As we wind down the year, let's reflect on the success of our podcast. In the last year, HCT has reached over 30,000 people. We are grateful! Here is an encore of our very first episode.
Long-time health, science and technology journalist and PACEs Connection founder Jane Stevens joins PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren to do a deep dive into why people aren’t getting an accurate picture about violence in their communities in this encore episode — our first episode, in fact — which was recorded in February, 2022.
According to Stevens, the state of violence reporting boils down to the fact that the news media unintentionally provide misinformation about violence. In this surprising discussion, we learn that the basics of crime reporting haven’t changed much since the late 1890s. Essentially, it’s the man-bites-dog approach: the unusual, not the normal.
Case in point: Although domestic violence comprises most aggravated assault and causes the most damage to communities in the U.S. economically and emotionally, it’s hardly reported. Yet, in many communities, up to one-third of the operating budget goes to dealing with domestic violence and its consequences.
As Stevens relates, the irony is that although change is journalism’s bread and butter, getting the journalism community to modernize is like moving a mountain with a spoon and a bucket.
Stevens and Cockhren discuss solutions as to how the news media can jettison their old ways by integrating knowledge of the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences and, in the process, provide an accurate picture of violence in their communities, reduce and prevent violence, help reduce systemic racism and its effects, and significantly increase their readership.
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