education

A Knight Foundation survey of 15,000 U.S. high-school students and 800 of their teachers made public Oct. 17, 2006, recorded increased teaching of First Amendment issues over two years. The high-school students know more about the free speech/free press issues than reported in an initial, larger, $1-million, 2004 study entitled: "The Future of the First Amendment." But the Knight Foundation said the latest results also show students increasingly polarized about how they feel on First Amendment issues. There's a website with details of the findings by University of Connecticut researchers Dr.

What happens when a video teacher and administrator at Boston English High School start to infuse media-literacy principles in the school day? Listen to this unedited audio of a session at the Oct. 27, 2007 media literacy conference at MIT: "Creating and Learning in a Media Saturated Culture." The panel, lead by Renee Hobbs, of Temple University, included (in first order of speaking): Rona Zickower, of Media Power Youth, Manchester, N.H.; Xavier Rozas, media teacher, Boston English High School; and Chris Toulet-Cote, assistant headmaster of English High.  Click here to launch an audio stream, or DOWNLOAD MP3 PODCAST.

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A first brainstorming session of the new MIT Center for Future Civic Media drew more than 25 people on Sept. 26 to share ideas for youth civic media and journalism projects. The center, working with a $5-million grant from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, is seeking suggestions for pilot projects for civic media creation by youth in the 15-28 age bracket. READ MORE, INCLUDING AUDIO, WHITEBOARD LINKS AND CONTACT INFO.

BOSTON MAY 17 EVENT VIDEO:  (STORY)

VIDEO of  the innaugural "Civic News Library Listening Series" event of the New England News Forum at the Boston Public Library on Thurs., May 17. Nearly 40 people attended. LAUNCH FLASH VIDEO / LAUNCH QUICKTIME STREAMING VIDEO (1 hour, 31 minutes); Also learn about Jim Caralis' OpenMass project and Pete Stidman's Alliance for Community Media. 

Dozens of New England newspaper and TV websites carried an Associated Press story on March 23 about a new study highlighting the growth of income and jobs inequality in New England. The AP story by Mark Jewell picked up on a news release and short (four-page) analysis of demographic data by the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. A highlight: inflation-adjusted household income for the top 20 percent of the region's population rose 20 percent over 20 years to $185,000, while the figure for the bottom 20 percent fell 5 percent to $12,437. The study summarizes the reasons for the change, the impacts, and suggestions solutions. VIEW PDF OF FULL REPORT

More than 300 business and civic leaders gathered March 9 in a freshly renovated performance theater to mark completion of a $1-million consultants' report designed to chart the future of the most rural and least populated county in Massachusetts -- the Berkshires. There was banner coverage in the daily North Adams Transcript, the Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, which including links to the underlying reports.