Media Action Projects: Hofstra

In the late-60s Newfoundlanders living on the Fogo Island became part of a collaborative filmmaking experiment which came to be known as the "Fogo Process." Instead of merely using the islanders as passive subjects, the filmmakers involved them in a participatory process as collaborators. The films became a means for the common islanders to enter into a dialogue with each other and with government

agencies. Community media is the name given to the various forms of grassroots media initiatives that feature communities working autonomously to create their own media or collaborating with filmmakers to produce audio/video media. Media Action Projects is an academic initiative that comes out of this long tradition of community based media and a higher education experiential learning initiative known as service-learning. Students partner with community organizations to co-produce media that the organizations may use for a variety of organizational or advocacy purposes.