
SHORT BIO
Frank W. Baker is a graduate of the
University of Georgia (ABJ, Journalism). He worked
in television news from 1977 to 1986, at stations in South Carolina, Maryland
and Florida.
In 1987, he joined the Orange County (Orlando, FL) Public School System as an
administrator in
the areas of Instructional TV/Distance Education. While there, he
collaborated with both
Time Warner Cable and The Orlando Sentinel (NIE) to bring media literacy education to
teachers and
students in the nation’s 16th
largest school district. (See 1995
article from Orlando Sentinel;
1996 article
from Cable In The Classroom magazine.) Upon returning to South Carolina
in 1997,
he taught a college level media literacy course for educators and developed a
nationally recognized
media literacy resource website. His 1999
content
analysis of all 50 state's teaching standards
revealed that almost all states standards include "elements of media literacy." He is
past president
of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (formerly The Alliance
For A Media Literate
America) and past vice-president of
the National Telemedia Council (NTC). He is a frequent
presenter
at schools and conferences across the
United States. He has presented at the national conferences
of the International Reading Association,
The National Middle Schools Assn., and the National Council of
Teachers of English. Frank worked for
South Carolina ETV
(PBS network), from February 1998-mid
June 2003.
He has assisted the SC State
Department of Education's
English Language
Arts team in revising the state
teaching standards to include elements of
media literacy. Portions of
his film study guide to the classic
"To Kill A Mockingbird" have been published
in Australian SCREEN EDUCATION. He served
on the National
Council for Teachers of English
"Commission on Media"
from 2005-2008. His first book, "Coming
Distractions:
Questioning Movies,"
was published in
January 2007 by Capstone
Press. In
June 2007, Frank's work was
recognized by the National PTA
and the National Cable TV
Assn. with the national
"Leaders In Learning"
award.
He contributed a lesson plan to the NCTE text:
Lesson Plans
for Creating Media-Rich Classrooms
His second book, "Political Campaigns & Political Advertising: A Media Literacy Guide"
was published
June 30, 2009 by Greenwood Press.
Currently, he is an educational consultant.