MediaSmarts (; formerly the Media Awareness Network, MNet) is a Canadian

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, that focuses on

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

and

media literacy Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect and take action, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the w ...

programs and

resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...

. In particular, the organization promotes

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

via educational resources and analyzes the content of various types of

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

. Surveys and studies performed by MediaSmarts have explored youth

media consumption Media consumption or media diet is the sum of information and entertainment media taken in by an individual or group. It includes activities such as interacting with new media, reading books and magazines, watching television and film, and listeni ...

, such as television and internet use, as well as media issues. In recent years, the organization's focus has shifted more heavily to digital literacy, although it continues to produce resources on

traditional media Old media, or legacy media, are the mass media institutions that dominated prior to the Information Age; particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television. Old media institutions ar ...

. The funding for MediaSmarts is primarily derived from private sector sponsors and federal government grants. The group has also partnered with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

and

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

to produce web resources for teachers and parents to protect kids online. MediaSmarts has received a number of awards for its work, including awards from

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information and the

Canadian Race Relations Foundation The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF; , ''FCRR'') is a charitable organization and Crown corporation responsible to foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and help to eliminate racism in Canada.Canadian Race Relations Fou ...

, as well as several online awards for web-based content.

Activities

Research

In 2000, the organization released the results of ''Canada’s Children in a Wired World: The Parents’ View'', Canada's first survey of Canadian parents on the subject of their children’s Internet use''.'' That same year, the organization launched a large research program called Young Canadians in a Wired World (YCWW), an ongoing study to investigate and track and the "behaviours, attitudes, and opinions" of Internet use among Canadian children and youth—the largest and most comprehensive study of this kind in Canada. A year later, in 2001, the results of a "groundbreaking" survey of almost 6,000 Canadian students was released by the organization: ''Young Canadians in a Wired World: The Students’ View''.'''' In 2019, during the fourth phase of the study, the "Young Canadians in a Wired World" was renamed Young Canadians in a Wireless World.'''' Results from the ongoing study, which indicate high levels of personal information collection by websites popular with children, have been cited to argue that parental supervision of child internet-use alone "cannot adequately protect children" who have the highest levels of social internet use. In addition to YCWW research, MediaSmarts produces papers—both independently and in partnership with other organizations—on a variety of media issues, including

digital literacy Digital literacy refers to an individual's ability to find, evaluate, and communicate information through typing and other media on various digital platforms. It is evaluated by an individual's grammar, composition, typing skills and ability to pro ...

, privacy education, online

civic engagement Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

food marketing Food marketing brings together the food producer and the consumer through a chain of marketing activities. Background Pomeranz & Adler, 2015, defines food marketing as a chain of marketing activities that takes place within the food system ...

, and

Internet governance Internet governance consists of a system of laws, rules, policies and practices that dictate how its board members manage and oversee the affairs of any internet related-regulatory body. This article describes how the Internet was and is currentl ...

Campaigns

Media Literacy Week is a national campaign annually hosted each autumn by MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers' Federation to promote digital and media literacy, with activities and events taking place in classrooms, libraries, museums, and community groups through over 90 collaborating organizations. The event began in Canada in 2006 as National Media Education Week—changing its name to "Media Literacy Week" in 2009—and is now internationally celebrated, such as in the US and in countries around the world. In 2019, as part of their Break the Fake campaign (funded by

Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the Ministry (government department), department of the Cabinet of Canada, Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to init ...

), MediaSmarts remade the popular House Hippo

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

. The House Hippo was originally created by a similar, since-defunct organisation called Companies Committed to Kids.

History

The organization was founded as the Media Awareness Network (MNet) in 1994 under the auspices of the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

(NFB). The following year, MNet began to receive

seed funding Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' su ...

from

, CBC,

Western International Communications WIC Western International Communications Ltd. (or WIC) was a Canadian media company that operated from 1982 to 2000, with operations including broadcast and specialty television, radio, and satellite distribution via a majority interest in Can ...

