Globalisation:Media Smart

Chantal Bennett, Leigh Gallagher, Ludo Moyo & Kirstin Walker

Media Smart Official Website: http://www.mediasmart.org.uk/

Media Smart is an organisation funded by fast-food, media and toy industries. Its website states it is a

"non profit media literacy programme for school children aged 6 to 11 years old, focused on advertising. Media Smart develops and provides, free of charge and on request, educational materials to primary schools that teach children to think critically about advertising in the context of their daily lives. Our materials use real examples of advertising to teach core media literacy skills."

History

The History and Aims of Media Smart can be traced back to the Canadian organisation "Concerned Children's Advertisers" which is also funded by transnational corporations.

Directors

• Paul Jackson, chair

In 2005 Jackson was recorded as:

• Vice President of the World Federation of Advertisers
• Chairman of the Responsible Advertising and Children Group which represents the interests of European Advertisers,agencies and the media.

People

Mediasmart does not name its employees on its website.

Expert Group (as of November 2008)

Media Smarts Expert group includes a range of Academics and experts in education, media and Government officials form the regulator group Ofcom. Media Smart's Relationship with Policy Makers

Policy Makers

A policy maker is a person or group of people that have the power to influence or determine policies and practices within an organisation. They can influence these organisations at an international, national, regional or local level. Policy makers play an important role in the development and structure of an organisation as they effectively control what goes on within it.

Media Smart's Policy Makers

Their relationship with academics and what they need them for

ofcom and the Advertising association both evoke the standards and excellence of the academics and experts needed to run such successful companies. Without the research agencies would be at a standstill and not be able to plan project into the future and ensure their goal of promoting media literacy continues to develop.

Note

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/corporate-responsibility/ Accessed 30/10/2010 http://www.adassoc.org.uk/aa/index.cfm/about-us/achievements/#initiatives Accessed 30/10/2010

Funders

Supporters or Funders of Media Smart

Independent report

In 2006 Media Smart commissioned an independent evaluation of their BeAdwise 2 teaching materials from The Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media, Institute of Education, University of London. In 2007 the centre produced their independent report. The overall conclusions of the report were positive.

The authors of the report were

• Professor David Buckingham
• Dr Rebecca Willett
• Dr Shakuntala Banaji
• Dr Susan Cranmer

Buckingham and Willet are members of Media Smart's expert group.

Media Smart: Activities

The media smart website runs activities though their web-site for younger children to enjoy outside of the school environment. Aimed at children between the ages of 5 and 11 they provide stimulating and enjoyable pastime to make them realise how much advertising plays in their daily lives. Globalisation: Media Smart:Activities

Media Smart recently launched a new set of independently drawn up teaching materials (Be Adwise 2), which aim to build up children’s literacy skills with regard to the digital media, which are of growing importance in their lives. The programme has received extensive government and stakeholder support and is being requested by a large number of schools in the UK.

International expansion of the Media Smart group

Media Smart Groups has expanded to other parts of Europe. Most of the European Schools are using the Media Smart educational material in Primary School e.g. in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal. In Netherlands they have sister companies with the likes of Media Rakkers which was launched in 2005 and immediately after that Recklame was launched in 2006. The Recklame initiative runs in 6,000 schools out of 8,500 primary schools and the former is adopted by over 4,500 schools respectively. < ref>[5] These programs are supported by 36 monopolist companies all over the world i.e. global companies with the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo, Hasbro to name just a few. In Hungary 305 of the country’ schools have participated in the program and Media tutor website has been set up to encourage the success of Media Smart. Advertisers have donated cash and broadcasters have used pro bono airtime worth over £2million. There is currently an argument about the consultations which clearly is not deigned to benefit the public interest. The official members of the Organization themselves raise suspicion with their involvement in other activities. For instance Marina Palomba who serves as the Director of Media Smart published a book titled “Ad Law- Breaking the Mould without Breaking the Rules".