Media Literacy Toolbox provides a complete introduction to media literacy concepts, skills and applications. It’s an interactive DVD-ROM containing over 100 new media examples - television commercials, magazine ads, excerpts from TV and radio shows, newspaper and magazine articles and other media messages. The disc also includes over 30 printable activity and discussion guides with suggested media examples you can use to lead a conversation or teach a class.

The activity and discussion guides teach media literacy concepts, skills and techniques of persuasion. Topics include body image, alcohol, tobacco, race, class and aging, and illustrate the new marketing techniques of stealth and viral marketing.  Media Literacy Toolbox looks beyond the frame to investigate our media system and the power of Big Media, independent media, media justice and media activism. While it can be used for individual study, Media Literacy Toolbox is designed to be used in classrooms, community groups and other group settings to:

• Teach basic media literacy concepts to people of any age
• Learn how to deconstruct media messages
• Understand our changing media system and current media issues
• Access ideas and resources for making your own media
• Discover ways to improve our media environment

The Media Literacy Toolbox DVD-ROM will be available in Spring/Summer 2008.

Special pre-order price! (ALL orders placed before March 1, 2008)     $79

Did you know that spit tobacco is the only growing segment of tobacco sales in the US?  It’s true.  Cigarette sales in the US continue to fall, so tobacco giants like Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds need to develop new products in order to survive.  One new tobacco product is called “snus” (rhymes with “noose”).  A type of snuff tobacco, snus comes in a small, teabag-type pouch.

Snus is one way for tobacco companies to try to make tobacco look appealing.  Since there is a growing number of states in the US that have banned or are planning to ban smoking in public places, it makes sense that tobacco companies would step up their marketing in an effort to expand their niche. Hoping to capitalize on their well-known names, both Marlboro and Camel have entered the market with snus products.  Marlboro Snus is currently being test marketed in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area and Camel Snus is being test marketed in Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon.

If you would like to learn more about snus and other spit tobacco marketing, New Mexico Media Literacy Project is offering an educational CD titled Hard to Swallow: Spit Tobacco Marketing. Updated for 2008, Hard to Swallow contains movie clips, magazine ads, tobacco website images, and graphs with spit tobacco data.  In addition, the Hard to Swallow CD contains discussion guides, two PowerPoint presentations, website information, and other printable resources for you to use in classes or trainings about tobacco education.  This CD is appropriate to use with teens and adults in schools, clubs or community settings.

For folks and organizations that are involved with The Great American Spit-Out (Feb. 21) during Through with Chew Week (Feb. 17-23), this CD would be a great resource to use.  

Thanks to our grant from the New Mexico Department of Health, Public Health Division, Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC), we can offer this CD free of charge to any organization or individual.  If you would like a copy of Hard to Swallow, or know of any organization or individual that might be interested in receiving this CD, please call 505.828.3129 or email to request a free copy of this resource.

Middle school and high school students in Albuquerque, Raton, Rio Rancho, Roswell and Tatum wrote the winning radio scripts and TV storyboards for 30-second ads aimed at preventing tobacco use among young people.

More than 400 New Mexico middle school and high school students entered the contest this year, submitting 289 original scripts and storyboards.

The winners are:

Britnie Bullington and Simone Johnston from Independence High School in Rio Rancho, for their radio script, “Swear To Tell the Truth.”

Ashton Callahan and Spencer Halstead from Jackson Middle School in Albuquerque, for their TV storyboard “The Cult.”

Arlette Chavez and Evelyn Moreno from Mountain View Middle School in Roswell, for their radio script “And Know What?”

Madeline Dick and Kendra Stoll from Jackson Middle School in Albuquerque, for their TV storyboard “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Smoker.”

Michael Gibson, Anna Sterling & Ashley West from Tatum High School in Tatum, for their TV storyboard “Nip/Puff.”

Maggie Jannakos from Jackson Middle School in Albuquerque, for her TV storyboard “Influence.”

Janae Mallory from the Albuquerque Partnership Youth Coalition in Albuquerque, for her radio script “I Choose.”

The Raton SWAT Team (Arthur Armijo, Amber Encinias, Akhil Govin, Michael Neurauter, Gian Potest, Toni Sproule, Michelle Caruana and Shelby Mares) for their radio script “Leave A Message.”

The writers of each winning script or storyboard will receive a $500 cash prize.

This spring, youth producers at our community partners, KUNM-FM and Community Cable Access Channel 27, will produce radio and TV spots from the winning scripts and storyboards.  The completed spots will premiere at the Fame & Shame Awards at the historic KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque on June 6.  DVDs containing the completed ads will be distributed to schools and tobacco prevention programs around the state in the fall.

The Talk Back to Big Tobacco! Script & Storyboard Contest is sponsored by NMMLP with support from the New Mexico Department of Health’s Tobacco Use Prevention & Control Program (TUPAC). 

For more info, visit www.talkback.nmmlp.org

Looking to develop your international appeal, or want an exciting professional development opportunity? Then join our international staff team at the Global Youth Village. Every summer since 1979, a dynamic learning environment is created that emphasizes experiential learning and challenges young people and staff to turn cross-cultural theory and skills into practical action. This year 60 youths (ages 13-18) and 25 staff from around the world will participate. Workshops address issues concerning young people today, such as war and peace, distribution of world resources, prejudice, and the effects of media and other social pressures. Cultural programming and cooperative living help participants learn to respect differences and discover similarities that transcend cultural, religious, political, and language barriers. 
 
Positions are open for teachers / trainers (international relations/political science, media studies, conflict resolution/prejudice reduction, environmental studies, Arabic language), cabin counselors, program specialists (arts & crafts, life guarding, rock climbing, computer lab management, etc.).  The dates are June 24 - July 29 OR August 7, 2008.  All positions are residential and include housing and meals, plus a modest salary.  
Visit our website to read more and apply. Please e-mail Leila Baz, Staff Director, or call 540-297-5982 if you have further questions.