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How to Sniff Out ‘Copaganda’: When the Police and the Media Manipulate Our News (www.teenvogue.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/politics@beehaw.org

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I wrote the book Copaganda based on my years of being a civil rights lawyer and public defender representing the most vulnerable people in our society. I watched as the police and the news media distorted how we think about our collective safety. Copaganda makes us afraid of the most powerless people, helps us ignore far greater harms committed by people with money and power, and always pushes on us the idea that our fears can be solved by more money for police, prosecution, and prisons. Based on the evidence, this idea of more investment in the punishment bureaucracy making us safer is like climate science denial.

This excerpt is adapted from an important part of the book on how by selectively choosing which stories to tell, and then telling those stories in high volume, the news can induce people into fear-based panics that have no connection to what is happening in the world. It's how public polling can show people thinking crime is up when it is down year after year, and how so many well-meaning people are led to falsely believe that marginalized people themselves want more money on surveillance and punishment as the primary solutions to make their lives better.

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[–] lol_idk@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You've been missing out then. TeenVogue has a handful of pretty high quality, hard hitting articles in the last few years. I keep seeing people saying they are surprised at the source, but I've come to expect it now.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

With enough layoffs at newspapers, you end up with a robust stable of freelancers. I come from the editing side, but most reporters I've worked with wanted to be able to go more longform with looser deadlines.

But this is not original copy; it's a book excerpt. If that's what they run to seem more highbrow, more power to them. This just isn't an example of a "hard-hitting article."

[–] lol_idk@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This sounds a lot like you came here to win an argument on the internet and I don't come to Lemmy for that

This article isn't what I'm referring to but Teen Vogue has been doing a better job than a lot of more popular outlets

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

I'm not here for an argument, just providing context from decades of journalism experience. Words have meaning, and book excerpts certainly have their place, but calling them "news" is inaccurate.