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	Social Responsibility in the Media By Anne Glauber

From its early beginnings, more than 60 years ago, Ruder Finn has made a commitment to raising visibility and increasing public attention to important social issues. Our effort to engage the media in focusing on the subject of domestic violence is a part of this long tradition of social concern. Domestic violence or, as it is called now, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), is a widespread systemic problem in this country, affecting more women than breast cancer or heart disease. One out of three women report that they have experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives. Women are physically attacked, hit, punched, choked, sexually threatened, isolated from their friends and family, tormented by sustained emotional and mental abuse, and restricted by money, pregnancy, and other controlling mechanisms by their intimate partner. Th e violence and abuse know no discrimination. Th e impact on women cuts across all economic levels, religion, ethnicity, race, age, and region. According to a 2005 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IPV results "each year in 1,200 deaths and 2 million injuries among women," and the U.S. Department of Justice states that one in three female murder victims is killed by an intimate partner.

Yet rarely does the media cover the issue in a sustained and serious way. Of course there are stories about the horrendous murders or incidents involving husbands and boyfriends, written in the gory, gruesome details that editors and producers believe will appeal to their audiences. But rarely has there been coverage of these incidents within the larger context of the impact of domestic violence in this country and the critical importance of identifying ways to prevent it. Rarely has there been coverage about domestic violence that describes it as a serious public health problem that severely injures families, affeects the well-being of societies, and damages individual potential.

As James S. Marks, Senior Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Group, which is investing unprecedented funds to prevent IPV, notes, "The most important investment we can make is to build families that are positive and healthy." He maintains that violence is a disease that can be prevented. Yet, despite the compelling nature of the problem and strong support of educators and legislators to introduce curriculum on the subject in schools, rarely has the media reported on IPV in a broad and substantive way. Reporters and producers focus on incidents of violence, not the costs to health, families and society, and business. The larger issue has typically been ignored.

As Mary Lauby, Executive Director of Jane Doe, noted last year, "In the past 14 months, there have been 64 domestic violence- related homicides in Massachusetts. If the Commonwealth had 64 cases of West Nile Virus over the same length of time, the state offi cials undoubtedly would declare an emergency to stop the spread of disease. So where is the outcry about this social-justice problem called domestic violence that has killed 64 people in our state?"

Indeed, a year ago I wrote a piece for Women's eNews, a national news service on women's issues, that spoke of the frustration of penetrating the media bias against doing serious, substantive stories of the impact of violence and abuse on women's lives. I wrote in response to news coverage about Illinois-based Drew Peterson, whose fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, had mysteriously disappeared after receiving threats from her husband. Peterson's third wife had mysteriously died.

I wrote about how the morning shows were devoting vast amounts of air time to interview Peterson and discuss his myriad personality quirks without once discussing domestic violence. Th e shows did not use the opportunity to introduce the signs of violence or bring in experts to discuss the problem. After Women's eNews published the commentary, I was surprised to receive a call from Betsy Gleick, the executive editor of People magazine. She said, "Let's have lunch. I want to talk about your piece in Women's eNews. It troubled me." When we met, she told me that she had put Peterson on the cover of the prior issue of People and had not included information for victims. To her credit, she committed to changing how they would approach the issue, realizing that they had a responsibility to help readers. Betsy's approach and sensitivity were atypical.

We have been working on the issue of domestic violence for many years and have come to realize that raising awareness of the signs of IPV and fi nding ways to cut through the bias of silence around the issue would not only bring more education and prevention resources to the fi eld, but the public awareness would save lives.

We have collaborated with many parents whose daughters have been murdered by their boyfriends and who are now dedicating themselves to education and public awareness about IPV. One couple, Ann and Chris Burke, from Rhode Island, whose daughter, Lindsay Ann, was brutally killed by her boyfriend, told us that they never knew the warning signs. Ann, who has become a founding member of MADE (Moms And Dads for Education), to stop teen dating violence and abuse with Liz Claiborne Inc. and Redbook, told us, "I am a health teacher. I never knew the signs of abuse. If Lindsay and I had been educated about the problem, I firmly believe that she would be alive today."

