Common Sense Media Receives MacArthur Grant

SAN FRANCISCO, August 19, 2008 – Common Sense Media, the nation's leading nonprofit organization working to improve kids' media lives, is the recipient of a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The $500,000 grant follows a $250,000 planning grant in 2007, and supports the development of a comprehensive digital media education program for parents. As kids shift from being consumers to creators of media, this grant helps a new generation make the most of new technology. By engaging parents and educators, Common Sense Media hopes to raise a generation of kids who, as they create and consume media, are safe, smart, and ethical.

"We are honored to be recognized by the MacArthur Foundation," says CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, Jim Steyer. "MacArthur has been visionary in their understanding and approach to this profound change in our children's lives. We will continue to work with the most forward-thinking researchers as we create a set of best practices for digital media. Kids are living online -- we help parents understand and make the most of this new world."

As part of the year-long grant, Common Sense Media will leverage its Web site, commonsensemedia.org; its online, cable, and retail distribution partnerships; and outreach into schools to understand parents' concerns and deliver materials to a broad audience.

This grant will continue the work that Common Sense Media and the MacArthur Foundation have started at forums across the country, and is part of MacArthur's $50-million digital media and learning initiative.

Common Sense Media is the nation's leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the impact of media and entertainment on kids and families. Common Sense Media provides trustworthy ratings and reviews of media and entertainment based on child development criteria created by leading national experts. For more information, visit www.commonsensemedia.org.

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. MacArthur's $50-million digital media and learning initiative seeks to gain a better understanding of how digital technologies are changing how young people learn, play, socialize, exercise judgment, and engage in civic life. More information is available at www.macfound.org or www.digitallearning.macfound.org.