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Non-profit

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)

Website:

namle.net/
Location:

New York, NY
Tax ID:

84-1482241
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $1,120,215
Expenses: $1,101,262
Assets: $384,752
Type:

Media and Education Activist Organization
Formation:

1997
Executive Director:

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin

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National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) is a left-of-center association that focuses its efforts on the concept of “media literacy.” 1 2 NAMLE supports left-of-center social policy and has expressed the view that addressing what the organization describes as systemic racism and social inequity is intrinsic to its mission. 3

As of March 2023, NAMLE claims more than 7,500 members, 82 organizational partners, and has reached more than 300,000 partners. 4

NAMLE has partnered with social media platform TikTok to remove accounts it believed was spreading misinformation. 5 NAMLE is funded by Facebook, TikTok, New America, Schulman Family Foundation, media wire service Thomson Reuters, Tides Foundation, Twitter, the U.S. Department of State, YouTube, and others. 6

History and Leadership

National Association for Media Literacy Education was founded in 1997 7 and received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service in 1999. 8

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin has been the executive director of NAMLE since 2012. 9 10 She has called the concept of misinformation a “life-or-death situation” and believes media literacy is necessary to “save our country from falling into a disinformation abyss.” 11

Activities

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) is a left-of-center organization that focuses its efforts on the concept of “media literacy,” which NAMLE has identified as “social justice.” 12 13 NAMLE has expressed the view that addressing what the organization describes as systemic racism and social inequity is intrinsic to its mission. 14 As of March 2023, NAMLE claims more than 7,500 members, 82 organizational partners, and has reached more than 300,000 partners. 15

NAMLE supports the use of the critical race theory-influenced concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion in science classrooms; 16 hosts events; and gives awards to media professionals. 17 The organization has also partnered with Chinese-owned social media service TikTok to remove accounts it believed was spreading misinformation. 18 19

NAMLE believes the concept of media literacy produces wiser consumers of media, cultivates responsible production of individuals’ own media, fosters critical thinking, promotes respectful discourse, and develops citizenship skills necessary for the digital world. 20

NAMLE said the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial equity was brought to the forefront in 2020 by the far-left Black Lives Matter movement due to what it called a contentious political landscape, inhumane treatment of immigrants, amplification of educational and digital inequities, an “environmental crisis,” and police violence against African Americans. 21

NAMLE’s national media literacy alliance members include the American Association of School Librarians, International Society for Technology in Education, Journalism Education Association, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Council for the Social Studies, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Science Teaching Association, National Writing Project, Public Broadcasting System Education, Young Adult Library Services Association, and others. 22

NAMLE also runs an international research initiative funded by Facebook to assess media literacy in the United States and Australia. 23 NAMLE also supports the Cyber Citizen Education Initiative with the left-of-center New America Foundation and the Florida Center for Instructional Technology 24 and created an election communications toolkit with National Association of State Election Directors. 25

NAMLE’s programs include a national conference, Media Literacy Week, Stop Media Monsters campaign, free online resources, and the Journal of Media Literacy Education. 26

Events and Programs

National Association for Media Literacy Education has hosted United States Media Literacy Week since 2015. The event is held in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Global Media and Information Literacy Week. 27 28 29

NAMLE’s 2023 media literacy week is sponsored by Meta (formerly known as Facebook), the Google-owned video service YouTube, Twitter, media wire service Thomson Reuters, Roblox, Trend Micro, and Nickelodeon. 30

In 2022, its national conference was sponsored by Chinese-owned social media company TikTok, American social media company Meta (the parent of Facebook), and others. The conference aimed to advance grassroots efforts to create a “systemic change in education.” 31 32 The 2022 conference included a keynote speech from a member of the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center. 33

NAMLE’s 2021 conference focused on the critical race theory-influenced concept of social justice. 34 That same year, NAMLE organized multi-day conferences with the U.S. Department of State to reach participants in 60 different countries. 35 NAMLE has also hosted events with school librarians in which they have shared challenges regarding funding, in-depth legislation to teach media literacy, and implementation of media literacy programs. 36

Race, Equity, and Social Justice Resources

National Association for Media Literacy Education supports the critical race theory-influenced concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion and has expressed the view that addressing systemic racism and social inequity is intrinsic its mission. 37

NAMLE has a curated collection of news and resources on the critical race theory-influenced concepts of race, equity, and social justice. 38 This resource contains links to “social justice lessons” for teachers, social justice math lessons, social and cultural literacy resources, and others on social justice, race, identity, gender, sexual, and police and protest-related topics. These resources come from Equity EDU, Microsoft, George Lucas Educational Foundation, New York Times race and racism resources, 39 PBS Kids, Time magazine, American Federation of Teachers, Learning for Justice, lessons on the death of George Floyd from Facing History and Ourselves, American Library Association, National Education Association, Educators 4 Social Change, Zinn Education Project, WeTeachNYC, Anti-Defamation League, Human Rights Campaign, PEN America, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. 40

NAMLE’s other resource offerings include a parent’s guide to media literacy and guides for what NAMLE identifies as COVID-19 misinformation, 41 incorporation of media literacy education into Common Core education standards, 42 and others. 43

Funding

National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) receives funding from individual donations 44 and grants. NAMLE also conducts Facebook-based fundraisers and Amazon Smile shopping campaigns to raise funds. 45

NAMLE is funded by Facebook, New America, Peace Teach Lab, PECO Foundation, Schulman Family Foundation, Snap, media wire service Thomson Reuters, Tides Foundation, Chinese-owned social media service TikTok, Trend Micro, Twitter, the U.S. Department of State, the video platform subsidiary of Google YouTube, and others. 46

