The Media Show

Ever since we did the Hollister episode, I’ve been noticing people walking around New York with HCO SURF or HOLLISTER SOCAL or that seagull logo branded onto their clothes… and wishing I was some weird-looking old lady who could go up to them and mysteriously say, “THINNNGS are not what they SEEEEEEEEMMMMM!” and cackle and hand them a cryptic card that would have the link to our episode.

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Dear Internets,

As you may or may not be aware, some of us on the staff of The Media Show are big into the cult of Tommy Wiseau’s movie The Room, which we are ready to defend for the title of worst movie ever made. If you haven’t seen it, here’s an taste of the acting, writing, and terrible greenscreening which permeate the film (safe for work, if your workplace can take misogyny in stride):

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Dear friend of education,

Today, media and technology are changing so fast that not a day seems to go by without a huge, related headline:

• News International tapping phones to dig up dirt on politicians and celebrities.
• Facebook changing its privacy settings, yet again.
• Bookstores like Borders going out of business, while Apple’s liquid assets surpass those of the United States.

And yet, critical thinking about the media — often known as “media literacy” — has been edged out of school curricula. High-stakes tests pressure teachers to stick to rote memorization, reading, and math. Internet access is spotty or locked down at many schools, limiting what teachers can teach about online safety. Students may graduate without ever learning how advertisements provide the funding for most of their favorite shows, magazines, or websites.

The Media Show makes short online videos to take up the slack. We believe that when youth learn how the media and technology around them are made, they are empowered to think critically about the media messages they are immersed in.

Since 2008 we’ve used irreverent humor to explain copyright law, advertising tactics, email etiquette, and more on YouTube, the world’s most popular video site. In 2010, we won a Media That Matters award for our episode on photo manipulation throughout history — from Hitler airbrushing his enemies out of photos, through advertisers lightening pop star Beyonce’s skin color.

How can you help? The Media Show is currently seeking donors to fund not only production of upcoming episodes on search engines, online ads, and hacking, but also to support us as we take our shows to classrooms, libraries, and afterschool programs.

Would you help us? Participating Sponsors at the $650 level fund workshops in major US cities, as well as helping us reach young viewers online with brand new episodes.

Donors at the $1000 level help us do workshops in areas of the United States which are farther from centers of media production — places where youth are even less likely to be exposed to the workings of media and technology industries.

Time is running out on our campaign. Will you help us teach more young people to think critically about media systems?

Visit our Kickstarter campaign to learn how to support The Media Show. Here’s a list of the workshops we can offer, and here’s a little more about the show.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Gillian “Gus” Andrews
Producer, The Media Show
themediashow.net

The Media Show is currently being produced on a shoestring, without institutional support. Your donations help support us as we write, research, shoot, and edit new episodes, and seek new broadcast outlets. (Not to mention make new puppets.)

Support our second Kickstarter campaign, and get Media Show puppets, videos, and other swag!