publications

BMSG's issue series
Health Equity journal cover

Equity arguments in news reporting on school nutrition policy

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

In 2010, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) brought a stronger focus on equity to federal policies governing school nutrition. The new policy increased low-income students’ access to free- and reduced-price school meals and simplified administrative processes in districts with high proportions of eligible children. But were these details making it into news coverage? We conducted two related studies to find out how the policy appeared in news coverage and to what extent equity-based arguments were present.

From ‘bad apples’ to broken systems: How Richmond residents rewrote the narrative on the formerly incarcerated

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Residents and advocates in Richmond and Contra Costa County know that to create strong, healthy communities, they have to change misconceptions about formerly incarcerated residents and create a greater public understanding about the need for changes to the criminal justice system. This case study explores how a collaboration of city residents, local and county law enforcement, elected officials, community workers, and, most importantly, formerly incarcerated residents have done just that by creating a nationally recognized reentry network — one that owes much of its success to the power of storytelling.

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Ending the school-to-prison pipeline: A case study of community-led disciplinary reform in Kern County

Monday, June 25, 2018

This case study tells the story of how advocates in Kern County, California, succeeded in creating a healthier school climate for students after learning that the local school district was suspending and expelling students of color at much higher rates than white students. Read on to learn how they used a combination of tactics, including community organizing, strategic communication, and legal pressure, to create major changes that will benefit young people for generations to come.

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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.

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