I’m at WebVisions in Portland for the next two weeks, so there will be a bunch of notes on media, technology, design, and happiness. This was the first talk, a really interesting discussion about media and how kids perceive it, use it, and respond to it. The LAMP is a NYC project to teach kids how to critique and respond to media and its messages.

• The LAMP focuses on teaching young people to be critical thinkers, makers, and especially media makers.
  • Be thoughtful about what’s coming at you from the other side.
  • Jon Stewart is someone who can be thoughtful about, create responses to media. Create his own media.
  • Work with 600-700 kids every year.
• PEW study of teens:
• • 24% on almost constantly.
  • 56% Several times per day.
  • 12% About once a day
  • —–
  • 92% on every day or more.
• Media exposure of 8-18 year olds
• • 8-10: 8 hours/day
  • 11-14: 12 hours/day
  • 15-18: 11.5 hours/day
  • Increases for minorities
• Who makes the media our kids consume?
• • 7 older white men control 90% of all the media that is created.
  • CBS, iHeartMedia(Clearchannel), Comcast, Disney, News Corp, Time, Viacom
  • these are the companies: “the media” “mainstream media”
• Everyone else:
• • Of top 120 films, women represent just 30% of speaking roles
  • Of top 100 films, black, hispanic speaking roles were less than 10% of all roles
  • 11% of IT leaders at American-based tech firms were women.
  • minorities make up 13% of total newsroom staff.
• So it’s not just the men at the top, it’s everyone who works for them too.
• • The people who create the media are not representative of all people.
  • So the stories that are told in media can’t be representative of all people.
• Dove evolution video
• •  Woman wakes up, looks normal.
  • Then they do hear makeup, hair, etc.
  • And then do a bunch of photoshop on her.
  • It show how much media manipulates what we see.
  • When we show it to kids, they are blown away, but how much it was changed.
  • Then they showed the Axe body spray video that shows a bunch of bikini-clad women chasing after a guy because he’s wearing Axe body spray.
  • • And then you tell the kids that the same people who make the Dove video also make the Axe commercial.
• “So you want people to stop using media?”
• • No, we want people to use media better.
  • A food critic doesn’t tell you not to eat. They give you guidance on how to eat better.
  • A media critic doesn’t tell you not to watch media. They want you to use media better.
  • You should be aware of who makes the media, why they make them, who they make them for.
• Jon Stewart and other folks who parody and challenge media have a long, celebrated role.
• • Creative, non-violent, powerful.
• MEDIA BREAKER
• • Online, crowdsourced remix platform.
  • Students can take other copyrighted content, and make critical comments on it: remix it, criticize it, challenge it, add their messages to it.
• While you’re watching something and enjoy something, you can also think critically about it. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it, but that you don’t take in the whole message as gospel without thinking about.
• Asking questions…
• • Why is there only one woman in every action movie?
  • If Boyhood was filmed in Texas, where are all the hispanics?
• Fair Use
• • allows the use of copyrighted media for fair use.
  • It’s important for people to know when it’s okay to reuse, versus when it’s just stealing.