, CHUM Television, as well as from the federal departments

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...

Justice Canada The Department of Justice (french: Ministère de la Justice) is a department of the Government of Canada that represents the Canadian government in legal matters. The Department of Justice works to ensure that Canada's justice system is as fair, ...

Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal I ...

, and the

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department o ...

. Soon after, in 1996, the MNet would be incorporated as an independent

, along with launching its media education website. Three years later, it was granted

charitable status A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

. In 1999, with the help of MNet's work, the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) announced that it would not regulate the Internet. In 2001, with MNet as a key partner, the federal government released its "Cyberwise" strategy on addressing illegal and offensive content on the Internet. On 29 May 2012, one year after their 15th anniversary, the organisation was relaunched as MediaSmarts. The new brand was developed ''

pro-bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

'' by Toronto-based advertising agency, Brandworks. In 2014, MediaSmarts partnered with the

Information and Communications Technology Council The Information and Communications Technology Council was founded in 1992 as the Software Human Resources Council one of 31 sector councils funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program. Over the years the Software Huma ...

to host a Youth and Digital Skills

symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

to advance the development of digital literacy skills in Canada. In 2016, the organization partnered with the CRTC, NFB, and Canadian Heritage in a Youth Discoverability Summit, exploring the ways in which youth access content in the modern age.

Organization

MediaSmarts is governed by an elected, volunteer Board of Directors, which includes representatives of

media companies Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

and such stakeholder sectors as education, libraries, and community- and youth-serving organizations. The 2020-2021 Executive Committee consists of: * Chair: Suzanne Morin — Vice President of Enterprise Conduct, Data Ethics and Chief Privacy Officer,

Sun Life Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company. Sun Life has a presence in investment management with over CAD$1.3 trillion in assets under management operating in a number ...

* Vice-Chair: David Fowler — Vice-president of

Canadian Internet Registration Authority The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) (french: Autorité canadienne pour les enregistrements Internet ACEI) is the organization that manages the .ca country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Canada. Its offices are located at 979 ...

(CIRA) * Treasurer: Mara Tramontin — Director of Program Business Management,

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

* Member-at-Large: Mary Cavanagh — Associate Professor,

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

School of Information Studies * Member-at-Large: Michael Hoechsmann — Associate Professor,

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...

The 2020-2021 board members include: * Ruby Barber — Assistant General Counsel of Legal & Regulatory Affairs,

* Serge Carrier — Director of Business Development, Société de formation à distance des commissions scolaires du Québec (SOFAD) * Kevin Chan — Head of Public Policy, Canada,

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

* Jérôme Dufour — Director General of Distribution, Communications and Marketing,

* Monika Ille — Chief Executive Director,

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast lice ...

(APTN) * Nimtaz Kanji — Director – TELUS Wise,

Telus Communications Inc Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, vo ...

. * Normand Landry — Professor, TÉLUQ University * Colin McKay — Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Canada,

Google Inc. Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. I ...

* Shelley L. Morse — President, Canadian Teachers’ Federation *

Ramona Pringle Ramona Pringle is a Canadian digital journalist, television host, multiplatform media producer, actress and professor. Currently she is the Director of the Transmedia Zone at Ryerson University, an incubator for innovation in media, and a Techno ...

— Associate Professor of Media and Director of The Creative Innovation Studio,

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

Partners

In the 2019 fiscal year, MediaSmarts partnered with the following organizations:https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/annual-report/mediasmarts-annual-report-2019.pdf *

Alberta Teachers' Association The Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) is the professional association for the teachers of Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinc ...

Apathy is Boring Apathy is Boring (A is B) is a Canadian, non-partisan, youth-led charitable organization that supports and educates youth to be active and contributing citizens in Canada's democracy. History A is B began in January 2004 when founders, Ilona Doug ...

* Agence Science-Presse * Boys & Girls Club of Canada *

Canadian Association of Journalists The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ; french: Association Canadienne des Journalistes) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that offers advocacy and professional development to journalists across Canada. The CAJ was created to pro ...

