Noting that America is behind several countries in media studies and that efforts to introduce systematic study and use of media in the curriculum has been sporadic, this paper calls for the introduction of media studies in the social science curriculum of American high schools. Two projects are examined as possible means of helping spread media studies across the social sciences. "Channel One," a controversial new television news program for teenagers which is commercially sponsored and airs daily in six United States high schools, is described as offering an opportunity for students to analyze critically mass-mediated messages. The paper reports that although criticism has come from those who do not like the idea of schools providing "captive audiences" for advertisers, proponents feel the programming provides an excellent opportunity for high school social science teachers to encourage students to become critical consumers of the mass media. Video report cards, produced by journalism instructors and distributed to parents of college students enrolled in their writing classes, are described as they represent an attempt to better utilize media technology in the evaluation process. (NH)