Reclaim the Media presents our latest and most fun media literacy tool: Media Heroes Trading Cards, recognizing the accomplishments of twenty-one praiseworthy journalists, media activists, and educators. The lovely and informative cards, available now for purchase online, are a fantastic teaching tool for students, or an exciting gift for friends, family or budding media activists. Media heroes being honored include historical figures such as legendary anti-lynching reporter Ida B. Wells and Newspaper Guild founder Heywood Broun; also recognized are contemporary media movers and shakers, including Bill Moyers, Paper Tiger TV co-founder DeeDee Halleck, Puerto Rican community activist Richie Pérez and others. Read more, browse our complete list of heroes, and tell us about your own media heroes!

Reclaim the Media is honoring some of its media heroes by publishing a deck of trading cards recognizing the accomplishments of twenty-one praiseworthy journalists, media activists, and educators.

The honored media heroes include historical figures such as legendary anti-lynching reporter Ida B. Wells, Newspaper Guild founder Heywood Broun, and Elias Boudinot, founder/editor of the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. Also recognized are contemporary media movers and shakers, including intrepid PBS producer Bill Moyers, Paper Tiger TV co-founder DeeDee Halleck, Puerto Rican community activist Richie Pérez, and others. Organizations or collaborations singled out for hero status include news program Democracy Now!, media watch group FAIR, and the Children's Television Workshop, creators of Sesame Street.

RTM executive director Jonathan Lawson said of the cards: "We're proud to honor just a small handful of our heroes - media activists, journalists and teachers who have worked passionately and creatively to promote justice and civic engagement. We hope that these educational cards will inspire more people to follow the examples of our heroes – expanding critical conversations about journalism, and ensuring the health of media that supports democratic values and communications rights."

Each 'Media Heroes' card features original artwork by Seattle artist Michael Leavitt and a brief biographical profile. The cards, set to make a national debut this week at the National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis, are also available as a deck from Reclaim the Media's website. The website also invites visitors to submit their own media heroes.

The complete list of honorees is as follows:

• Elias Boudinot, editor of the Cherokee Phoenix
• Heywood Broun, founder of the Newspaper Guild
• Children's Television Workshop, creators of Sesame Street
• Democracy Now!, independent news program
• Frederick Douglass, editor of the North Star
• Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, media watch organization
• DeeDee Halleck, filmmaker and media activist
• Lew Hill, founder of Pacifica Radio
• Indymedia, network of grassroots media collectives
• Florynce Kennedy, feminist media activist
• Jean Kilbourne, media literacy educator
• Myoung Joon Kim,labor media activist
• Dirk Koning, community media activist
• Media Justice
• Bill Moyers, PBS producer
• Rev. Everett Parker, civil rights leader
• Richie Pérez, community activist
• Prometheus Radio Project, low-power radio activist group
• Ruben Salazar, print/TV journalist
• María Suárez Toro, feminist radio producer
• Ida B. Wells, investigative journalist

Based in Seattle since 2002, Reclaim the Media provides public education and advocacy on media issues, as part of a movement to achieve a more just media system. The group is a founding member of both the national Media and Democracy Coalition and the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net).

More on RTM's media heroes

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