Violence Exploited in Caribbean News

Graphic violence and exploitation have reached disturbing levels in the Caribbean media, according to the head of the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Office of Caribbean Program Coordination (CPC), Veta Brown. She believes the growing emphasis on sensationalism could have a negative impact on mental and public health.

Brown spoke on the topic at a conference on "Broadcasting and Health," hosted by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) in Barbados in late April.

"Although many—indeed, perhaps most—of our people have never personally witnessed an act of serious violence, we are all constantly reminded of its presence by the media," said Brown. "The media constantly bombard us with news about violent crimes."

The problem is just as serious in entertainment media, she noted. "The media use violence as a staple in telling fictional stories to entertain us. Thus they amplify and reconfigure the violence in real life. And they continuously pump these messages into our culture."

Brown cited research by the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication in Jamaica in 2002–2003 that found that one in 10 news stories published by the Daily Gleaner had violent content, and one in six published by The Jamaica Observer. The Jamaican television station TVJ broadcast four items on violence out of every 10 news stories; on CVM Television the figure was two out of nine.

"The items with violent content on both stations gave graphic details with close-up shots of bloody clothing and at times uncovered dead bodies. Many of the stories made the lead," said Brown. She added that mental health practitioners as well as teachers believe that the media's emphasis on crime and violence is contributing to desensitization to the impact of violence as well as to a pervasive sense of fear and hopelessness among youth.

Brown reviewed both broadcast and print media in the subregion. She contrasted Caribbean media treatment of violence with that of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU's guidelines for handling violence in news and information programs state that "the audience should not, and cannot, be protected from this everyday occurrence" but that "care should be taken never to discomfort viewers gratuitously by overindulgence. The more often viewers are shocked, the more it will take to shock them."

Brown said another disturbing trend in news coverage was the exploitation of the families of victims of violence. She said that overexposure in the media could cause long-term emotional damage to these individuals.

Brown called on the news media to consider the consequences of their treatment of violence and also to focus more attention on the public health aspects of the phenomenon. She noted that homicide is now the leading cause of death for people ages 15–24 in Caribbean countries, based on data from the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC). For those 25–44, it is the second-leading cause after HIV/AIDS.

She affirmed that Caribbean media audiences are highly receptive to health information published and/or broadcast. "Our own research at PAHO/WHO and CFNI [Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute] tells us that our people look to the media…for information on what can be done to maintain, improve, and reclaim healthy lifestyles." She noted that PAHO promotes this kind of role for the media through training and sensitization workshops, media research, and sponsorship of the annual PAHO/Caribbean Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism.