Media Activist Organizations

Check these out for further information on active efforts to combat damaging advertising messages in the U.S.

  • Media Education Foundation
    The Media Education Foundation is a non-profit educational organization devoted to media research and production of resources to aid educators and others in fostering analytical media literacy. Board of advisors includes most of the big names in critical media theory: Sut Jhally, Stuart Hall, bell hooks, Noam Chomsky, Susan Douglas, Susan Faludi, Jean Kilbourne and Cornel West.
    http://www.mediaed.org/

  • FAIR (fairness and accuracy in reporting)
    FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. FAIR publishes Extra!, the award-winning magazine of media criticism, and produces the weekly radio program CounterSpin. In addition, they have a listserv through which they distribute regular Action Alerts to an international network of activists who work with them.
    http://www.fair.org/

  • About-Face
    A volunteer organization devoted to raising awareness of sexism in the media; site includes "gallery of offenders" and "gallery of winners".
    http://www.about-face.org/

  • Media Watch
    Organization devoted to challenging abusive stereotypes and other biased images commonly found in the media. Media Watch, which began in 1984, distributes educational videos, media literacy information and newsletters to help create more informed consumers of the mass media.
    http://www.mediawatch.com/

  • Medialens
    A non-profit media watch website run by three free-lance writers and devoted to countering distortions in corporate sponsored media. They produce media alerts, book reviews, quotes of the day and more.
    http://www.medialens.org

  • Adbusters
    Adbusters.org is an activist organization devoted to unmasking the realities underlying big firms ad campaigns. This site gives you instructions for conceiving of your own parody print ad as a form of activism. Includes great examples of such spoof ads. See the home page for other ways to get involved.
    http://adbusters.org/


  • Media and Anthropology Project
    The Media and Anthropology project at the University of South Florida is devoted to thinking through and providing resources for an applied anthropology that engages the media to positive ends.
    http://www.cas.usf.edu/anthropology/media/index.html

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Copyright ©2002 Reed College and Charlene Makley.