John J. Pungente, SJ, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, entered the Society of Jesus in 1957. He has a Master's degree in English from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington; a Master's degree in Film from San Francisco State University; and a Master of Theology degree from St. Mary's University in Halifax . Thunder Bay ’s Lakehead University granted him an honorary Doctorate in May 1999. St. Thomas University in Fredericton did likewise in May 2003. In November 2006, Regis College, University of Toronto will also grant him an honorary doctorate.

Following ordination in 1971, Pungente was assigned to St. Paul 's, the Jesuit high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba , as teacher of Media, English and Religion. He also served as Student Counsellor, Yearbook Moderator and Director of Student Drama. In 1972, he was named first chair of the newly formed Manitoba Film Classification Board, a position he held until his appointment as Principal of St. Paul's in 1976. In 1983, Pungente was assigned to the Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture in London, England , where he conducted a two-year research project on media literacy around the world. The results were published in 1985’s Getting Started On Media Education.

Pungente also co-authored Media Literacy: A Resource Guide, for the Government of Ontario in 1989, and Meet the Media in 1990, a text for 11 to 15 year olds. He has contributed to a number of international media literacy journals, as well as written chapters for books on media literacy published by universities in Mexico, Japan, Spain and Canada . He produced the award-winning video A Heart to Understand and 1996’s Scanning Television, a kit containing four hours of TV excerpts and teaching notes. Scanning Television won the Bronze Award at the 1996 Madison International Film Festival and the Gold Medal, Education Category at the 1996 New York Festivals of International Non-Broadcast Media. Scanning Television 2 – with 51 new excerpts from TV and film – was released in January 2003 and has won two first prize awards at festivals.

Pungente is creator, producer, writer and host of the award-winning Bravo! monthly television show, Scanning the Movies, which premiered in September 1997. The series is designed to assist teachers of media literacy classes in teaching about contemporary movies. A study guide written by media educator Neil Andersen accompanies each show and is available on the CHUM Media Education website.

In May 1999, McClelland and Stewart published More than Meets the Eye: Watching TV Watching Us , which Pungente co-wrote with Martin O’Malley.

In October 2004, Novalis published Finding God in the Dark , which Pungente co-authored with Monty William, SJ. A media critic and a spiritual counselor/retreat director combine a particular spiritual literacy (Ignatian) with media literacy to make mainstream movie-viewing a way to promote spiritual growth. The book took first place at the Catholic Press Association Awards in 2005.

Since 1985, Pungente has served as the Executive Secretary of the Ontario-based Association for Media Literacy and has worked on the organization of the first and second North American Media Education conferences. In 1992, he was one of the founders of the Canadian Association for Media Education Organizations.

Pungente has taught summer sessions in media literacy for CHUM Television in Vancouver, Victoria and London, and at the Faculties of Education at the University of Manitoba, Waterloo University and at the University of Toronto, as well as for the Surrey, BC Board of Education, Greater Victoria School Board and the British Columbia Teachers Federation. He also taught twice yearly night courses to teachers at the Hamilton Wentworth Roman Catholic Separate School Board. Currently he is a sessional professor of Media Literacy at Regis College, University of Toronto.

Since 1985 he has given over 500 presentations, workshops and lectures on Media Literacy in Canada, Australia, Britain, Spain, France, Poland, Austria, Japan and the USA . He serves as a consultant to a number of media professional groups including CHUM Television, the National Film Board of Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, YTV, TVOntario and Warner Bros. Entertainment Canada Inc.

In 1995, he was elected president of the Canadian Association of Media Education Organizations (CAMEO) and was also named recipient of the Jessie McCanse award given by the National Telemedia Council for excellence in the field of media literacy. In 2001, Magic Lantern Corporation named him Canadian media educator of the year. He was co-organizer of Summit 2000, an international conference that was held in Toronto for media professionals and media educators in May 2000. Summit 2000 attracted 1,400 people from 54 countries.

Working with Face to Face Media, he is currently developing an online university course for Canadian teachers of media literacy. The course – Inside Plato’s Cave – will be online in January 2008. The project is being supported by Citytv Vancouver and CHUM Television.

Pungente is Director of the Jesuit Communication Project in Toronto where he continues his main work of promoting media education across Canada.