Move to new blog…
I’ve decided to combine my many bloggins sites into one great whole-my new single blog for all areas of my exciting life will be www.karmellarson.wordpress.com. See you there!
Editorial Published in today’s Daily Herald
My first editorial was published last week in the Springville Herald and it ran today in the Daily Herald. Here’s the link if you’re interested.
Chapter Director Training in New Orleans
I just got back from a great trip to New Orleans sponsored and paid for by the PTC. They are so well funded and organized! Here I am in the French Quarter. Our hotel was just beautiful and quaint!
It was fantastic training and so fun as well. Here are some new friends I met…
They are the new chapter directors I met in New Orleans. We all learned so much from Gavin, the national Grassroots Director. Here’s me with Gavin, and the PR Specialist, Kelly.
And here’s a final gathering of the whole group at the training before we headed back to the airport. The entire trip including travel time was less than 48 hours!
We’ll all reconvene in February 2009 for the annual conference in CA. Until then we’ll be busy building our local chapter and educating parents on media!
Garbage In-Garbage Out
Here’s an editorial that I’m submitting to local papers. I’ll post a link if any publish it.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
In the 1970s a popular poem taught us that children “learn what they live,” and in recent years, we’ve seen the truth of that maxim played out in schools and playgrounds across the country. An entire genre of music, popularized and pushed into the mainstream by greedy corporations, has taught a generation of children that the road to success is paved with drugs, violence and sex.
The Parents Television Council, in cooperation with Reverend Delman Coates’ Enough is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment recently released an analysis of adult content appearing on Rap City and 106 & Park on BET and MTV’s Sucker Free on MTV — music video programs popular with young audiences — and found that offensive/adult content appeared at an alarming rate: one instance every 38 seconds. (more…)
New Chapter Website Up and Running
You can now visit the Utah County PTC Chapter website.
The following is a press release that went out to announce the opening of our new chapter:
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2008
Parents Television Council Introduces Utah County Chapter
Mother of Four to Lead Fourth Utah Chapter
LOS ANGELES (July 10, 2008) – The Parents Television Council™, the nation’s most influential advocacy organization protecting children from graphic sex, violence and profanity in the media, announced Karmel Larson as the director of the Utah County Chapter.
A dedicated mother of four, Larson is appalled by the plethora of negative messages that crowd television programming. “I am stunned by the inappropriate content on television that is so readily fed to young children. I look forward to working with the PTC to help clean up the airwaves and to help our children. There is power in numbers, and I think it all starts with educating the parents. Once we get more and more parents involved, I know we can make a significant difference in protecting our children,” said Larson.
As the voice of the PTC in her community, her chapter will implement the PTC’s national initiatives at the local level, in an effort to bring forth positive changes in television programming in the community. Larson and her chapter will focus on increasing local awareness about the impact that sex, violence and profanity in the media have on children by providing the community with the latest news and research regarding television programming.
Larson, in addition to being a mother and a working professional, is an activist and longtime volunteer for her community. She is presently the Utah Valley Chapter President for American Mothers, Inc., a non-profit organization that focuses on strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of home-life for families. She is an actively involved committee member for both the White Ribbon Campaign, which is an effort to fight pornography, and Partners for Infants and Children (PIC). She has spent much of her time volunteering with hospitals, the Red Cross, the Center for Women & Children in Crisis, and for students with disabilities. Larson graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in social work. Larson currently works as a realtor and a homemaker.
PTC President Tim Winter said, “Passion is the key to success, and Karmel’s passion for helping children and families has made her a community leader. Her experience as an activist with other family organizations should help her to achieve great things for her community, as well as for families across the nation. We welcome her to the growing family of PTC chapter leaders.”
To join the effort, contact me at karmel.larson@gmail.com. (it’s free, simple and you can do as little or as much as fits your busy schedule).
Materials Have Arrived
I’m excited to begin grassroots efforts here in UT County to support the efforts of the PTC! My large box from headquarters just arrived yesterday, containing newsletters, booklets, brochures, PTC shirt, all sorts of PTC to pass out, educate and support their effort. Time to organize my first luncheon to pass along this important message!
First Contact with PTC Headquarters
I had a phone call today with Kevin and Gavin from the PTC main offices. They are preparing the final items to publish a press release announcing me to be the Utah County Director for Parents’ Television Council. I’m excited to begin supporting this important work.
