Friday, August 24, 2007

Newmark Still #1 Customer Service Guy at Craigslist

After a "rumormonger" post on ValleyWag hinted that he was gone, Craig Newmark, in the SJMerc, clarified that he's still with craigslist....

Craig also mentioned to the Merc that he's joined the advisory board for FactcheckED.org a new project out of the Annenberg Public Policy Center that will help teachers and students "cut through the fog of misinformation and deception" on the Internet.

If schools aren't going to do anything about media literacy (most of the time they can't), then there has to be some sort of program developed somewhere that *will* help them. Having heard Craig at a number of conferences (and talked to him at some of those), I've got the impression that he's very concerned about media literacy and how we discern the facts on an Internet full of disinformation (or where the public record can be easily altered--see this in Wired.com on who's altering their Wikipedia profiles) as much as good information.

And if you don't live here, it's hard to jump on and know, right off the bat, what's what. Guides are needed--

So, it's great that Craig's on the advisory board for this new venture--and that he's still at craigslist after all...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tish, thanks! but I'm not on vacation, haven't had a real vacation for years.

Craig

Tish Grier said...

Duly noted, and removed that sentence (also corrected the link to the Merc story.) Thanks for stopping by!

Elizabeth Thoman said...

Just wondering where you got the information that schools "can't" teach media literacy?? It's happening in schools all over the country! There's a thriving media literacy teaching community known as the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) that just concluded their fourth biennial national conference in St. Louis in June and eagerly welcomes new members. (www.AMLAinfo.org). One reason schools might give for not implementing media literacy is they don't know how or don't know where to start -- but that's a easily solved with plenty of resources such as the Core Principles of Media Literacy Education from AMLA or the Center for Media Literacy's MediaLit Kit. (www.medialit.org). You can find media literacy goals within the state standards of almost every state and it's the cornerstone of what is now referred to ini education circles as "21st century learning."

As an avid user of Craig's list in L.A., I'm delighted that he's supportive of media literacy and would love to share more with him -- or others who are interested. Unfortunately this month, AMLA's website is being massively revamped so only a shell is online but basic info is available. How can we be in touch off line?

Tish Grier said...

yes, Liz...some schools can't teach media literacy--for lots of reasons, some not related to not wanting to teach it. Out in Mass, some schools are struggling to keep up with the requirements for the MCAS and for No Child Left Behind....let alone take on media literacy (although some individual teachers have done so on their own in their classes...)

You might want to take a look at the Action Coalition for Media Education a New England based org that shares AMLA's goals...

And you might want to check out my friend Andy Carvin's Learning Now blog for PBS (and some of the info they have over there...

I've also come across some wikis set up by various school districts, all on their own, that are trying to pull together media literacy curricula for K-12 (although I never saved the links--think there's one on wikispaces...)

So, there are indeed initiatives out there, but there are many reasons that could make any school district unable to implement media literacy initiatives.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, my email is tishgrier@yahoo.com If you want to get in touch with Craig, I really don't know, other than thru Craigslist (or if I write a post about him...)Feel free to email--look forward to hearing from you and thanks for leaving the AMLA info

Tish Grier said...

oh, you might also be interested in some of the offerings of the Media Education Foundation..