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[February 23, 2010]

Media institute gets new home in Minneapolis: The National Institute on Media and the Family programs, which closed in December, will keep its programs in Minnesota.

Feb 23, 2010 (Star Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The National Institute on Media and the Family, which for years helped parents manage their children's screen time, will transfer most of its programs to a veteran Minneapolis children's nonprofit organization.

The nationally known Search Institute will be the new home for most programs run by the media institute, which closed in December. That includes training programs and website content, such as its popular parent guides on everything from Facebook to YouTube.

The fate of the much-publicized Video Game Report Cards remains uncertain, and founder David Walsh will no longer play the central role. But the move keeps Walsh's institute in Minnesota and allows Minnesotans easy access to speakers and information that many parents have come to rely on.

"With the Search Institute, we knew they would be able to carry on our work," said Walsh. "They're 50 years old. And they've successfully kept up with emerging [children and family] issues." The timing was perfect, said Peter Benson, president of the Search Institute. Even before Walsh's organization began looking for a new home, the Search Institute had decided to crank up its services and website content for parents.

"The institute was a treasure," said Gene Roehlkepartain, vice president of the Search Institute. "Our hope is to keep as much of it alive as we can, helping it reach new constituencies as well as keeping the old ones." The announcement comes shortly after the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report indicating that American children ages 8 to 18 spend an average of seven hours and 38 minutes per day in front of a computer, TV or video screen. Helping parents navigate this barrage of screen time was a mission of the National Institute on Media and the Families, and one that Walsh expects to continue in its new home.

The Search Institute is best known for developing and promoting "developmental assets" for successfully raising children. It has a local staff of 40 plus a team of trainers throughout the country. The annual budget is $7 million.

Each year, the institute trains about 10,000 educators nationwide; its information and training materials are sent to 50,000 people. Its website receives about 20,000 unique visitors a month.

Revamping online tools That number is expected to jump significantly in the year ahead, as the Search Institute revamps its online parenting tools this spring -- with the addition of Walsh's materials.

The name "National Institute on Media and Family" will no longer exist, said Roehlkepartain.

Fairview Health Services, the media institute's main funder, transferred all assets of the organization -- including trademarks, publications and training materials -- free of charge to the Search Institute.

Jean Hopfensperger --612-673-4511 To see more of the Star Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.startribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Star Tribune, Minneapolis Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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