In 2017, NAMLE received $25,000 from the Annenberg Foundation 47 and $12,300 from the MightyCause Charitable Foundation. 48

References

  1. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/.
  2. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/.
  3. “Policies.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. September 30, 2021. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/policies/.
  4. “About.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/.
  5. DiBenedetto, Chase. “New debunking site might be the winning tool in those frustrating Facebook fights.” Mashable. October 6, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://mashable.com/article/misinformation-debunk-website-rumorguard.
  6. “Our Funders.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29,2023. https://namle.net/about/our-team/#our-funders.
  7. [1] “About.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/.
  8. “National Association for Media Literacy Education.” Candid GuideStar. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/84-1482241.
  9. “Michelle Ciulla Lipkin.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ciulla-lipkin-4b842369/.
  10. “About.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/.
  11. Fox, MeiMei. “4 Tools For Developing Critical Media Literacy Skills From NAMLE.” Forbes. December 5, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/meimeifox/2022/12/05/4-tools-for-developing-critical-media-literacy-skills-from-namle/?sh=4185791c67ae.
  12. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/.
  13. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/.
  14. “Policies.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. September 30, 2021. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/policies/.
  15.  “About.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/.
  16. “Tweet.” NAMLE Twitter. Posted July 12, 2022. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://twitter.com/MediaLiteracyEd/status/1546947708946202626.
  17. Panganiban, Rik. “Media Literacy Educator Certification Wins NAMLE Award.” KQED. July 11, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.kqed.org/education/536012/certification-wins-namle-award.
  18. DiBenedetto, Chase. “New debunking site might be the winning tool in those frustrating Facebook fights.” Mashable. October 6, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://mashable.com/article/misinformation-debunk-website-rumorguard.
  19. “Combatting misinformation.” TikTok. Accessed April 2, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/transparency/en-us/combating-misinformation/
  20. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/
  21. “NAMLE 2021: Media Literacy + Social Justice.” National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE). Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namleconference.net/2021conference/theme/.
  22. “National Media Literacy Alliance.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/community/national-media-literacy-alliance/.
  23. “International Research Initiative.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/international-research-initiative/.
  24. “About the Cyber Citizenship Education Initiative.” Cyber Citizenship. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://cybercitizenshipeducation.org/about.
  25. “NASED and NAMLE Launch Free Election Communications Toolkit.” National Association of State Election Directors. September 8, 2022. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.nased.org/news/toolkit.
  26. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/
  27. “Media Literacy Week 2023.” Untied States Media Literacy Week. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://medialiteracyweek.us/.
  28. “MLW Theme.” United States Media Literacy Week. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://medialiteracyweek.us/about/theme/.
  29. “NAMLE Conference.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namleconference.net/.
  30. “Media Literacy Week 2023.” Untied States Media Literacy Week. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://medialiteracyweek.us/.
  31. “NAMLE’s Annual Conference will be held July 15-17, 2022.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. July 6, 2022. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/namle-announces-national-media-literacy-alliance/.
  32. “Photo.” National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) Facebook Page. Posted July 15, 2022. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5754113984618476&set=ecnf.100042207953863.
  33. “Photo.” National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) Facebook. Posted June 24, 2022. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5692524537444088&set=ecnf.100042207953863.
  34. “NAMLE 2021: Media Literacy + Social Justice.” National Association for Media Literacy in Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namleconference.net/2021conference/theme/.
  35. “Donor FAQs.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-faqs/.
  36. Langreo, Lauraine. “Scaling Up Media Literacy Education Is a Big Challenge: 4 Steps to Get Started.” Education Week. March 7, 2023. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/scaling-up-media-literacy-education-is-a-big-challenge-4-steps-to-get-started/2023/03.
  37. “Policies.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. September 30, 2021. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/about/policies/.
  38. “Race, Equity, and Social Justice Resources.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/race-equity-and-social-justice-resources/.
  39. “Resources About Race and Racism with the New York Times.” March 4, 2021. New York Times. Accessed March 29 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/learning/lesson-plans/resources-for-teaching-about-race-and-racism-with-the-new-york-times.html.
  40. “Race, Equity, and Social Justice Resources.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/race-equity-and-social-justice-resources/.
  41. “Fighting Misinformation About Coronavirus.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/fighting-misinformation-about-coronavirus/.
  42. “MLE & Common Core Standards.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 292, 2023. https://namle.net/mle-common-core-standards/.
  43. “Home.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/.
  44. “Donor Impact.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donor-impact/.
  45. “Donate.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://namle.net/donate/.
  46. “Our Funders.” National Association for Media Literacy Education. Accessed March 29,2023. https://namle.net/about/our-team/#our-funders.
  47. “The Annenberg Foundation.” Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2017. Part XV. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/236257083/201823199349102217/IRS990PF.
  48. “Mightycause Charitable Foundation.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). (2017). Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/272499903/201813179349307506/full.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 1999

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $1,120,215 $1,101,262 $384,752 $118,797 N $1,086,497 $27,545 $3,166 $0
    2019 Dec Form 990 $441,150 $249,255 $748,114 $501,112 N $357,422 $83,001 $8 $0 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990EZ $125,529 $124,959 $55,107 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990EZ $196,081 $184,905 $64,854 $10,317 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990EZ $66,294 $79,789 $43,771 $410 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990EZ $198,855 $176,264 $58,857 $2,001 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990EZ $44,790 $67,429 $34,265 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990EZ $110,447 $95,684 $56,904 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990EZ $12,657 $19,961 $42,141 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990EZ $122,655 $95,103 $49,445 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)


    New York, NY