Scott is a student in the Digital Media Literacy program at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and a Social Media Intern at NAMLE
What do you do?
Under the direction of NAMLE’s Communication Coordinator, I provide social media support to assist NAMLE in achieving its communication objectives. I recently completed designing and scheduling a series of themed content for posting to NAMLE’s Facebook, LinkedIn, and X accounts to boost awareness and participation in U.S. Media Literacy Week 2023 (October 23-27).
What is your latest work or project in media literacy?
In my final weeks of this Fall internship, I’m contributing my insights and efforts toward assisting in promoting NAMLE’s ‘End of Year Giving’ campaign, and am currently preparing for the upcoming annual celebration of generosity, Giving Tuesday, on November 28th. Following that, I’m increasingly interested in exploring opportunities in Media Literacy for Senior Citizens. This aspect of media literacy seems a solid fit with my interests now and into the foreseeable future. I applaud the work of NAMLE’s community partners – Trend Micro and AARP – already extensively engaged with that cohort in technology safety and media literacy efforts.
Why is media literacy important to you?
I’m convinced it is imperative for individuals to make a conscious and consistent effort to develop greater awareness and resilience to the misinformation and malinformation permeating today’s increasingly fragmented and subjective media environment. Media literacy has increasingly become a crucial life skill that must be embedded as an essential part of education today, empowering individuals to become critical thinkers and creative producers of media messages.
What are you most excited about in the media literacy field?
I’m most excited for NAMLE’s essential and growing role in the media literacy field’s future as the leading voice, convener, and resource for media literacy education. It was exhilarating to be a participant and contributor for this year’s U.S. Media Literacy Week. I’ve recently learned that this year’s event registered an impressive 57% increase in participation over 2022, and that individuals in 48 states and 54 countries signed up. I sense that media literacy and media literacy education have now reached a critical inflection point in the U.S.
Why did you become a NAMLE member, what benefits do you see to membership, and how will it support your work?
I became a NAMLE member earlier this year upon learning that I’d been accepted for NAMLE’s Fall semester Communication Team (Social Media) internship. The benefits of my NAMLE membership were immediate, attending NAMLE’s virtual annual conference in July – the largest professional development conference dedicated to media literacy education in the U.S. My membership in NAMLE supports my work and aspirations in the media literacy field by providing plentiful and diverse educational resources, and access to a passionate community of media literacy advocates and practitioners.
The views and opinions expressed in the M-Passioned Member blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NAMLE or its members. The purpose of the M-Passioned Member blog is to highlight our members and give them a place to share their reflections, opinions, and ideas.