Telling Our Own Stories: Media Accountability and Elevating Ignored Voices

Описание: Panel 5 of "Media Mythmaking of Punishment and Safety: Changing the Narrative on Race, Crime, and Reform," a one-day convening which explored media coverage of crime and of criminal legal reform which took place at Harvard University on November 15, 2024.

Moderator: Katy Naples-Mitchell (Harvard Kennedy School)

Speakers: Rahsaan "New York" Thomas (Independent Journalist, Ear Hustle podcast), Yawu Miller (former editor of The Bay State Banner), Morgan Elise Johnson (The Triibe), Adrienne Johnson Martin (MLK50)

Panelists spoke about how editorial vision and community accountability function differently in independent media and, in particular, Black-led newsrooms and prison journalism. There is a different level of care and of humanity woven into the coverage, trying to paint the complexities of people’s lives; trying to tell stories about the crimes of the state; trying to expose broader social policy ills as the root causes of and needed context for harm in communities. Panelists spoke about the need for academics to partner with journalists, and the benefit of pairing data and research with lived experience to create more richness in a story and to foster policy debates in a way that will move policymakers. Panelists also spoke about audience and accountability, and how being accountable to readers and watchers and listeners requires more planning, more time, and more on-the-ground relationship-building. Panelists again problematized the need to come up with new funding streams, and lamented that mainstream outlets and media beyond the news infrastructure, including television and film, have so many resources to endlessly re-paint preexisting narratives about crime and violence but independent efforts require way less money to produce potentially better content and yet are still just scraping by.

Visit our website for links to resources mentioned in the video:
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/w...