Hey guys
So here’s a VERY important thing I’m working on for work. Very excited about it, and I want to get as many people and organizations involved as possible. Please repost or send to anyone you think needs to read it.
**PLEASE REPOST**
Friends, Family, Allies, and Community,
Project: Think Different’s Media Watch Team is launching a petition campaign to call for the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, BET, MTV, VH1) to host a televised town hall meeting for young people to demand answers from those in control of the media that claims to represent them. In the wake of the Imus fiasco and the tragedy at Virginia Tech, we see an opportunity to begin to hold big media outlets accountable for the biased and often negative images that are crafted to represent young people, especially urban youth and youth of color, most often with little to no input from the youth that are represented. The average person sees over 3,000 media messages a day, and the images that represent youth in our communities not only affect the way that they view themselves, but also the way that the rest of the community and those outside the community view them. We have opportunity to mobilize together to change these images.
We cannot do this alone. We are sending the attached petition to all of the aforementioned media outlets, and are asking that you do the same. Simply use the petitions and addresses below and add your letterhead/signature, or that of your school/organization. Please forward this to your networks; the more petitions that get sent out, the better. Imagine desks at MTV flooded with stacks and stacks of letters from concerned youth and youth allies. Media is communication and communication is a right. Help us to take back that right. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, thoughts, concerns, or comments, and have a blessed day.
Peace,
Cara
***
Cara Lisa Powers
Media Education Organizer
Project: Think Different
14 Beacon Street, Suite 503
Boston, MA 02108
617.557.9200
www.projectthinkdifferent.org
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
Audre Lorde
ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551
BET Network
1235 W Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20018-1211
CBS News
555 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112
VH1 Networks
1515 Broadway
20th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Crisis of Faith… In the Media
United States- We are truly in a crisis right now, wherein the mainstream media seems completely out of touch with the needs of the people it claims to serve. Is media aware of this? What can they do? By bringing together concerned young citizens with people who have the direct power to change the images we see, we aim to answer some of these questions, and move together toward a future wherein the media plays an active role in facilitating civic dialogue, engagement and sustainable communities.
In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and the controversy surrounding the Imus firing and the media response to both, we are both disheartened and heartened; disheartened at the initial sensationalist reactions to both, but heartened by the dialogue that has been opened up in these situations. We feel that the actions of the last few weeks highlight the need for an open conversation about the media’s role in our society.
We are calling on the major players in the national media landscape to host a town hall meeting with young people and media industry leaders to address the concerns and issues that are facing our generation and our communities. Communication should be considered a fundamental right in our culture, and the predominant form of communication in this culture is the mainstream media. That communication is rarely in the hands of those that it claims to serve. As young people in the United States, we are affected daily by the images that portray us in the media, images that we rarely have a role in creating. The often negative and biased images that we see of ourselves and our communities in music, film, television, and online media greatly affect our senses of selves, our communities, and the ideas that those outside of our communities and/or generation have of us.
We are requesting an audience with you to discuss ways that mainstream media outlets and youth leaders can work together to build a future that we will be proud to call our own. As the adults of tomorrow, we need to have a voice in creating what that tomorrow looks like. Voices of Tomorrow… TODAY! a campaign sponsored by Project: Think Different, is focused on reshaping the mainstream media landscape to be more inclusive, diverse, and representative of youth, youth allies, and other disenfranchised populations. Project: Think Different’s Media Watch Team, a group of 10 Boston youth, aged 16-19 are coordinating this effort as a part of their work to educate and empower peers through media literacy and civic engagement.
The proposed Town Hall meeting will be a one hour televised special, bringing together personalities, producers, and executives from leading media organizations to answer the questions and concerns of their primary demographic- teenagers. We refuse to be defined by adults any longer, and demand a voice in communicating who we are, what we stand for, and what is important to us. We hope to be able to consider you allies in this effort.
Most sincerely,
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~ by caralisapowers on April 29, 2007.
