News Literacy Ambassadors Take on LA for Media Literacy Leadership Summit

This year, the News Literacy Ambassadors flew out to Los Angeles to participate in the inaugural Media Literacy Leadership Summit, hosted by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). The summit centered around the question: “What is the future we want to create for media literacy education?” Our Ambassadors worked with representatives across education, public policy, digital media production, and more to brainstorm a path for scaling media literacy education efforts and shaping its future in the U.S.

About Us

I’m Jenna! I’m a third-year media studies major and News Literacy Ambassador with the News Literacy Initiative at Penn State. Coming of age during the most divisive political cycles in U.S. history kickstarted my work in media literacy education and advocacy. I see media literacy as a tool for empowerment and a combatant against political radicalization. For me, it acts as an escape from the chaos of the digital world and a source of hope for the future of democracy.

Hi, I’m Emily! I’m a fourth-year PR major and News Literacy Ambassador for Penn State’s News Literacy Initiative. As someone who is passionate about building connections between organizations and communities, I understand how important it is to increase awareness and education for media literacy because we are in such a digital-reliant world. My hope is to help others learn about media literacy as a skill that everyone should develop and strengthen in order to have a healthy relationship with news and media.

The Opportunity

J: I became a member and eventually interned with NAMLE over this past summer. During my time as a NAMLE intern, I crossed paths with educators from every niche of the media literacy field: professors and children’s librarians, film directors, and Ph.D. researchers . . . I dove into a whole spectrum of people working earnestly to better the country’s future –– and so when I received an invite to the summit from Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, NAMLE’s Executive Director, and my former boss, I knew exactly who to call.

E: When Jenna called me with the opportunity to attend The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) first-ever in-person Media Literacy Leadership Summit, I was excited to be among other professionals passionate about media literacy and learn as much as I could from them.

Our Time in Los Angeles

Our summit experience started with a welcome reception hosted at the conference location, Emerson College –– right across from the Hollywood sign! The NAMLE team was so welcoming and we had the opportunity to meet leaders and advocates in the education, government, broadcast, and research spaces. Hearing about the diversity of work being done in the media literacy space opened our eyes to the breadth of action being taken and shared eagerness to do more.

E: The conference kicked off with a welcome from Michelle Lipkin and workshop facilitator Dr. Sangita Shresthova of the Civic Imagination Project. I was seated at a different table than Jenna and had the honor to meet a wonderful group of professionals, including trailblazer and founding member Renee Hobbs. One of my favorite parts of the discussion was getting to know each person’s media artifact, which NAMLE defined as any medium (images, films, books, art, etc.) that connects one with the past. Each artifact provided insight into people’s personal backgrounds but also their aspirations in the media literacy realm.

J: There is always the worry, as a young adult learning to understand your field for the first time, that you will be overlooked and misunderstood in a room of experienced professionals. What I found, sitting at a table of people spanning three generations, was that everyone I encountered was eager to hear our reflections. I have never felt more capable of and determined to take their foundations of advocacy and build on them.

Each moment of this ten-hour summit was packed with inspiration, dedication, commitment, and hope. The drive to shape an ideal world of media literacy education was clear through activities like word clouds, timelines, and group discussions. We were able to cover topics like changes we would like to see in policy, curriculum, and youth leaders. We cannot emphasize enough how incredible the brainstorming and collaboration was throughout the day.

Key Takeaways

E: My biggest takeaway from this summit was the excitement and hope I have for the future of media literacy education. It was an honor to learn from media literacy leaders of all ages, backgrounds and focuses during this summit. Many professionals were excited to hear more about Penn State’s News Literacy Initiative and I was proud to represent and share with others about the impactful work being done here at Penn State. After receiving positive feedback from many of these leaders, I’m thrilled to be a student ambassador in this space and continue advocating alongside other peers and professionals.

J: There is much work to be done to realize our civic imagination for the future of media literacy education in the U.S.: ensuring that media literacy is a non-negotiable and widely accessible part of education and an essential skill set for all. We face challenges with funding, with a burnt-out education system, and with a reductive over-politicization, but recognizing these obstacles early on and with raw honesty is essential to building solutions as public consciousness grows. The New Jersey Information Literacy Bill and the U.S.’s Task Force on Kids Online Mental Health and Safety are huge steps for our cause and give us hope that our government is starting to pay attention. It’s only a matter of time before we can examine the results of this legislation and adjust the curriculum accordingly.

How can we incorporate media literacy lesson plans into schools without further burdening educators? How can we appeal to politically divided districts and legislators while remaining nonpartisan? What role do Emily and I have as a new generation of advocates? We can’t fix everything in just ten hours, but one thing is clear: as the first generation to grow up in the Internet age, we must allow others to learn from our mistakes. We know our mental health, our social-emotional skills and our threshold for political volatility would all be different had we had access to adequate media literacy education –– had we not had to navigate media overconsumption alone. When we come together and centralize our work with the founders and early adopters of media literacy education, we share our lesson plans, our creative projects, our missteps, and our predictions. We remind each other of our shared vision and our collective energy and dedication gives us the boost to push ourselves closer to it.

A big thank you again to Dean Hardin, Matt Jordan, Leah Dajches, Sydney Forde, Lee Ann Kimble, Angelique Redwood, and everyone from the Pennsylvania State University and the Bellisario College of Communications for their support! —EE & JM