American Press Institute
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
A recently published guide from Berkeley Media Studies Group is designed for advocates who are trying to help the public understand firearm violence. But it can also help journalists, suggests Kaitlin Washburn, health beat leader for firearm violence and trauma at the Association of Health Care Journalists. The messaging guide includes an analysis of the kinds of “framing and reporting patterns often found in news reports on gun violence,” she writes.
by Kaitlin Washburn | Association of Health Care Journalists
Monday, February 17, 2025
Stronger news coverage of firearm violence broadens the public’s understanding of the issue and shapes how audiences understand potential solutions. A recent Berkeley Media Studies Group guide, created in collaboration with Hope and Heal Fund, helps to reframe the narrative on firearm violence and provide a roadmap for journalists looking to highlight solutions and spotlight the most impacted communities. The guide includes an analysis of the types of framing and reporting patterns found in coverage of firearm violence and identifies community-led prevention strategies that lend themselves to storytelling.
by Stephanie Rodriguez | SmartBrief
Monday, February 03, 2025
At a recent American Public Health Association webinar, BMSG’s Director of Racial and Health Equity Strategy, Dr. Katherine Schaff, shared tips for strengthening public health messaging. For example, before any messaging is released, public health professionals must form an overall strategy that considers wider goals, audience, narrative, and equity. “Before you know what you want to say, you have to know what you want to do,” she said.
by Gloria Oladipo | The Guardian
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Multiple studies have shown that white male perpetrators of gun violence, especially ones in high-profile incidents, are often depicted more compassionately by news outlets. An avalanche of media coverage of Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old who allegedly shot and killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has attempted to understand what drove him to commit such a violent act. Speculation about complex motivations for crimes is a privilege not afforded to Black and Brown suspects, who are often reduced to racialized stereotypes in the news. “The overwhelming media narrative reinforces the idea that only certain people commit crime, then makes it seem like [it is] much more of an outlier when an affluent, white-presenting person commits a crime,” said Pamela Mejia, the director of research and associate program director at Berkeley Media Studies Group.
by Samantha Michaels | Mother Jones
Monday, November 04, 2024
As Republicans and moderate Democrats alike use inflated crime rhetoric to whip up support for anti-progressive causes, the public’s fear of crime is growing — and that perception may not match reality. One reason for increasing public concerns about crime is “mean world syndrome,” says BMSG’s Pamela Mejia: When people consume a lot of news about crime, they become convinced the world around them is a dangerous place. This article, which explores fear-mongering in the Bay Area, also appeared in Oaklandside.
by Jodi Hill-Lilly and Chip Spinning | The Imprint
Monday, September 30, 2024
This opinion piece argues for shifting the narrative surrounding the child welfare system, asserting that media can play an important role in improving the system by focusing on solutions. The authors cite a study finding from Berkeley Media Studies Group that a majority of reporters cover the child welfare system solely through a crime lens, arguing that coverage of the child welfare system must focus on not just the aftermath of tragedies, but on ways child welfare systems are supporting the shift to a preventative approach.
by Ryan Fonseca | Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
By some key indicators, many communities are seeing crimes recede. Despite that, polling shows that people don’t feel safe. BMSG’s Director of Research & Associate Program Director Pamela Mejia explained that the reaction people have to perceived crime is often shaped through a cognitive bias known as “mean world syndrome.” “The more media that people consume that depicts the world as a violent place, the more likely people are to believe that the world around them is indeed a violent place,” Mejia said. To address this, Mejia asserts that responsible news coverage of crime should balance informing the public without sensationalism, avoid downplaying the very real toll and trauma of violence, and diversify the voices featured in crime reporting.
Healing Generations
Tuesday, July 09, 2024
In this episode of the Healing Generations podcast, BMSG’s Associate Program Director and Director of Research Pamela Mejia joins Maestras Debra Camarillo and Susanna Armijo to discuss how stories about communities of color — in media and beyond — often focus on problems, divorced from the context and the solutions. Where are there opportunities for more community members, for equity, for justice, for liberation, for joy, to be present in the conversation? Further, the Maestras discuss the commodification of communities of color, the issue with the anonymity of social media, and sitting “with, but not in” life’s challenges.
American Counseling Association
Monday, June 24, 2024
Immigrants, refugees and their families face many mental and physical health challenges as they create new homes for themselves in the U.S., and these challenges have not been widely studied or documented. American Counseling Association’s recent book “Counseling With Immigrants, Refugees and Their Families From Social Justice Perspectives” is a comprehensive resource for counselors who work with these populations, and it provides social justice and multicultural counseling competency frameworks to help them establish best practices for treatment. Counselors will also learn about the vast contributions immigrants and refugees make to this country and how to support their efforts to thrive against the odds. BMSG’s 2019 blog “How news coverage perpetuates harmful language about immigration” is listed as a helpful resource in this Q&A.
by Heather Gehlert | The Columbia Missourian
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Tractor overturns are the leading cause of death on farms, but a rebate program for highly effective protective equipment, known as rollover protective structures (ROPS), is rarely mentioned in news coverage, according to research from BMSG. In this opinion piece, Heather Gehlert, BMSG’s Strategic Communication Director, elevates the issue for readers in Missouri, one of the states most affected by fatal overturns. She also discusses how farm safety is an equity issue, with smaller farms and those with less resources being more likely to rely on older tractors in need of retrofitting.
