FREE EVENT!

Information, disinformation and anxiety: media education and digital literacy today

5.30-8pm

26th November 2019

University of Bedfordshire

Concerns about information overload, fake news, the pressures of social media and the overwhelming pace of digital innovation are in the air. At the same time, media education has almost disappeared from secondary education curricula, and is sometimes viewed with suspicion as an academic subject.

This Beds Talk aims to examine this contradiction by presenting a case for digital literacy with concrete suggestions and examples. There will be plenty of case studies and examples and the opportunity for the audience to share their questions, joys and frustrations with our media saturation. 

Talks include:

Prof David Buckingham: Media literacy in the age of digital capitalism,

Dr Mark Margaretten: “Calling bullshit"
 
Damien Massias:  Navigating social media

For tickets please sign up here 

September key notes

In the last month, two of our executive board members have given key notes at international conferences.

Dr John Potter spoke at The Animated Learning Conference in Denmark about media in education and global literacies in changing times, and Professor David Buckingham spoke at a media literacy conference in Helsinki about media policy in Europe. 

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Find further information about the conferences and talks by clicking on the links above.

Fake News or Media Literacy? An Exciting New Toolkit of Approaches. Sign up to the workshop on 3rd October 2019.

Earlier this year a research team at the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP, based in Bournemouth University) led a project investigating ways of tackling fake news and disinformation through media literacy. Funded by the Media Education Association and the US Embassy, the project bought together academics, teachers, librarians, journalists and sixth formers to develop new approaches to information, classroom strategies and curriculum spaces for this important area of study. 

The outcome of the project is now available as a toolkit and a range of other useful resources for media educators and students to use.

EMC is hosting a free twilight workshop on the outcomes of this research, led by Professor Julian McDougall, who will share a new media literacy toolkit and a range of other useful resources which will support English and Media teachers tackling disinformation and fake news in the classroom. Topical and timely, this event should be unmissable. 

Event info: Thursday 3rd October 2019 from 5.30pm - 7pm in Islington, at the English and Media Centre, 18 Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN. To sign up please email:
 

The MEA is recruiting!

We are looking to appoint an experienced consultant to provide advice and support in moving The MEA forward in its next phase of development, with particular emphasis on its role in advocacy and curriculum development in the years ahead.  

For full details, the person specification and how to apply please click here

Save the date – and start the Autumn Term with an injection of hope!

The Media Education Association invites you to the launch of The Media Education Manifesto by David Buckingham, on Tuesday 17th September 2019, 6.30 – 8.30 at Wac Arts College, 213 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QP.

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For further details about the event and to reserve your tickets, exclusive to MEA members,  click here

As media education has effectively disappeared from the government’s prescriptions for English teaching, what are the prospects for the future? David Buckingham interviews two experts in the field,  Jenny Grahame and Steve Connolly in the third of his series of media education blogs. 

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Read his new post Media in English – reasons to be cheerful? here

In the second of his blogs looking at media education, Professor David Buckingham talks about the changing face of English, following the eradication of Media from the curriculum

Read his new post Changing English: - Disappearing Media  here

June 2019 saw the first set of students sitting their exams for the new linear A' Level Media Studies. Picking up from where he left off in 2017 with The Strangulation of Media Studies,  Professor David Buckingham turns his attention now to the problem with set texts.

Read his new post Ticking the boxes: what’s wrong with set texts here

In the week the ASA announces their new rules on gender stereotyping in advertising, The Gender Equality Collective launch a free resource for businesses and educators on gender equal marketing and communication. 

Check out their website for other free resources and information and look out for their campaign and competition #smashingstereotypes coming in the Autumn too.  

The MEA AGM and Symposium took place on Saturday 18th May 2019 with presentations from Professor David Buckingham, Dr Michelle Cannon and Dr Steve Connolly on aspects of current issues in media education and critical literacy.

Minutes from the meeting will be available to members on request

A national scheme is giving student filmmakers access to historic footage from BBC and BFI archives 

A scheme led by an academic from Kingston University’s Kingston School of Art is set to give student filmmakers in universities across the country access to archive material held in the BBC and BFI moving image collections. The latest phase of the Archives for Education project has added 27 documentaries from the BBC Archive to the scheme. A new project website(https://www.archivesforeducation.com/) has also been launched, mapping the 39 films now available for reuse by student filmmakers. 

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If you would be interested in signing up to the scheme please contact Mark Macey on 

Michelle Cannon attended the  International Film Education Symposium in Bradford in April. Read her blog post here 

The London Screen Academy  will be opening in September 2019 and is looking to recruit media teachers for a range of opportunities. . 

Please visit  for further details