Media literacy today involves competency with applications and devices and an understanding of the infrastructure that allows a digital community to exist. Our Media Policy program educates reporters and the public about media policies and infrastructure in order to advocate for fair and just media policies.
With Rootz and CNPI reporters, we produce audio and video toolkits about Internet policy, cell phone literacy, and other media issues. These toolkits are used by groups around the country to educate and mobilize their communities.
The NYC Digital Justice Coalition is a developing and growing group of media makers, community leaders, open Internet activists, teachers, journalists, policy and law-makers, and citizens advocating for fair and equal access to public utilities such as the internet. This coalition examines the implications of a restrictive Internet and how that impacts users, especially low-income communities and people of color.
One example of our media policy trainings was oriented towards ethnic press journalists in New York City, exploring how current mobile broadband policies adversely affect lower-income, immigrant groups. After each policy briefing, the trainees created radio reportage that bridged policy and its impact on their respective communities. Through this training the journalists, whose previous training was singularly oriented towards printed publications, acquired digital media skills that allowed them to broadcast in more flexible ways and towards new audiences.
