publications

BMSG's issue series
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Issue 25: More than mass shootings: Gun violence narratives in California news

Monday, June 18, 2018

Gun violence is preventable, but not enough people know that because news coverage tends to characterize it as inevitable and extreme. Stories about mass shootings dominate coverage, even though these tragedies aren’t the major cause of gun deaths in this country. How, then, do the three most common types of gun violence — suicide, domestic violence, and community violence — appear in news coverage? And to what extent are solutions discussed? We explored these questions and more in our latest news analysis.

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Healing Justice Alliance communications toolkit: Tools for changing the narrative about male survivors of violence

Monday, June 18, 2018

Trauma is preventable and we, as a society, can and must support our young men of color who are impacted by it, including by changing the public conversation about violence and trauma in our nation. To that end, the Healing Justice Alliance, a partnership between Youth ALIVE!, Cure Violence, the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs (NNHVIP), and Berkeley Media Studies Group, created this toolkit to help organizations of all sizes and strategic aims that are working in this space to identify and achieve their communication goals.

Advancing Health Equity Awards, 2017: Highlighting innovative health equity practice in California public health departments

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Along with their community partners, a growing number of health departments are expanding their traditional, service-driven scopes of work and striving to address the root causes of poor health. This series of case studies explores what award-winning departments in Napa, San Mateo, and Monterey counties are doing to eliminate health inequities, examines their successes and challenges, and offers lessons learned.

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Get Healthy San Mateo County: How supporting community leadership can help address the root causes of poor health

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Through a collaborative led by the San Mateo County Health System’s Health, Policy and Planning Program, residents are working alongside leaders from cities, schools, hospitals, and various county departments to make San Mateo County a healthy place for all community members to live. To understand how the collaborative could serve as a model for other health departments, this case study examines how it is being implemented, highlights challenges, and discusses lessons learned.

Reframing housing as a health issue in Napa County, California

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Together with community residents, elected officials, industry leaders, and community-based organizations, the Public Health Division of Napa County’s Health and Human Services Agency is working to make housing more affordable for everyone in the county and to reframe housing as a health issue — not just for individuals, but for the entire community. This case study explores how they are using a combination of community engagement, policy change, and strategic communication to push forward innovative solutions to the area’s housing crisis.

Trauma, resilience, and #blacklivesmatter: How do racism and trauma intersect in social media conversations?

Friday, June 01, 2018

Despite the greater burden of traumatic experiences carried by communities of color, communicating about childhood trauma and its connections with race and racism can be challenging. In this report, we present the findings from our analysis of how these conversations intersect on social media and consider the implications for communicating about the intersections of trauma, racism, and racial justice.

From farm to every fork: Rewriting the narrative on urban agriculture in Sacramento

Monday, May 07, 2018

Advocates and residents in Sacramento are using a combination of policy change, community power-building, and strategic communication to make it easier for people to take part in urban farming. This case study explores their tactics for strengthening access to healthy food, highlights victories and challenges, and shares lessons learned.

Lori Dorfman speaking at Turning the Tide conference

Turning the tide: New directions in health communication

Friday, April 27, 2018

As part of strategic messaging panel for the annual Turning the Tide conference at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, BMSG Director Lori Dorfman discusses the role that environments play in driving health outcomes and how media coverage can influence the policy decisions that create those environments. Studying the news, she explains, can help advocates better anticipate opposition arguments and work with journalists to shape coverage in ways that advance health solutions. Dorfman also highlights basic concepts in framing, addresses ways that the backdrop of individualism in the United States creates obstacles to effective health communication, and gives examples of successful public health campaigns.

Reimagining public space to benefit health and foster community: A case study of Salinas’ annual Ciclovía

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Each year, public health advocates and youth organizers in Salinas, California, close traffic to a mile-and-a-half-stretch of one of the city’s busiest streets, transforming it into a community event filled with physical activity and fun. Known as Ciclovía, the event serves a bigger purpose: to reduce violence, forge community bonds, and promote health equity. To understand how organizers are advancing those goals, this case study explores the origins of Ciclovía, its successes and setbacks, next steps and lessons learned.

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