Internet Safety: Media Literacy Tips From Industry Insiders Pt 1

Nov. 24, 2009 As fall weather kicks in and families hunker indoors to ‘more screen time’ than summer time norms, I hear tales of media management missteps that would spin heads faster than a Linda Blair Exorcist antic. (yes I know it’s almost Thanksgiving, but I’m still seguing from Halloween here…) I hear parents say things like “Oh, my kids play games sometimes, but we … [Read more...]

Who’s Your Fave Fictional Male Rodel Model & Why?

Update June 14, 2014 With Father's Day approaching I thought I'd add Common Sense Media's "Favorite Film Fathers" just for fun...and reprise my post about "Media's Portrayal of Father Figures On TV" ......But truth be told, I'm most excited that HUGE gains are coming with excellent books and films uncorking important conversations about healthy masculinity, including The … [Read more...]

Swine Flu School Panic? NGC Now Offers Sick Day Media

Nov. 16, 2009 Tune into the way back machine to get some pertinent media wisdom for today’s H1N1 pandemic scaring the stuffing out of young kids. See the poster at left? It was produced in 1939 at the beginning of WWII as a precautionary poster to quell panic and stiffen resolve if the Nazis succeeded in invading Great Britain. Though never used, it can teach us a lot … [Read more...]

The Laramie Project: Using Media to Teach Tolerance 10 Years Later

Nov. 13, 2009 It’s fitting that The Laramie Project premiers locally tonight in San Mateo on Friday the 13th, as the theater production resurrects a haunting melancholy on the ‘unlucky’ and fateful day young Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die suffering for six days tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Reason for the hate crime? He … [Read more...]

Disney XD: A Case Study on Packaging Boyhood

Nov. 3, 2009 In diving into media messages targeting boys for my weekly Tuesday Packaging Boyhood posts, my mind snap went to ‘gaming’ pronto. Is this a stereotype? Or did I just do a Malcolm Gladwell style "Blink” in rapid cognition? I flipped to the Packaging Boyhood chapter on “What Boys Do” since we know marketers are tapping a boy’s desire to be ‘powerful’ and admired … [Read more...]