The Rockingham Free Public Library is pleased to present media educator and contributor to “The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People” Ben Boyington Saturday, February 11 at 1pm.  

During the recent presidential election, “media literacy” became a phrase that signified the threat media manipulation posed to democratic processes. Meanwhile, statistical research has shown that 8- to 18-year-olds pack more than eleven hours with some form of media into each day by “media multitasking.” 

By covering topics like storytelling, building arguments and recognizing fallacies, surveillance and digital gatekeeping, advertising and consumerism, and global social problems through a critical media literacy lens, Boyington will explain how to grow from passive consumers of media to engaged critics and creators. 

Says Boyington, “We live much of our lives immersed in media, and rather than simply complaining about it, we need to understand it. We need critical media literacy. How are we being used? Who is behind the screens? Who benefits from our attention? What messages are being burned into our brains? Critical media literacy is essential to exploring these questions and approaching the world–from news and politics to entertainment and social media.” 

The Media and Me is a joint production of The Censored Press and Triangle Square Books for Young Readers.  

Ben Boyington is an advocate for integrating critical media literacy into K-12 schools, a veteran high school teacher, and the father of two teenagers who are immersed in the worlds of videogames, Discord, and Twitch, as well as anime and other visual storytelling. A member of the Media Freedom Foundation board, Ben designs and conducts teacher trainings with his partners at the nonprofit organization Mass Media Literacy. In his daily life, he works with high school students on self-driven learning and builds student-centered programming at a rural high school in Vermont. An avid media consumer with a particular interest in film and television, he also enjoys audiobooks, music, and podcasts but eschews videogames because they have too many buttons now. 

This program is free and open to the public.  Copies of the book will be available for purchase through the Village Square Booksellers.  For more information contact the Library at 802.463.4270, youthservices@rockinghamlibrary.org, or go online to rockinghamlibrary.org