Sustainable Media Center

Our mission is to act as a catalyst for change—partnering with GenZ to give them agency over the digital world they navigate, create, and influence every day.

From social platforms to generative AI, today’s digital environment shapes how we connect, communicate, and understand what’s true.

We believe young people deserve more than protection—they deserve power.

Through tools, funding, and cross-generational support, we help GenZ lead the way—guided by a framework we call Social Intelligence: technology built with values, purpose, and human insight.

A System on Trial
SustainableMedia.Center – 02/04/2026 (01:17:00)

https://youtu.be/yDdCEV2ihSs

This is a test of how NotebookLM can create a “brief video” from this SMC onAir post consisting of publicly available content… mostly sourced from SMC website and YouTube channel.

OnAir Post: Sustainable Media Center

Steven Rosenbaum is an American entrepreneur, filmmaker, and author recognized as a pioneer in video curation and user-generated content (UGC). He is currently the Executive Director of the Sustainable Media Center, a nonprofit focused on improving the digital ecosystem.
Key Professional Roles

Executive Director, Sustainable Media Center: Leads efforts to explore the impact of AI and social media on truth and society.
“Father of UGC”: Created the groundbreaking MTV series MTV News Unfiltered, which was one of the first broadcast programs to use viewer-generated footage.
Filmmaker: Directed and produced numerous documentaries, most notably 7 Days in September (2002), a highly praised film documenting the week following the 9/11 attacks.
Tech Entrepreneur: Founded Magnify.net (later Waywire), a video curation and aggregation platform.
Author: Has written several books on media and technology, including Curation Nation, Curate This!, and his latest, The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality.

Source: Wikipedia

Steven SizzleReel v6
Magnify Media /BNN / CameraPlanet / – 30/11/2025 (03:06)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJAm0xoYJc0

Steven SizzleReel v6 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJAm0xoYJc0)

OnAir Post: Steven Rosenbaum

Emma Lembke

Emma Lembke is a leading Gen Z digital rights advocate. A 2025 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied political science and psychology, Lembke now serves on the Gen Z Advisory Board of the Sustainable Media Center. She will be joining the organization full-time in New York working on youth-led strategies for platform accountability and digital reform.

At SXSW 2025, Lembke delivered a keynote introducing ACTV8.Media, a groundbreaking co-design incubator developed in partnership with the Sustainable Media Center. ACTV8 empowers Gen Z creators to build the next generation of social technologies—with mental health, safety, and civic well-being baked into the code.

Lembke has testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, met with White House officials, and been featured in The New York Times, NPR, CBS News, and Bloomberg. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2024.

Source: Sustainable Media Center

Gen Z vs. the Algorithm: Building a New Public Square (Emma Lembke and Steven Rosenbaum 11/11/25).
SustainableMedia.Center – 30/11/2025 (09:20)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYCTwp5rXM

In this talk, Steve Rosenbaum and Emma Lembke from the Sustainable Media Center lay out why the digital public square is falling apart — and what it will take to rebuild it. They argue that today’s social platforms profit from division, turning public conversation into a commodity and eroding trust across communities, markets, and democracy itself.

Emma shares her own experience growing up inside the algorithm and explains how Gen Z is pushing back by organizing, advocating, and redesigning digital spaces from the inside out. Steve reflects on the early promise of the internet and how algorithmic systems have reversed much of that optimism.

Together, they introduce the Sustainable Media Center’s initiatives: Actv8.Media, a Gen Z–led incubator building healthier platforms; the Social Intelligence Framework, which reimagines data control and AI; and a new Safe Social certification to help families and policymakers recognize healthier digital environments.

Their call to action is straightforward: treat conversation as public infrastructure, fund alternatives to outrage-driven platforms, and build a digital world where truth and trust support both democracy and the economy. The public square isn’t lost — it’s unfinished — and they invite partners to help build what comes next.

OnAir Post: Emma Lembke