The Media Awareness Network (MNet) grew out of the TV violence initiative launched by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in the early 1990s. The new organization actually started life as part of the National Film Board of Canada.
MNet was incorporated as an independent entity in 1996, under the joint leadership of co-directors Jan D’Arcy and Anne Taylor plus a volunteer board that included representatives from leading Canadian media companies, and both the public and the non-profit sectors.
Since then, MNet has built upon its original foundation, and now plays a seminal role in advancing media education in Canada. Located in Ottawa, the organization today hosts the largest online media education resource in Canada on its large and evolving Web site, at .
MNet Milestones
1994
Initially housed within the Ottawa offices of the National Film Board of Canada, the concept of Media Awareness Network begins to take shape. The year is spent networking, gathering information, and fundraising.
1995
The Media Awareness Network receives seed funding from Bell Canada, CBC, WIC - Western International Communications, CHUM Television, Health Canada, Justice Canada, Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
1996
MNet launches its pioneering media education Web site, and incorporates as a national non-profit organization.
1997
MNet receives its first NAWeb Award (World Wide Web Courseware Developers’ Association), in the category of Best Educational Web Site, Private. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of Web-based instruction.
Hits to MNet’s Web site reach an average of 113,000 per month.
1998
MNet receives a hat trick of awards: the Magic Lantern Award, recognizing outstanding achievement in the field of media literacy in Canadian education; the AMTEC (Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada) Award of Excellence for outstanding achievement in educational multimedia; and its second NAWeb Award, this time for Best Educational Web Site, grades K-12.
MNet also launches its first CD-ROM aimed at children: an Internet education game entitled Privacy Playground: The Adventures of the Three Little CyberPigs.
Hits to the MNet Web site now average just over 500,000 per month.
1999
The federal government grants MNet charitable status.
In recognition of its extensive collection of anti-racism education resources, MNet is awarded the inaugural Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence.
MNet launches its Web Awareness Canada program with an Ontario pilot project. The program draws on advice and support from an advisory committee comprising libraries, the education sector, and the federal government.
The number of hits to the Web site continues to increase steadily, to around a million per month.
2000
The Web Awareness Canada program is rolled out across the country.
MNet launches its second Internet education game for children on CD-ROM, CyberSense and Nonsense: The Second Adventures Of the Three Little CyberPigs.
MNet releases the results of Canada’s first survey of Canadian parents on the subject of their children’s Internet use, entitled Canada’s Children in a Wired World: The Parents’ View.
The 30-second television spot Take a Minute — MNet’s first public service announcement (PSA) — is aired.
Monthly hits to MNet’s Web site reach 2,000,000.
2001
The Media Awareness Network’s Web Awareness program, which promotes safe, wise and responsible Internet use, is featured prominently in the government’s Cyberwise strategy.
MNet launches a new English-language PSA entitled The New ABCs (produced by CTV), and also PSAs promoting Internet literacy, in both English and French, produced by Shaw Communications Inc.
MNet releases the results of its ground-breaking survey of almost 6,000 Canadian students: Young Canadians In A Wired World: The Students’ View.
Monthly hits to MNet’s Web site reach 3,000,000, for a total of 25.8 million hits during 2001.
2002
The Media Awareness Network combines forces with the Girl Guides of Canada to launch You Go Girl in Technology – an innovative national Internet literacy program for girls and young women that will include the development of a special badge and mentoring program.
2003
MNet teams up with the Canadian Library Association and Bell Canada for an awareness initiative to promote the leadership role that libraries play in helping young Canadians to become media literate. The project also promotes the availability of MNet’s Web Awareness Canada resources through public libraries.
MNet unveils a redesigned Web site that features expanded content and resources, as well as improved usability and navigation.
