External collaboration, and alliance and coalition-building advance our mission to advocate and propose policy changes that promote and expand media literacy education at local, state, and national levels in the U.S.. Our coalition-building brings together a range of educators, experts, advocates, and other stakeholders to identify obstacles to getting media literacy instruction in classrooms, brainstorm ways to address these obstacles, and work toward the common goal of ensuring our public education system teaches K-12 students the necessary skills they need to be discerning media consumers and navigate safely within a complex media landscape. 

Our new science-focused media literacy project, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, aims to incorporate media literacy education into science K-12 instruction to equip students with the skills they need to better evaluate scientific information and resist misinformation. 

This summer, Media Literacy Now convened a group of 21 STEM and media literacy educators to discuss the skills students need to learn to better evaluate scientific information and resist misinformation. Read the recap of the two-day conference.

Given the recent research and attention to the negative effects of social media on children and young people, our digital wellness project seeks to expand upon the understanding of media literacy education to include digital wellness and ensure K-12 health education includes media literacy and digital wellness.

SHAPE, the organization that developed the National Health Education Standards which provide the framework for health education instruction for K-12 students, is in the process of revising their standards. The final round of public review and comment is open until 9/30. In the latest draft, we were disappointed to see that previous inclusion of media literacy instruction was removed. We urge you to participate in this round of public review and submit your feedback, calling specific attention to the importance of media literacy education in health education.