FEBRUARY 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 29
Girl power and the media
Nonprofit gives young women crash course in media savvy
The Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau
County has been assisting children and
adults with disabilities since 1948. As we
celebrate 70 years of providing vital
services to our community we hope you will
consider getting involved! We welcome
volunteers, donors, attendees at events and
event sponsors! If you or someone you
know needs our services, contact us!
516-378-2000 x 355
www.cpnassau.org
stereotypes, and use social media
more responsibly both in terms of
what they post and read.”
McNair and her team train
students in male-dominated
technical roles, such as camera,
sound, and graphic work. They are
also educated on social issues that
affect them both as women and LI
We love our
friends in the
community!
FREE: Soup, hot
dogs & coffee!
Much has been written about the
media’s negative impact on how
young women see themselves, but
one group of nonprofit visionaries
is taking action by giving girls the
skills to recast themselves.
The organizers of Long Island Girl
Talk (LIGT) meet with Long Island
middle school and high schoolaged
girls once a month to provide
workshops that teach them how
to film episodes of their own local
cable TV show.
“LIGT is about more than teaching
girls how to produce their own
media,” said Marcia McNair,
a Nassau Community College
journalism professor who’s the
executive director and founder
of the group. “It’s about creating
a generation of more thoughtful
consumers of media. We want
our girls to think twice about
their viewing choices, recognize
Star Wars
Characters !
residents. The goal is to boost their
self-esteem by allowing them to
create their own media presence
that celebrates the average girl.
The work they do has the added
benefit of helping the girls develop
leadership skills.
Seven in 10 girls “believe that
they are not good enough or don’t
measure up in some way, including
their looks, performance in school,
and relationships with friends and
family members,” according to
dosomething.org.
Having a hand in producing
media instead of just consuming
it has helped young girls who are
struggling with their sense of selfworth
and personal empowerment.
“It’s been an opportunity of a
lifetime,” says Kelly-Ann Rivera,
LIGT’s director of production.
Tune in to Long Island Girl Talk
on Cablevision Ch. 115 at 6 p.m.
Saturdays, on Verizon Ch. 40 at
12 p.m. Mondays and 6:30 p.m.
Thursdays and on YouTube. They
will also be hosting their First
Annual Girls Empowerment
Conference at Roosevelt Public
Library 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March
17. For more information, visit
longislandgirltalk.org
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Long Island Girl Talk empowers young women with leadership skills.
