Mission

Our mission is to heighten awareness of the critical need for media literacy — the ability to differentiate between fact and fiction in all forms of media — and to provide the educational resources required to carry out that mission. To that end we:
-
Provide up to date information from national advocacy partners on our website
-
Organize educational events with schools and community organizations
-
Hold an annual “MisinfoDay” for Monterey County high school students in partnership with the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public
-
Collaborate across the US with expert resources in the fields of media and news literacy
Awards
The Monterey County Weekly and the Media Literacy Coalition have been recognized for second place in Public Service Journalism in the 2024 California Journalism Awards by the California News Publishers Association!
Featured articles:
In The News
"How editors safeguard fact-based journalism: A Carmel conversation"
Jim Boren's Newsroom Notebook, Mar 6, 2025
"Media literacy panel in March tackles misinformation in print, broadcast news"
KION News, Feb 28, 2025
"The first step in overcoming the challenges to American democracy is cultivating media literacy"
Monterey County Now, Feb 24, 2024
Supporters
Members of the Coalition represent thought leaders in journalism, public policy, education, and library science. The interdisciplinary nature of the Coalition moves forward its goal of advancing universal media literacy from an aspiration to a national standard.
-
Susan Meister, founder of the Media Literacy Coalition and journalist
-
Ann Packer, community volunteer for local non-profits
-
Mark Gomez, ethnic studies coordinator, History & Civics Project, UC Santa Cruz
-
Dr. Daisy Martin, founding director, History & Civics Project, UC Santa Cruz
-
Dr. Jennifer Elemen, past president, California Council for the Social Studies
-
Dr. Ralph Porras, deputy superintendent, Monterey County Office of Education
-
Wendy Root Askew, supervisor, Monterey County District 4
-
Marc Berman, assemblymember, California Assembly District 23 (AB 873)
-
Jim Boren, executive director, Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State University
-
Dr. Michael Spikes, co-founder, Illinois Media Coalition and Lecturer, Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism
-
Hillary Theyer, library director, Monterey County Free Libraries
-
Bradley Zeve, founding editor and publisher, Monterey County Weekly