In an interview this month with Fortune Magazine Ryan Seacrest talks about what he considers the exciting future of entertainment.
”We’re seeing platform, technology, and content all converging, and it’s happening quickly,” he says. “It’s exciting to me.
There’s an appetite for more original content than ever, and I have a company that creates content, whether it’s distributed in short form, reality form, live form, or game form.”
However, what stories might television viewers expect to see from the Emmy-award winning Jaime Oliver and record-breaking Kardashian’s producer?
However, what stories might television viewers expect to see from the Emmy-award winning Jaime Oliver 'Food Revolution' and record-breaking Kardashian’s producer?
Ryan reveals he desires: “to continue to produce shows that directly effect change. We’ve gone too long without addressing issues like child obesity, so to be able to tell those stories and help people through television is a powerful thing.”
Lady Gaga on Wednesday launched the Born This Way Foundation to support programs dealing with youth empowerment and help people facing bullying and abandonment.
To date, Lady Gaga has harnessed the power of the Internet to attract more than 44 million fans on Facebook and 15 million followers on Twitter.
The foundation, named after her Grammy-winning album and single of the same name, was launched by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta.
"My mother and I have initiated a passion project. Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment."
Leukemia kills more children each year than any other disease, but YOU can do something about it.
Click here to find out more about DoSomething.org's "Give A Spit About Cancer" campaign. Learn how you can start a donor drive at your school and how to sign up to swab your cheek and you could save a life.
That's it. Painless, easy, simple.
Here are some quick facts about leukemia and young people:
Leukemia kills more children each year than any other disease.
Young people age 18-24 are the bone marrow donors needed most.
Only 30% of patients needing a marrow transplant can find a match within their family. The rest rely on complete strangers.
Currently, the likelihood of finding a matching donor is 66 to 93 percent, depending on race or ethnicity. Minority donors are most needed.
Donating marrow isn’t as scary as it sounds — and there are 2 ways to give, one that’s much like giving blood but takes a bit longer.
Ryan Seacrest, known in Hollywood circles as the busiest (and nicest) man in showbiz and host of American Idol, has launched the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF).
The mission of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) is to enhance the quality of life for seriously ill and injured children through unique programs that utilize multimedia and interactive platforms to enlighten, entertain and educate.
RSF’s first initiative is to build broadcast media centers, named THE VOICE, within pediatric hospitals for children to explore the creative realms of radio, television and new media as well as contribute positively to the healing process.
The Voice media centers have already opened in Atlanta and Philadelphia, with plans to eventually build up to 10 of the broadcast centers at pediatric hospitals around the country.
In addition, RSF will also reach out to the community and involve students from local journalism schools, colleges and universities to provide them with the opportunity to gain first hand experience in broadcasting, programming and operating a multimedia center.
There's lots of research in the educational media space on how the use of multimedia, social and digital technologies allows young people see themselves as an active participant, in the pilot's seat or director's chair, as they chart new connections between diverse and often unpredictable worlds of knowledge.
This is especially important for children who are critically ill. They spend so much time in the hospital letting doctors, nurses and other medical techs deciding what and when they do just about anything.
To be critically ill means giving up control. A lot of control. 'The Voice' project is important because it's the only part of a child's stay in the hospital where they--not the doctors or nurses--are in control.
They get to decide what song to play. They get to decide what button to push. Most importantly, it's a part of their day that doesn't revolve around heavy life threatening decisions, medicines, needles or any of the hard work of being a patient.
It's just fun. And that's the best medicine of all.
Connect with the Seacrest Foundation on Twitter and Facebook
Those cutle little "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes are going high tech!
Thanks to a partnership with Microsoft TAG, kids can now ask you to scan the barcode on the side of the box with your smartphone and donate any amount--on the spot.
No smartphone? No problem. You can also contribute $10 by texting the word "TOT" to UNICEF (864233).
On September 1st, Cindy Lauper is set to open the first permanent housing facility of its kind in New York City focused on providing housing for homeless families, LGBT youth and the elderly.
'In New York City, a very disproportionate number (up to 40 percent), of homeless youth identify as L.G.B.T.