Posted in Commentary, Events, Miscellany, Musings
the media and the message
SPREAD THE WORD
Hey guys
So here’s a VERY important thing I’m working on for work. Very excited about it, and I want to get as many people and organizations involved as possible. Please repost or send to anyone you think needs to read it.
**PLEASE REPOST**
Friends, Family, Allies, and Community,
Project: Think Different’s Media Watch Team is launching a petition campaign to call for the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, BET, MTV, VH1) to host a televised town hall meeting for young people to demand answers from those in control of the media that claims to represent them. In the wake of the Imus fiasco and the tragedy at Virginia Tech, we see an opportunity to begin to hold big media outlets accountable for the biased and often negative images that are crafted to represent young people, especially urban youth and youth of color, most often with little to no input from the youth that are represented. The average person sees over 3,000 media messages a day, and the images that represent youth in our communities not only affect the way that they view themselves, but also the way that the rest of the community and those outside the community view them. We have opportunity to mobilize together to change these images.
We cannot do this alone. We are sending the attached petition to all of the aforementioned media outlets, and are asking that you do the same. Simply use the petitions and addresses below and add your letterhead/signature, or that of your school/organization. Please forward this to your networks; the more petitions that get sent out, the better. Imagine desks at MTV flooded with stacks and stacks of letters from concerned youth and youth allies. Media is communication and communication is a right. Help us to take back that right. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, thoughts, concerns, or comments, and have a blessed day.
Peace,
Cara
***
Cara Lisa Powers
Media Education Organizer
Project: Think Different
14 Beacon Street, Suite 503
Boston, MA 02108
617.557.9200
www.projectthinkdifferent.org
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
Audre Lorde
ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551
BET Network
1235 W Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20018-1211
CBS News
555 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
MTV Network
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112
VH1 Networks
1515 Broadway
20th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Crisis of Faith… In the Media
United States- We are truly in a crisis right now, wherein the mainstream media seems completely out of touch with the needs of the people it claims to serve. Is media aware of this? What can they do? By bringing together concerned young citizens with people who have the direct power to change the images we see, we aim to answer some of these questions, and move together toward a future wherein the media plays an active role in facilitating civic dialogue, engagement and sustainable communities.
In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and the controversy surrounding the Imus firing and the media response to both, we are both disheartened and heartened; disheartened at the initial sensationalist reactions to both, but heartened by the dialogue that has been opened up in these situations. We feel that the actions of the last few weeks highlight the need for an open conversation about the media’s role in our society.
We are calling on the major players in the national media landscape to host a town hall meeting with young people and media industry leaders to address the concerns and issues that are facing our generation and our communities. Communication should be considered a fundamental right in our culture, and the predominant form of communication in this culture is the mainstream media. That communication is rarely in the hands of those that it claims to serve. As young people in the United States, we are affected daily by the images that portray us in the media, images that we rarely have a role in creating. The often negative and biased images that we see of ourselves and our communities in music, film, television, and online media greatly affect our senses of selves, our communities, and the ideas that those outside of our communities and/or generation have of us.
We are requesting an audience with you to discuss ways that mainstream media outlets and youth leaders can work together to build a future that we will be proud to call our own. As the adults of tomorrow, we need to have a voice in creating what that tomorrow looks like. Voices of Tomorrow… TODAY! a campaign sponsored by Project: Think Different, is focused on reshaping the mainstream media landscape to be more inclusive, diverse, and representative of youth, youth allies, and other disenfranchised populations. Project: Think Different’s Media Watch Team, a group of 10 Boston youth, aged 16-19 are coordinating this effort as a part of their work to educate and empower peers through media literacy and civic engagement.
The proposed Town Hall meeting will be a one hour televised special, bringing together personalities, producers, and executives from leading media organizations to answer the questions and concerns of their primary demographic- teenagers. We refuse to be defined by adults any longer, and demand a voice in communicating who we are, what we stand for, and what is important to us. We hope to be able to consider you allies in this effort.
Most sincerely,
Like this:
~ by caralisapowers on April 29, 2007.
Posted in Commentary, Events, Miscellany, Musings