Everyone’s a media-maker: News Co/Lab at NETA

Media literacy isn’t simply about consuming or even engaging with media. It also involves creating media to constructively participate in our democracy.

News Co/Lab Co-founder Dan Gillmor will outline a holistic, dynamic approach to media literacy at the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) Conference on Jan. 28. The panel, “Everyone’s a Media-Maker: Content Literacy in the Age of Democratized Media,” will feature strategies to teach media literacy to teens and adults using current media coverage examples.

“We’re no longer just passive consumers of media, we’re also content creators who actively shape the way that we understand the world,” the presenters note in the conference program. “With the democratization of media creation, it is increasingly important for individuals to know how to fact check their favorite YouTube vlogger, identify a doctored image on Instagram, and spot bias or misleading information in reporting.” 

Gillmor will present alongside Laila Hirschfeld, director of educator and community engagement at PBS, and Michael Hernandez, Mira Costa High School media arts teacher and department chair. The panel runs from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Pentagon A/B.

This year’s conference, The Future of Education and Media, kicked off Jan. 26 in Arlington, Virginia. Follow along at #PubMediaEducates on Twitter.