The Media Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1992 that produces and distributes documentary films about the impact of American mass media. Their films focus on topics such as gender, race and representation, health, class, consumerism, politics, and the environment, with the purpose of encouraging critical thought about the media, its effects on viewers, and on the world more broadly.
Sut Jhally
Sut Jhally (b. 1955) is a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose work focuses on cultural studies, advertising, media, and consumption. He is the producer of over 40 documentaries on media literacy topics a ...
founded the Media Education Foundation after receiving a cease and desist letter from
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, whose music video clips he had compiled to create a video for use as a teaching tool about sexism and the objectification of women in popular culture.
fair use doctrine
Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
and that his intent was to use the clip for educational purposes only. Jhally subsequently founded the Media Education Foundation as a platform for distributing other films regarding media awareness and its impact.
Films include Dreamworlds (2007), War Made Easy (2007), Hijacking Catastrophe (2004), Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land (2004), Theaters of War
''Theaters of War'' is a 2022 American documentary film that examines the influence of the Pentagon and CIA in shaping Hollywood and television scripts, making use of the Freedom of Information Act to acquire internal state files. The film also ...
(2022), and the series of films on women in advertising Killing Us Softly
''Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women'' is an American documentary based on a lecture by Jean Kilbourne and is produced and distributed by the Media Education Foundation. The documentary, first released in 1979 and since revised a ...
(1979-2010).
References
1992 establishments in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in the United States
Documentary film production companies
External links
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