Canadian Commission for UNESCO The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO), administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, is Canada's national commission for UNESCO, actively advancing the organization's mandate to contribute to peace based on the intellectual and moral ...

CBC Kids ''CBC Kids'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian children's television series, children's Block programming, block on CBC Television. The block was launched as Hodge Podge Lodge in 1987 and contains programming targeted at children. The block a ...

* CHEO YouthNet * CIRA * Community Information Centre of Ottawa *

Canadian Paediatric Society The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is a national association of paediatricians. As a voluntary professional association, the CPS represents more than 3,000 paediatricians, paediatric subspecialists, paediatric residents, and other people wh ...

Canadian Standards Association The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed ...

* Canadian Teachers’ Federation * CLEMI * Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV) * Crime Prevention Ottawa * Disconnect Challenge Alberta *

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

* Encounters With Canada * eQuality *

FOSI The Fosi were a Germanic tribe. Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The survi ...

* Goodly Labs,

Berkeley Institute for Data Science The Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) is a central hub of research and education within University of California, Berkeley designed to facilitate data-intensive science and earn grants to be disseminated within the sciences. BIDS was init ...

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

* ICTC * Imagine Canada * Immunize Canada * Institute Canadian Citizenship * International School Health Network *

Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people ...

National NewsMedia Council The National NewsMedia Council is a national press council that reviews and adjudicates complaints from the public about the news media organizations in Canada. The council was created as an amalgamation of several regional press councils, including ...

Ontario Library Association The Ontario Library Association (OLA) was established in 1900 and is the oldest continually operating library association in Canada. With 5,000 members, OLA is also the largest library association in Canada and among the 10 largest library associ ...

Ottawa Public Library The Ottawa Public Library (OPL; french: Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa) is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The library was founded in 1906 with a donation from the Carnegie Foundation. Services * Information and reference servi ...

* PREVNet * Ryerson Democratic Engagement * Exchange *

Screen-Free Week Screen-Free Week (formerly TV Turnoff Week and Digital Detox Week) is an annual event where children, families, schools and communities are encouraged to turn off screens and "turn on life". Instead of relying on television programming for entert ...

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...

* TrendMicro *

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

GAPMIL *

Wattpad Wattpad is an online literature platform intended for users to read and write original stories. The founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen say that the platform aims to create social communities around stories and remove the barriers between readers a ...

* Youth Ottawa *

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Federal government partners *

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

Historica Canada Historica Canada is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the country's history and citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach more than 28 million Canadians annually. A registered national charitabl ...

* ISED *

Office of the Privacy Commissioner The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), known until 2010 as the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner is an independent Australian Government agency, acting as the national data protection authority for Australia, esta ...

Public Health Agency of Canada The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC; french: Agence de la santé publique du Canada, ASPC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic diseas ...

Public Safety Canada Public Safety Canada (PSC; french: Sécurité publique Canada, SPC; PSP), legally incorporated as the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEPC), is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for (most) matters of ...

University partners *

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

Awards and recognition

MediaSmarts has received a number of awards for its work, including awards from

Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information, as well as several online awards for web-based content. In 1999, MNet was awarded the inaugural Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence by the

in recognition of its "extensive collection of

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...

education resources." In 2006, MNet was included as a Canadian "

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

" in UNESCO’s comprehensive ''Media Education: A Kit for Teachers, Students, Parents and Professionals''.

References

External links

MediaSmartsHabiloMédias
*{{cite journal , author=Taylor, Anne , title=The Media Awareness Network: Online for Teachers. , journal=Emergency Librarian, volume=24, issue=2, pages=32–33 , date=Nov–Dec 1996 , url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ536242&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ536242 , issn=0315-8888 , access-date=2008-12-04 Educational organizations based in Ontario Communications and media organizations based in Canada Media studies Organizations based in Ottawa Non-profit organizations based in Canada