Even more disturbing are reports that these young people often face discrimination and at times physical assault in some of the very places they have to for help. This is shocking and inexcusable!' — Cyndi Lauper
Cindy is one of several celebrities and corporations who are using their star power to shine a focus on the issue of homeless youth. I've previously blogged about Lady Gaga and Virgin Mobile partnership on the Re*Generation project to raise awareness and donations for services that work with homeless teens.
The organization encourages American girls to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for their counterparts in the developing world.
Funds raised through Girl Up will support proven United Nations programs that help the hardest-to-reach girls in such countries as Malawi, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Liberia.
Do you know someone who would make a great Girl Up Teen Advisor? Nominate her today! Nominations will be open until Friday, May 27th at midnight. Candidates chosen to continue through the application process will be notified on Wednesday, June 1st and sent the full application to complete.
Participants, including Howard Gardner, Craig Watkins, Nichole Pinkard, Joe Kahne, Sandra Day O’Connor and Arne Duncan, will address effective strategies to promote civic learning and participation among today’s youth.
The focus will be on new ways to engage students in the political process, with an emphasis on recent innovations and new technology designed to inspire students to become active and informed citizens.
All six films—running between five and ten minutes and covering issues from public health to poverty—are now available to watch for free here.
The final film to be released, Youth Build: BuildingYouth, will also premiere at the first-ever Building a Grad Nation Summit in Washington D.C. this week.
Filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern created this film, drawn from a longer documentary which highlights Youth Build's innovative approach to supporting young under-served urban Americans as they work to graduate high school and continue their education.
Click here to read more about the Youth Build program, or watch the short film.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.2 million children in America are at risk of hunger. Of the 37 million Americans served annually by Feeding America member food banks, nearly 14 million are children under the age of 18.
Here are some facts about child hunger in America:
Research indicates that even mild under-nutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth impacts their behavior, school performance, and cognitive development.
Children who are hungry may not perform well academically.
Children who are hungry may experience slower growth and inhibited brain development.
Children who are hungry may suffer from more stomach aches, headaches, colds, ear infections, and fatigue.
During the school year, about 20.5 million children depend on free or reduced-price school meals to help keep them from going hungry.
The 30-minute special, hosted by Al Roker with Natalie Morales, gives viewers a better understanding about the negative effects of hunger on children and how they can help end child hunger.
The special kicks off ConAgra Foods’ annual Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. From March through May 2011, ConAgra Foods will embark on its largest branded initiative to fight child hunger in the United States.
Consumers can purchase select ConAgra Foods brands and, when they enter their code online, the company will donate one meal to Feeding America — up to 2.5 million meals during this time period.
In this Facebook Live event, filmed at the IFC House at SXSW 2011, Soleil Moon Frye and Randi Zuckerberg talk about how moms use social media, like Facebook, to connect with each other to share ideas, solutions and to handle the daily stress of parenthood.
One interesting stat from Randi Zuckerberg: moms are the most engaged demographic on Facebook. Who knew?
UNICEF has released their annual report, The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity, which examines the global state of adolescents; outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation; and explores the risks and vulnerabilities of this pivotal stage.
The report highlights the singular opportunities that adolescence offers, both for adolescents themselves and for the societies they live in.
The accumulated evidence demonstrates that investing in adolescents' second decade is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and of laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world.
The United Nations Foundation is launching its newest campaign – Girl Up – which encourages American girls to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for their counterparts in the developing world.
Girl Up will raise awareness about the 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries and encourages American girls to give back.
Funds raised through Girl Up will support proven United Nations programs that help the hardest-to-reach girls in such countries as Malawi, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Liberia.
Campaign supporters are encouraged to give a “High Five” to girls in developing countries by taking five minutes to learn about the issues facing girls or by donating $5 or more to provide girls with such basic needs as access to school supplies, clean water, life-saving health services, safety from violence and more.
Quick Facts about Girls:
More than half of the world’s 1.5 billion young people (ages 10-25) are adolescent girls living in developing countries.
Girls make up more than 50% of the world’s 143M out-of-school youth.
1 in 7 girls in the developing world is married before the age of 15.
Up to 50% of girls in developing countries become mothers before the age of 18.
In some countries, girls spend up to 15 hours a day obtaining water for their families and villages.
1/6 of the world’s young people live on less than $2 a day, including 122 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa who live on less than $1 a day
There are 21 million girls ages 10-19 living in the United States – more educated, socially connected and empowered today than ever before in history.
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