This site features commentary on funny media texts describing how they can be used to develop media literacy by teachers and learners. Here, you'll see humor that calls attention to the constructedness of media messages, the positions of authors and audiences, and the political economy of media ownership--as well as a whole lot of social issues to think about, talk about, and do something about, and, oh yeah, laugh about. Since representations in news media construct a good chunk of our perception of the world beyond us, posts on news satires like the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and the Onion will appear regularly, as well as classics from David Brooker and others. There's current stuff and classic stuff to laugh and learn from. You'll also see occasional posts about the challenges and opportunities of using humor and humorous texts in educational settings, and some ideas for making funny stuff in media production activities to enhance media literacy. We try to offer at least a post every week or so with a focus on how the funny stuff can be used for media literacy education--the occasional four year break notwithstanding.
This should go without saying, but please preview all videos, files and links for appropriateness before using with your learning community. While we focus the site on how humor exposes and illustrates how messages are made, intended, and understood, the featured funniness may also include naughty bits that may exceed what is acceptable in your classroom. Many posts include suggestions and warnings about how featured topics and material may be tricky or just wrong for certain audiences, but that's really for you to gauge. Likewise, tags on posts referring to audiences of certain settings and ages (undergrad, high school, middle school, teen, pre-teen, adult, etc.) are only suggestions, which may or may not have been tried out with such groups. You know what's best for your community; use at your own risk!
Also, we occasionally include posts and links to resources useful for incorporating ideas from these posts into classroom use, including tech tips on ripping video for classroom use (legal now for media literacy educators in the U.S.!) and fair use principles on the legality of using featured media texts in the classroom. Please see the resource links and pages listed on the right column of the blog.
Your comments are welcome. We'd love to hear thoughts about the clips and posts, especially if you use them in learning settings, or have concerns about doing so. Feel free to share links to your educational resources or student work. We don't have a policy about it just yet, but we'll take down comments that cross the imaginary line of appropriateness for this forum, especially if they're not funny.
