Centering Community in Media Coverage About Declarations of Racism as a Public Health Crisis

“U.S. leaders continue to see value in declaring racism a public health crisis in their communities. As of the Annual Meeting and Expo in Atlanta in November, 264 declarations have been made, according to an APHA tracking project. Leaders say the formal statements and resolutions, though not legally enforceable, help underscore the need for racial equity and justice.

Still, an analysis presented at the Tuesday session “Equity in Action? Assessing the Role of Community in Declarations of Racism as a Public Health Crisis” found that media coverage of racism declarations is framed as a government act, ignoring the work of community leaders who are often the impetus behind governments adopting the resolution. This framing has the potential of stunting community action: Local leaders following media coverage may not realize the extent that other community leaders play in doing the legwork to make declarations happen.

The first racism declaration was made in 2018 in Milwaukee County. More governments adopted them after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Between May 2020 and August 2021, nearly 200 declarations passed.

In June 2020, over 800 articles were published by U.S. news media on the resolutions, said Pamela Mejia, head of research and principal investigator of the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which analyzes news coverage. During that summer, coverage remained brisk, but dropped to about 250 articles each month. From September 2020 to July 2021, coverage declined to about 100 articles a month.

More than 90% of the articles were about governments declaring resolutions, with only a smattering on the role of community organizations, Mejia said.

Studies show that community organizations are integral to persuading governments to declare racism a health crisis. Efforts include informing policymakers and the community about the merits of a resolution through strategic communication and messaging.

But community leaders were rarely interviewed by the media about their work leading to declaration adoptions, Mejia said. Seeing no precedent, some community leaders might have failed to consider the notion of bringing a resolution locally.”

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Originally published by Public Health Newswire