HCRHS Media Lit

"In honour of the week's theme - marketing, consumerism and youth - MediaSmarts has launched the following resources:"

"The Associated Press is planning to introduce sponsored articles into the stream of news stories on its mobile apps and hosted websites. The rollout is expected in early 2014, with potential sponsorship deals centered around major events the AP is planning to cover, such as the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the Academy Awards. Several potential advertisers have been in talks with the AP, according to Jim Kennedy, senior VP-digital strategy and products at the AP, who declined to identify them. The move to sponsored content is part of a broader effort to open a new line of revenue at the AP, where just 2% of total revenue comes from advertising,

"A magazine with no Photoshop whatsoever? Yes, it finally exists. Changing the magazine game is clearly an uphill battle, but Verily, a fashion and lifestyle magazine aimed at women 18-35, is making its best case. The idea for the publication began to hatch back in 2011 with the premise that most mainstream magazines for women deliver narrow and often negative messages, ones that make women feel bad about themselves rather than good and "fail to reflect our lives or our philosophies as women." They also fail to reflect what we actually look like. Thus Verily's mandate: "Whereas other magazines artificially alter images in Photoshop to achieve the so-called ideal body type or leave a maximum of three wrinkles, Verily never alters the body or face structure of the Verily models.""

"The Center for Media & Social Impact is an innovation lab and research center that studies, designs and showcases media for social impact."

"The latest teenage girl obsession: having ultra-skinny thighs, so much so that one can see a space in between them when feet are touching (hence, the gap) is a trait many teenagers now covet. Of course, for many, this idealized gap is physically impossible to attain.

"LESSON PLAN: UNDERSTANDING NEWS LITERACY July 24, 2013 To seek truth and report it lies at the heart of any journalist's mission. But what is "truth?" And will we know it when we see it?  Deciphering credible, accurate information from an abundance of perspectives is harder today than ever before. These lesson plans, developed by Megan Fromm and made possible through a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, will help you discover how teaching news literacy in your program develops critical minds, encourages active citizenship, meets Common Core state standards, and strengthens your publications' public reputation and perception."

" a new "study" from marketing firm PHD recommends a strategy that crosses the line from merely targeted to outright predatory, explicitly advising brands to seize on the times of the day and week when women feel the most insecure about their bodies and overall appearance in order to sell beauty products and other goods."

"The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias"

"We're not doomed. But balanced gender representation is going to take some serious work. "

"Blue chip technology companies grabbed four of the top five spots in the annual ranking of most valuable brands by the consultants at Interbrand."

"Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker took to a podium last night and warned of the dangers of "native advertising," a big buzzword these days describing the practice of presenting brand-generated content in the style of editorial. "The clear delineation between news and advertising is becoming more and more blurred. We have to resist that," Baker told a crowd at New York University's journalism school"

"One of the key News Literacy concepts is knowing which "News Neighborhood" you are in. But discerning the difference between news and other forms of information - such as advertising - is becoming harder and harder in the Digital Age. Welcome to the brave new media world of "native advertising" and "sponsored content," and the increasingly blurry line of where "editorial" content ends and advertising begins. Here's one recent example."

"We all have magazines at home and at school. They have a high student engagement factor in the classroom and are proving to be a very effective way to teach visual literacy, media literacy, and a host of Common Core standards. It all started for me when NBA basketball player LeBron James adorned the cover of several magazines, published within weeks or months of each other. Using Google's image search function, it was easy to locate and download cover images for the activity I planned with a large group of teachers. I created a one-page handout, which you can find here. (I have since revised this activity, using cover images of actress Jennifer Lawrence.) It seems every week, some celebrity is featured on more than one magazine. So this activity can easily be updated. Here's the trio I chose:"

"In their book, "Blur: How to know what's true in the age of information overload," Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel speak of a news process they call "skeptical knowing." Applying this process, they say, will help journalists and audiences better evaluate information they receive - and pass on. The process involves not only evaluating news but also applying ethical values. This lesson will explore the basics of that process in trying to determine whether facts and sources used lead to reliable, credible and complete storytelling."

"Nichole Pinkard is the founder of the Digital Youth Network, a digital literacy program that works with middle school students both in and out of the classroom. She is also a visiting associate professor at DePaul University in the College of Computing and Digital Media. This post is part of a series of conversations with thought leaders on digital media and learning, then and now. In conversation with journalist Heather Chaplin, leaders reflect on how the field of digital media and learning has changed over time, and where it's headed."

"An educational film, entitled It's a Look, meant to highlight how carefully constructed - and not real - fashion images are. It's a Look comes with an accompanying lesson plan, and it's targeted at high school girls aged 15-16. Says Shulman, "I decided it might be helpful to show what goes into the creation of a Vogue fashion picture, as a way of illustrating the skill and artifice that makes the final product." This endeavor is a result of the magazine's recent Health Initiative, a pact between the 19 international editors of Vogue to encourage a healthier approach to body image."

"A feminist parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" - a song that has been accused of blurring the lines between consensual sex and rape - was briefly removed from YouTube yesterday, leaving its creators mystified. "Defined Lines", created by a bunch of University of Auckland law students, features three fully dressed women responding to the attentions of scantily clad men as they sing about sexism. The video, which has been watched more than 450,000 times since it was posted three days ago, was removed from YouTube yesterday having been flagged by users as containing "inappropriate content", but has now been restored."

"The media are biased. Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal -- they're all biased. They're biased in different ways, in varying degrees, and for various reasons. They're also, at times, voyeuristic, unprofessional, vapid, and incorrect. And all of this begs the question: how can one consume news without walking away either wrong or disenchanted?" What can we do?

"If people don't think critically about techniques advertisers, politicians and others use to influence us, then they will be easily fooled and manipulated, says media literacy educator FRANK BAKER in an interview with P KUMAR."