Two Report from Kathryn Montgomery: "Youth as E-Citizens" and the "Free Culture, Phase 2" Conference Report

Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation

provides a groundbreaking overview of Web-based efforts to increase youth civic engagement. Beginning with a close-up examination of website content, the report also examines the organizations and institutions creating that content, and the larger environment in which civic sites function. The full report offers:

• Case studies of high-profile sites' strategies for launch, visibility and funding; the online response to 9/11; and online youth activism.
• Discussion of the potential that websites offer to build lasting habits of civic involvement.
• Current developments in technology, regulation and law that raise urgent questions about the viability of the civic Web.

In addition, the project has created an online showcase of top youth civic websites. To see how they use the Internet to facilitate civic involvement and learning, take the Online Tour!

Youth as E-Citizens was initiated by the Center for Media Education. With the closing of the Center in the fall of 2003, the project joined the Center for Social Media. Initial funding for this multi-year research project was provided by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) . The Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Packard Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation also provided critical support.

Download:

youthreport.pdf

TeenSites.com: A Field Guide to the New Digital Landscape

From Sales Pitches to Civics Lessons: Something for Everyone Online
CME Report Explores the Online World of Teens

A 2001 report from the Center for Media Education, provided here as background to work produced by Kathryn Montgomery after coming to American University and CSM (see "Youth as E-Citizens"), surveys the burgeoning digital media culture directed at—and in some cases created by—teens.

This report surveys the burgeoning new media culture directed at—and in some cases created by—teens. TeenSites.com-A Field Guide to the New Digital Landscape examines the uniquely interactive nature of the new media, and explores the ways in which teens are at once shaping and being shaped by the electronic culture that surrounds them.

1. Cover & Table of Contents (99 KB)
2. Executive Summary (193 KB)
3. Introduction (161 KB)
4. Commercial Culture Online (5.4 MB)
5. The Alternative Internet: A Noncommercial and Civic Web Culture for Teens (2.7 MB)
6. New Trends and Future Directions (515 KB)
7. Conclusion & Recommendations (126 KB)
8. Endnotes & Back Cover (260 KB)

"Free Culture, Phase 2" Conference Report

The report showcases the active and effective organizations and movements represented at Free Culture, Phase 2. The report includes:

• conference discussion themes and samples,
• cultural collaboration or 'sharing,'
• additional analysis and commentary, and
• websites of the organizations represented at the event.

Download the PDF here