LAMPlit: Check Out The News!

The Lamp — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:19:49 +0000

The LAMP has added another LAMPlit resource guide to its library! Check out the news! is written by Katherine Fry, Ph.D., Education Director and Professor of Media Studies at Brooklyn College. Dr. Fry has spent years studying news literacy, and recently has been traveling to conferences to speak on the subject to other communications professionals.

So, what is news literacy? It’s the ability to think critically about the news, and the way you find out about what is reported in the world around you. It helps you form your own opinions, and become a more active media consumer. Instead of believing whatever a news outlet tells you, you’ll be thinking for yourself about how, why and where you get the news that shapes your life and your everyday decisions. Download Check out the news! for free today, and you’ll never see news in quite the same way again.

The LAMP’s summer plans, Meet Paul Mihailidis, and more : It’s The LAMP’s June Illuminations!

The Lamp — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:47:00 +0000

The LAMP Illuminations

June 2009

In This Issue

Headlight

Spotlight: Paul Mihailidis

Highlight: Nettysworld.com

Gaslight: This Month in Media History

Headlight

As we move into summer, keep an eye on The LAMP! In July, we have LAMPcamp as part of the Prospect Park YMCA’s Summer Day Camp, more LAMPlit, a revamped website and much more. And, click here to read about our exciting work with the Social Venture Consulting Program, created by Grassroots.org and University of Maryland to help grassroots nonprofits like The LAMP bring innovative ideas to life.

Spotlight: Paul Mihailidis

Occupation: Asst. Prof. of Media Studies, Hofstra University, and Director of Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change (Austria)

Favorite blogs: IFC.com/MakeMediaMatter, Politico, MediaMatters.org

Favorite websites: Salzburg.umd.edu, aocmedialiteracy.org, PBS IdeaLab, ESPN

Summer Plans: This summer I’m doing a bunch of things. 1) I’m now teaching a summer course at Hofstra, while 2) writing a report for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) on Media Literacy and Youth. The report surveys existing media literacy initiatives in the US and globally, and makes recommendations for how funding organizations can
better support Media Literacy initiatives worldwide. After the report is finished, I’ll be 3) traveling to Mexico City (hopefully…) as a guest scholar at Iberoamericana University, where I’ll be teaching a graduate seminar and meeting with the Iberoamericana faculty to discuss various
possible research initiatives. Once I’m back, I’m getting 4) married! on July 18th. Then on July 25th 5) my wife and I are heading to Salzburg, Austria for one month, where I am the Director of a global media program called the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change. The program gathers over 50 students and 10 faculty from all over the world to
explore media’s role in global society. So it’s a busy but productive summer to say the least…
How are you involved with the IFC Media Project? I’m the creator of the 5A’s of Media Literacy Framework, used by IFC in conjunction with it’s Media Project initiative, MakeMediaMatter. IFC wanted to launch a pro-social initiative around Media Literacy to help empower young media makers to understand the influence their production will have on individuals, communities and society. They found my work, and we began to have discussions as to ways we could build a site that would help youth and young adults reflect on their media use and production. They used the 5A’s framework-Access, Awareness, Assessment, Appreciation, Action-to launch this initiative. We’ve been involved in panels, discussions, we’re writing regularly for the blog, etc. It’s been a great collaboration so far.

What is your favorite part of teaching media studies? My favorite part of media studies is helping students look at the media they spend so much time with daily from a new angle. Media studies is a subject that remains forever fresh. It’s something students can engage with, and it’s my job to make them see the connections between media use, their role as
individuals in community, and democracy. I always start my courses by stating: “Anything you don’t see with your own two eyes comes from a mediated source of information.” That simple premise is the jumping off point for some interesting, relevant, and current discussions!

Highlight: Check this out!

If you have, or know, very young children, check out this website designed for kids ages 2-7. The Australian site, Nettysworld.com, allows kids to play games that focus on how to use the Internet safely. There are about five or six adventures that children can choose: making friends, exploring the net, getting things off the net, staying safe on the net, even using smart phones. There’s a section for parents that encourages them to play the games along with the children and talk with them about using the Internet. This seems like a really great idea, especially for the youngest Internet adventurers.
–Katherine Fry

The LAMP at Media Conversations!

On Saturday, June 6th at 1pm, The LAMP screened student work and hosted a discussion about its activities at the sixth Media Conversations conference with Fordham University and the Pratt Institute. Katherine Fry and D.C. Vito answered talked about the challenges of teaching media literacy, gave some background on The LAMP, and discussed future goals.

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Gaslight: This Month in Media History

June 1, 1980: Debut of CNN, world’s first 24-hour news network. Click the image above to see their first broadcast!
June 15, 1869: Celluloid is patented by John Wesley Hyatt in Albany, NY. Nine years later, the first attempt at motion pictures takes place on the same day.
June 24, 1901: First exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s artwork takes place in Paris. The artist is just 19 years old.

Explore our website!

LAMP Home

LAMPpost Blog

LAMPlit Resource Guides

The LAMP will not share or sell your email address. Period.

To help us continue our services as New York City’s only nonprofit organization giving free media literacy workshops to parents, youth and educators, please consider a small tax-deductible donation.

Press Release Announcing LAMPlit Resource Guides!

The Lamp — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:45:40 +0000

For Immediate Release

Contact: Emily Long, Communications Director

The LAMP

718-789-8170

http://www.thelampnyc.org

The LAMP Announces LAMPlit Series

Resource guides offer real-world ideas for cyber-world issues

Brooklyn, New York: The LAMP (Learning About Multimedia Project) launched the first volume in its LAMPlit series of multimedia resource guides, entitled “LAMPlit: A Beginner’s Guide to Going Online.” All of the guides in the LAMPlit series will be available for free download from the LAMP’s website at www.thelampnyc.org/lamplit. The guides are written and disseminated by the LAMP without corporate sponsorship.

The first guide focuses on helping adults and young people have a safe and positive experience online, and is released in coincidence with National Cyber Safety Awareness Month. During Symantec’s Norton Online Living Report in 2007, 1 in 5 children reported doing things online that their parents would disapprove of, while only 50% of parents have spoken to their kids about practicing safe online habits. One reason parents may be hesitant to get involved is because parents tend to hear more about the bad things that can happen online, says LAMP Executive Director D.C. Vito.

“The stories about online predators and cyberbullying tend to be the ones that get the most coverage,” says Mr. Vito. “It creates a culture of fear around the Internet and new media, and we’ve seen a lot of emphasis on the negative. We wanted to create a guide that is balanced and fair, that does not deny any of the bad things that potentially can happen online, but that also hits on the ways that the Internet is really a great thing. People just have to know what they’re doing.”

In addition to addressing privacy concerns, LAMPlit also aims to support parents who might avoid getting involved in their children’s online activities because new media can be overwhelming.

“It can be difficult for parents to start a conversation with their kids about what they’re doing online, but it’s absolutely imperative,” says Katherine Fry, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Media Studies at Brooklyn College and Education Director for the LAMP. “Too often, adults are intimidated by new technology, so they just ignore it. They miss using media as a chance to bring their family closer together instead of farther apart.”

All of the guides in the LAMPlit series will be available for free download from the LAMP’s website at www.thelampnyc.org/lamplit.Future LAMPlit guides will target gaming, social networking, Internet ethics, news, advertising and more.

About The LAMP:

The Learning About Multimedia Project (The LAMP) is a non-profit organization which strives to provide critical media literacy skills to the inter-related groups of youths, their parents and educators throughout New York City. Free media education workshops and events offered by the LAMP demystify the constant flow of media these three groups encounter, bridge the digital divide, and provide workforce development skills for future generations.

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