Hi: Regardless of one's feelings toward MTV programming, I think a high-profile project that rewards positive community work on a weekly basis is a great thing-- especially if it's disseminated to the enormous MTV audience.
Networks like MTV are amoral. They pull in audiences. They'll air great programming; they'll air crappy programming. They air what they're guessing their target audience wants. And every project/program is an experiment to see what works. If Youth Venture is wildly successful, there will be more of it-- not just on MTV, but on other networks. Bob Hirshon Kinetic City American Association for the Advancement of Science [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] - 6/2/05 8:41 AM >>> Well said, James I couldn't agree more. I'm a musician and find MTV's callous display of what it thinks today's young peoples 'values' are disgusting. As legitimate grant fiscal streams like the Federal TOP program are diminished or aborted I guess we can expect bottom feeders like this to emerge. Bob Johnson -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 10:20 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] MTV pro social youth initiative grant This initiative disgusts me. It's like the cigarette companies giving money to arts programs. If there is any media entity doing more to undermine the values and culture of young people than MTV, we should run a contest to identify it. The racism, misogyny, and materialism of MTV's continuous pornographic assault on the youth of the world is as much of an embarrassment to the United States as the war in Iraq. This grant program should not be applauded; it should be boycotted. Youth Venture should be condemned and excoriated for its shameless opportunism. I am no prude and am politically progressive. I listen to some of the performers who appear on MTV and purchase their music. I watch the network from time to time, primarily to stay informed about what it's doing. I am active in the arts and work closely with young people in educational settings and programs. MTV degrades youth. Its money is blood money. I know there are many who will disagree, but this is my opinion. James Lerman -----Original Message----- From: "Champ-Blackwell, Siobhan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Jun 1, 2005 7:29 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [DDN] MTV pro social youth initiative grant MTV AND YOUTH VENTURE ANNOUNCE NEW GRANT PROGRAM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Deadline: Rolling, through December 31, 2005 MTV: Music Television (http://www.mtv.com/) has announced the launch of its new pro-social initiative, think MTV, which is designed to inform and empower young people to take action on social issues. As part of its effort to encourage its audience to become more proactive in their communities, MTV has teamed up with Youth Venture (http://www.youthventure.org/), a movement of youth social entrepreneurs, to offer think Venture Grants to young people who are making a difference by creating and leading organizations, clubs, or businesses that address a need in their communities. Grants of up to $1,000 each will be offered each week to a group of young people with the most compelling and sustainable community service project concept in one of the five primary think MTV issue areas: discrimination, education, the environment, global issues, and sexual health. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
