Katheryn Fry, the department chair of Television, Radio, and Emerging Media. Based on her work conducting media literacy workshops in schools and other community-based organizations, Katherine Fry, chair of Television, Radio, and Emerging Media has developed an activist media-literacy education model that includes five main components that she says combine to produce a holistic approach: Content—teaching about identifying different forms of content. Political economy—understanding how power and money shape media technologies and content. Audiences—“We need to also understand audiences and makers and how we as individuals are participants in this whole mix,” says Fry. “We’re not passive; we’re very active, in fact.” Media ecology—understanding how technologies develop and change and how they shape the content and our cultural environments. Media activism—“I’m a real proponent of, when you have a full media-literacy tool kit and understanding on various levels, then you have an obligation to work for change in the communication environment.”
