Pam Steager

Pam Steager is the Director of Community Engagement at the Media Education Lab. Pam leads COURAGEOUS RI, a media literacy initative that brings people together for interactive, hands-on discussion that counters disinformation, enhances civic participation, and improves media literacy. 

Pam is an expert in media literacy education. Her thirty-year career in the education and human service fields included directing substance abuse and violence prevention programs in school systems, prisons and communities in RI and MA, which led to her interest in media literacy. After completing the Media Literacy Felton Scholars program with Dr. Renee Hobbs in 1999, she directed the Media SmART! Project in the Providence Public Schools, a federally-funded initiative which brought media literacy and media production education to educators, parents and students. She created curriculum and presented workshops and keynote addresses at conferences and institutes. Since then, she has trained more than 4,000 educators, librarians and journalists throughout the United States and internationally. Pam is also a media creator. She authored a newspaper column for the Providence Phoenix for 15 years, has produced videos and community access television, contributed to blogs and podcasts, and has performed as an actress, storyteller, and stand-up comedian. With co-authors Renee Hobbs and Liz Deslauriers, she wrote The Library Screen Scene, a book on film and media programs in school and public libraries, published by Oxford University Press in 2019.