Voices of Hope Productions interviewed media educators and experts at the Northeast Media Literacy Conference (NEMLC) on March 31, 2024 at the University of Connecticut for the Documentary Production—
Analyze This!: Message in the Media

“There is such a concentration on the core subject areas today—math, science and reading. It’s because they are getting tested and there’s pressure and publicity…No one is saying that math, science and reading are not important. Those core subjects are crucial, and they are necessary, but they are no longer a sufficient course of education. To survive and prosper in the 21st century world we have to be fluent with all the different ways of communicating and taking in information and getting our own point across.” Frank Gallagher, Cable in the Classroom, Wash. D.C.

"We need to deal with the whole range of how media affects young children. It's not just helping them deconstruct, but there are many ways that media culture is affecting who children are and what they are learning. How they play is very affected by toys they have and a large proportion of their toys are linked to TV shows. This tells them when they play they should imitate what they've seen on the screen, and they do. I think we need to look at the child's play and help children become better players because play is where children get the whole foundation they need for learning. It's crucial that kids become good players to become thinkers, to be creative and to become problem solvers." Dr. Diane Levin, NEMLC Keynote, Professor of Education, Wheelock College, Boston, Mass., author of Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom and Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture. She is an internationally recognized expert in helping professionals and parents deal with the effects of violence, media and commercial culture on children. Founder of the Coalition for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment

“The target age group for consumer is an 11-12 year old. It’s important to get media literacy concepts out to this group as early and as effectively as possible.” Camille Fisher, Fisher Educational Resources, CT

What are the implications–the ramifications of five corporations owning 100% of the media? What is the gender of the people in charge? What is the race of the people in charge? Frank Baker, Media Literacy Clearinghouse, SC

“The challenge is convincing the administrators and the teachers that media is valuable and relevant to a student’s education. In fact, because students are so involved in personal media forums, like blogs and creating their own websites, it behooves educators and administrators to look more closely at how media impacts student life and their consumer choices.” Media is still not seen as integral to curricula.” Lisa Goldman, Media Specialist, New Mexico

“The problem I see with 'No Child Left Behind' is that everyone needs to be taught to these standards. These standards are for the type of thought that people don’t even use in our society. The kids don’t see any positive results from education. All they see is that they will be drilled into a certain thought process that they can’t relate to. The creative programming that’s being eliminated from the schools –arts, music-all the things that enrich peoples lives are being eliminated to teach to this test.” Antonio Lopez, Founder, World Bridger Media, NY

"I would really like the people who make the laws and write the (standardized) tests to come in and watch the kids use video and make websites. Watch the kids do the things that really engage them. Not that it's an activity that's fun, but they are truly engaged in that full moment where they are really thinking and alive and part of the world they are trying to interact with and are learning about. The people who make the tests and the people who pass the laws about taking the tests need to come into the classroom to see them in action." Rob Cohen, Teacher, NJ

"Media becomes demonized and the youth culture is media culture so it's really a problem to demonize it. ...Media allows us to share experiences and to communicate in ways that we may not have the opportunity otherwise. We are always asking what is the meaning of this, the subtext—what is the message. We never ask how is this image produced. If we ask how is the image produced, it leads to a whole other set of questions that we would not have asked before." Antonio Lopez, World Bridger Media, NY

“I would really like us to move toward a time when we don’t even think of the term ‘media’ literacy and we drop the ‘media’ off and just talk about literacy. This is all part of being a literate human being. By this I mean motion, video, sound, choreography, visual art and print. It’s all part of how we as human beings react to and express ourselves in the world.” Dr. William Kist, NEMLC Keynote, Assistant Professor, Kent State University, author of New Literacies in Action: Teaching and Learning in Multiple Media , chosen as a National Council of Teachers of English Select Book and nominated for the Edward Fry Book Award by the National Reading Conference

"Those who are concerned can help meet children’s needs by developing TV rules that limit the amount of time children spend in front of the television; creating appealing alternatives to screen time; and discussing advertisements with children." Dr. Diane Levin, NEMLC Keynote, Professor of Education, Wheelock College, Boston, Mass., author of Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom and Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture. She is an internationally recognized expert in helping professionals and parents deal with the effects of violence, media and commercial culture on children. Founder of the Coalition for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment

"With this new technology that's available to us we have the opportunity to create—within our own families, schools, and communities—this new culture that reflects who we are as individuals, the issues that we care about and the places that we come from." Sara Longsmith, Know Media, Vermont

The media are the storytellers of our culture. That's how we learn about our world now. It's so prevalent. We need to know about it, understand it and have tools for deconstruction and analyzing. Without the tools we are not active participants in our world. We are not truly citizens in a democracy."
Kendra Olson Hodgson, Media Specialist, Media Education Foundation

"We’ve got to get kids to LOOK at the images — to READ the images —to FIGURE out WHAT ELSE IS BEING SOLD."
Frank Baker, Media Literacy Clearinghouse, SC

"This is not supposed to be we'll do all the fun stuff—oops the test—let's drill.
The fun stuff addresses the test because even though it's fun it has substance underneath it."
Rob Cohen, teacher, NJ

"That's the real challenge—how do we allow all the positive aspects of technology, media and communication to come into our lives and at the same time continually challenge the content, the storyteller and the commercial interests that stand behind most media out there?"
Robin Rieske, Know Media, Vermont

Special thanks to Dr. Thomas B. Goodkind, Coordinator of the Northeast Media Literacy Conference 2024 for his support of the Voices of Hope Productions film Analyze This!: Message in the Media.