Thread by @ScottHech

Some thoughts on the intersection between media/politics/social justice policy I've learned from people way smarter than me: People think social justice policy-from crime to education to health to housing, etc.--is made by elected officials. It's not. It's made by media.

Technically, social justice policy is made by elected officials. But really, policy is made & influenced by their *perception of their electorate & what they want. Not what is best for them. But what their constituents believe is best for them. What they believe they want.

And what people believe is best for them, what they should want, is unfortunately informed primarily by what they see on TV, what they read, what "news" tells them. But what theyre told is not what would actually make any of us healthier, safer, more productive, smarter, richer.

It turns out that the media, especially news media, is not good at nuance. Nuance doesn’t sell. Complicated narratives, context don’t sell. 1999 stories of people living their lives uncaged doesn’t sell. 1 story of 1 crime does. Sensationalism. Familiarity. What’s comfortable.

Unfortunately, it turns out that when it comes to social justice policy and the rational, non-radical, humane change advocates are trying to see, there’s a lot of nuance. There's a lot of discomfort. There's a lot of complexity. There's a lot of unfamiliarity.

So traditional news media historically have not gone to social justice advocates and activists and organizers and abolitionists and public defenders to talk. Because then it gets confusing. It takes too many words. It's boring. It's uncomfortable. It's unfamiliar.

Traditionally, news media, they go to landlords. They go to mining companies. They go to police and prosecutors. They go the lawmakers. And when they do write about social justice issues, they write about the same damn social justice issues everyone else is writing about.

We got into this mess of mass criminalization, bottom of the barrel education, crisis of affordable housing & health, substance use and mental health crises, environmental racism bc of this one-way ratchet of sensationalized, simple media & politicians willing to exploit it.

We can't continue to allow the perpetuation of irrationality.

So journalists: Reach out, listen to, learn from & quote those with direct experience. Talk to organizers & advocates. Ask public defenders to check police & prosecutor propaganda. Ask communities what they’re seeing and experiencing. And if you’re already doing so, keep it up.