Whether the subject was seen as stigma, whether there was unconscious denial, whether journalists were not open to talking about the issue in a larger way, most media outlets would devote one story a year to the problem. In contrast to other health and social issues effecting women, the issue was still on the margins of national public attention. Then it all changed.

One dramatic incident became our IPV tsunami. Th is February, the evening before the Grammy awards, pop singing stars Chris Brown and Rihanna were involved in a very public teen dating violence incident, where Brown allegedly hit, bit, choked and hurt Rihanna. Charges were filed. Pictures of Rihanna were leaked, then the couple reconciled and it was reported that they agreed to do a duet. Their behavior illustrated, rapidly, dramatically and emotionally, the cycle of teen dating violence and abuse.

Every major media outlet decided to participate in the conversation in an entirely new way. From The New York Times, to Oprah, from NPR to People magazine, from Perez Hilton to the Los Angeles Times from Good Morning America to Seventeen magazine, from CNN to the Chicago Tribune, constant continual coverage not only detailed their every move but began to include the experts, service providers, and survivors who provided education and help for these stories. It appeared that the work of the past decade, the outreach efforts to the media, and the experience of the experts had led to a new responsibility of the media to tell the story differently.

For the past five years, we have worked with Liz Claiborne Inc.'s Love Is Not Abuse campaign to generate more awareness about teen dating violence and abuse and the need for mandated education in schools. The company was the first institution to develop annual surveys on the prevalence of teen dating abuse that have provided data and understanding to thousands of service providers, educators, academics researchers, and practitioners in the field. It was the first to uncover that technology was used in a systematic way as a weapon of abuse. In 2007, the company released data that highlighted the serious problem of dating abuse through technology. Among the disturbing findings, nearly one in four teens in a relationship (24%) communicated with their partner via cell phone or text messaging hourly between midnight and 5pm. The company and its "Love Is Not Abuse" campaign also was the first to detail the scope of teen dating violence and abusive behavior among tweens (11- to 14-year-olds) who were reporting abusive behavior in their relationships. The survey showed that nearly half of all tweens in relationships knew friends who have been verbally abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Given the wealth of data, and the ongoing work to develop and distribute curriculum to educate teens, we were among the first to be called when the media decided that the celebrity involvement made this a story to pursue.

As compared to the coverage during the Peterson case, journalists and producers were careful and conscientious to ensure that their audiences had the information that would allow them to take action and be informed. And, unlike prior incidents, this case, with all of its drama and twists and turns, was covered by the media every day for a solid three weeks. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Start Strong Initiative, which is focusing on comprehensive prevention practices for 11- to 14-year-olds in communities across the country, was highlighted for the importance of their efforts in prevention. It seemed as if we were turning a corner in placing the issue at the center of public concern.

What emerged from the coverage surprised all of us. Those of us who have been working steadily to raise public awareness and education were caught off -guard. The extensive media coverage not only generated unprecedented awareness about the problem of teen dating abuse, it also uncovered the problem itself. The media blitz spurred teens to respond to the coverage, and they so did in large numbers. What they said, however, was chilling. A surprising number of teens commenting online simply did not see the punching, biting, and choking as teen dating violence and abuse. Many teens defended the abuser and blamed the victim. The Boston Public Health Commission, one of the recipients of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Start Strong grant, polled teens in the community and found that a majority blamed Rihanna for causing the fight."

These comments from teens online and in the news have been extraordinarily revealing. They have underscored -- more than ever --the need for educators, experts, and funders to focus on education and prevention. These comments showed how little teens know about healthy relationships and how quick they are to accept abuse and violence as inevitable. They reinforced for us the dire need to educate and transform attitudes if we are to break the cycle of violence and strengthen families and society. They showed us how much more must be done.