New Mexico Media Literacy Project | nmmlp.org

NMMLP CALENDAR: KEEPING UP WITH THE PROJECT

New Mexico Media Literacy Project continues to expand its reach nationally and internationally. Here is a look at where staff have been recently and where we will be in upcoming weeks:

Omar Ahmed, Andrea Quijada and Paula Williams joined fellow activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling for real and lasting changes to our nation's media system at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, on June 6-8.

Jessica Lopez and Christie McAuley will once again teach the media literacy portion of the Albuquerque Academy Girls’ Toolbox class on June 16-27. The Girls’ Toolbox class, part of Summer Academy, is a hands-on class for female students in pre 6th-8th grades from all around New Mexico that dedicates two weeks to each of the following topics: outdoor experiential education, relationships and conflict resolution, and media education.

Quijada will represent NMMLP as she joins hundreds of grassroots media makers and social justice organizers at the 10th Annual Allied Media Conference, June 20-22, in Detroit.

In July, Quijada will present at the REAL Experience 5, an anti-tobacco summit for statewide youth in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 8th.

Check back with NMMLP to see if we are coming to a community near you, or invite a speaker to your school, organization or community.

FREE SPIT TOBACCO RESOURCE AVAILABLE

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 attempt to make tobacco seem appealing. Since a growing number of states in the US 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 a free 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.

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 order online.

NMMLP OFFERS SPANISH-LANGUAGE RESOURCES

Los medios y la salud (formerly Medios y remedios) is a Spanish-language media literacy CD-ROM addressing six key issues affecting the health of young people today. Designed to be used in classrooms, family discussions and other group settings, the CD-ROM helps teens become more critical consumers of media so they can make more informed choices about their health.

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The CD-ROM features 66 Spanish-language media examples from magazines, television shows and movies.

Also available in Spanish is Pantalla de humo: Como los agentes de publicidad enturbian la verdad. This popular action guide invites middle and high school-level learners to explore what media literacy is by examining tobacco advertising in a fun and engaging print fold-out. It has full-color graphics and contains vocabulary about the ad biz.

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The guide also features activities including a word search. It comes with a free teacher’s guide that offers suggested answers to the questions and a key to the word search.

Los medios y la salud is offered free of charge and Pantalla de humo is available for $3 each or $1 each for orders of 10 or more. Visit the NMMLP Store for ordering information.

OPENINGS STILL AVAILABLE FOR NMMLP'S
2008 CATALYST INSTITUTE

New Mexico Media Literacy Project is still accepting out-of-state applications for the 2008 Catalyst Institute to be held July 22-25, on the beautiful campus of Albuquerque Academy.

Each Catalyst Institute is limited to 30 attendees: 15 in-state and 15 out-of-state participants. New Mexico applicants will be placed on a waiting for first available openings.

The Catalyst Institute offers an intensive four-day training experience in media literacy concepts and skills. NMMLP staff and guest speakers lead participants in workshops, exercises and discussions designed to deepen understanding of media issues and provide a solid foundation for media activism. The Catalyst Institute is ideal for teachers, health professionals, community activists and others who want to make a difference.

We encourage you to download the online registration form. If you need more information on how to register, please e-mail or call us at 505-828-3129.

FOURTH ANNUAL FAME & SHAME HAND OUT "SHAMIES"

Yes, there were limos, and a red carpet, and insistent paparazzi. But Nicolas Cage, Beyoncé and the Simpsons were not honored by the awards they got this month. New Mexico youth gave all of them “Shamie Awards” for promoting youth smoking.

On June 6, more than 350 New Mexico teens attended the 4th annual Fame & Shame Awards at the historic KiMo Theatre in downtown Albuquerque. Co-sponsored by New Mexico Media Literacy Project and New Mexico Voices for Children, the event was a mock “Oscars” ceremony, designed to expose the tobacco industry’s influence in Hollywood, and to point out how popular actors and movies encourage young people to start smoking.

Youth presenters handed out “Shamie Awards” to actors, actresses, directors and producers who glamorize smoking in youth-rated G, PG and PG-13 movies. “Hairspray” was named Teen Movie That Glamorizes Smoking Most. Nicolas Cage was panned for puffing his way through “Next,” and singer-turned-actress Beyoncé got the nod for her smoky performance in “Dreamgirls.” Throughout the evening, New Mexico youth portrayed the Hollywood stars, delivering tongue-in-cheek acceptance speeches to a chorus of boos from the audience. Before leaving, audience members signed postcards addressed to Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), urging him to get smoking out of youth rated movies by assigning an automatic R-rating to new movies with smoking.

Movie stars who smoke on-screen have a huge influence on youth. The latest research has found that smoking in the movies is the most powerful pro-tobacco influence on kids today, accounting for 52% of adolescents who start smoking, an effect even stronger than cigarette advertising.

The Fame & Shame Awards ceremony is part of NMMLP’s Smoke Free Movies project, which delivers multimedia presentations, training and free copies of the Something Stinks in Hollywood! DVD-ROM to youth statewide. The project is funded by the New Mexico Department of Health, Public Health Division, Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program (TUPAC).

WINNING ENTRIES FROM TALK BACK TO BIG TOBACCO! CONTEST PREMIERE

New Mexico Media Literacy Project presented the world premiere of eight 30-second radio and TV ads produced by New Mexico youth at the Fame & Shame Awards on June 6 (see above).

Youth producers at KUNM 89.9 FM and Albuquerque Community Access Channel 27 created the ads from the winning entries in the Talk Back to Big Tobacco! Script and Storyboard Contest sponsored by NMMLP. The annual contest invites New Mexico youth to write radio scripts and/or television storyboards for 30-second commercials aimed at preventing teen tobacco use.

MEDIA LITERACY TOOLBOX DVD-ROM IS NMMLP'S NEWEST RESOURCE

New Mexico Media Literacy Project is happy to announce that The Project's newest resource Media Literacy Toolbox is now available.

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

NMMLP ANNOUNCES REDUCED PRICING FOR ALL MULTIMEDIA AND VIDEO

The New Mexico Media Literacy Project recently announced new reduced pricing for all multimedia and video resources!

Other changes include the elimination of “New Mexico” and “University/College” pricing to create a single reduced price point for all customers. We hope the new, simplified price structure will serve you better.

NMMLP is committed to producing new resources that reflect current concerns and issues. We are discontinuing older resources to provide you with the most up-to-date and useful products. Watch for new resources that provide media literacy tools for your classrooms and communities.

Please visit our online store now!