Communications and Society Program

Townhall Events to Promote Media Literacy

The Communications and Society Program is working with the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), Temple University's Media Education Lab, and the Independent Film Channel (IFC) to produce a series of town hall meetings about media literacy. The first two meetings, December 8 in Philadelphia and December 17 in Boston, will launch a larger media literacy initiative called The Media Project, which is intended to help raise the nation's "media IQ". The goal of these events is to raise awareness about media literacy and provide an interactive media literacy learning experience—tailored to the individual community—for the attendees.

The Philadelphia and Boston events will begin with a panel discussion among leading experts on media literacy, elected officials, and civic leaders. Together the panel will deconstruct media clips from the new IFC documentary series, The Media Project, and engage in a discussion about topics of importance to the local community. The second half of the program will engage the audience as participants in the discussion. A mix of 100 teachers and professors, journalists and civic leaders, high school and college students will divide into small, facilitated groups to investigate how they consume and compose media and explore the impact of media on their community.