Membership FAQs

• How can I communicate with other AMLA members?
• How does the AMLA use my membership dues?
• How can I network and work on projects with other AMLA members?
• Why doesn't AMLA have a print journal or publication?
• How can I help the AMLA increase its membership?
• How did the AMLA get started?
• Does AMLA have support from other media literacy organizations?

How can I communicate with other AMLA members?

One terrific way to get your communication out to the national membership is through the UPDATE. Only AMLA members can submit items for inclusion in the UPDATE. Send your news to the Communications Chair. Also watch for the addition of topical blogs on the AMLA website - and jump right in with your comments and ideas. If you would like to start a blog, including taking responsibility for developing and maintaining it for at least 6 months, contact Karen Zill, website taskforce leader.

[top]

How does the AMLA use my membership dues?

Membership dues are the only way an organization can grow steadily, year after year. They buy the postage for election ballots, cover the costs of the annual Board retreat, provide start-up funds for projects such as the first-ever Media Literacy Education Research Summit held in St. Louis in the summer of 2007. Dues from both new and renewing members keep the AMLA going - and growing.

Thank you for your membership -- and your annual renewal!

[top]

How can I network and work on projects with other AMLA members? There are several ways you can connect with other AMLA members.  Watch this website for new blogs and interative features where you can make yourself known to the AMLA community and learn what others are doing. You can volunteer for an AMLA committee through which you'll develop lasting professional relationships -- and contribute to helping build the field.  But the best way is to attend the biennial National Media Education Conference - three days of non-stop networking with hundreds of others who share your passion for expanding media literacy education in both school and nonschool settings. It's always held the last weekend of June in odd years (2009, 2011) in different locations around the country. Next conference is in Detroit in the summer of 2009.  Put it on your calendar and in your budget NOW! 

[top]

Why doesn't AMLA have a print journal or publication?

We decided early on that e-letters and web-based communications were the only affordable way for a start-up organization today to communicate with members and contribute to the public discourse about media literacy. With limited resources, we have chosen to focus on building the AMLA UPDATE into a regular national e-mailed newsletter for the field and to develop a website that would provide important information and resources about media literacy education in the US. We hope to begin a peer-reviewed journal in the coming year or two. Do you have skills or experience that would help get one started?  Or a funding source to support it? Please contact Board President Lynda Bergsma.

[top]

How can I help the AMLA increase its membership?

The best way to increase membership is to invite colleagues and people whom you think should be members to join! The #1 reason why people don't join an organization is because no one asked them! Here's three easy ways to ask:

1. Send an email to a friend (or friends) who should be members and tell them why you joined AMLA and that you think they should be members too.  Be sure to include the URL of the website and suggest they take a look. 
2. Forward the AMLA UPDATE to friends and colleagues and invite them to read it and join.
3. Include the AMLA website in your e-mail "signature." Be proud of your membership in this pioneering organization. Use your e-mail signature like a bumpersticker on your car - share the URL and spread the word about AMLA as an organization with a new vision of education for the 21st century.

[top]

How did the AMLA get started? Although AMLA was officially founded in 2001 at the National Media Education Conference in Austin, Texas,  our story begins in 1997 with the formation of the Partnership for Media Education (PME). Recognizing the need for professional development opportunities such as national conferences, four pioneering media literacy leaders looked around and said, "let's do it."  At the PME's first conference in Colorado Springs in 1998, there was groundswell of support for a larger national membership organization which eventually was chartered as the AMLA.  Take a minute to read more about the pioneering days of media literacy and AMLA's Founding Declaration.  You'll be inspired!  

[top]

Does AMLA have support from other media literacy organizations?

When AMLA was founded in 2001 it was envisioned as an "umbrella" professional association to gather the energy of both individuals and groups passionate about media literacy education. Early on, we created an Organizational Membership program to allow organizations of all sizes to "step up to the plate" and join forces to form a strong national voice and presence. Through projects large and small, these groups advance the field in important ways and, working together on AMLA projects, accomplish more than we each can do alone.  For an overall view of media literacy education in the United States, be sure to become familiar with AMLA's many organizational members:

• National Organizations
• Academic Centers and Programs
• Local/State/Regional Groups
  

[top]