If you go visit the website of any news publication or media outlet right now, chances are you will find one thing in common – plenty of stories on violence and crime. If it bleeds, it leads. However, the way that media covers crime and what it chooses to cover and not to cover often has negative consequences on how African Americans are perceived in society as a whole and also has negative influences on black Americans’ relationship with police and the judicial system. State Representative David Bowen sees a lot of positive events and initiatives going on in his native Milwaukee, but too often only the crime and violence gets reported.

With that in mind, Bowen will be hosting a community forum tonight on the media’s role in how Milwaukee is portrayed and the community’s role to push more positive stories to media sources. “Tenth Talks Townhall: Media Portrayal of Milwaukee” will take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum, 2620 W Center St. in Milwaukee.

“Tenth Talks are held on a monthly basis. It usually depends on what’s going on and what the schedule is like in Madison,” Bowen tells Madison365. “It’s a good chance to get some information out to the communities but it also is a great chance to get some feedback.

The Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum, located on the corners of North 27 and West Center Streets, opened its doors in 1987.
The Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum, located on the corners of North 27 and West Center Streets, opened its doors in 1987.

“For tonight’s event, my office and my constituents were noticing a mass uptick in violent events that were happening throughout the city,” Bowen adds. “We’ve also had a chance to see the reaction to folks seeing those images and those news stories over and over again and getting some questions about how do you change the narrative. How do you have a two-sided conversation – one with accountability and ethics in the media … to be accountable to tell those stories with context so that folks also see – and don’t assume – that just those negative events are happening in the community and the city?”

Speakers and panelists will join the conversation to identify mainstream media’s impact on how Milwaukee is viewed outside of Milwaukee, their role as media, and how that role can be redefined to show an inclusive angle moving forward, Bowen says. One of the questions that panelists and forum members will discuss tonight is: How do you have better relationships built between the community and media to cover other important stories at the same time?

“These dialogs often go into a one-sided conversation and I pride myself in being able to have a conversation that is two-way,” says Bowen, who is also Vice Chair of the Wisconsin State Democratic Party. “We want to give the media a chance to really give some insight on how they make some of their decisions and also give the community members a chance to voice their opinions.”

Strong partnerships between local media and community partners are important for the sake of transmitting positive and powerful stories that shed light on the efforts of the people on the ground to make Milwaukee a better place for all, Bowen says. An effort on both ends is important for this to happen.

State Rep. David Bowen keynotes the Milwaukee Public Schools Bradley Tech High School graduation ceremony.
State Rep. David Bowen keynotes the Milwaukee Public Schools Bradley Tech High School graduation ceremony.

“That same weekend that all of the violence was reported, you had thousands of young people graduating from high schools in Milwaukee,” says Bowen, who got to speak to many of them personally as the keynote at Milwaukee Public Schools Bradley Tech High School graduation ceremony. “At Milwaukee Tech, there wasn’t one single camera there. So let’s have a conversation on how does the media decide what they want to cover and how can the community and media come together to cover some stories that they aren’t covering right now.”

But graduation ceremonies don’t get as many clicks on news media sites as mugshots do. Especially, mugshots of black faces. Unfortunately, nothing grabs a reader’s attention faster than fear-based news programming and media outlets know it. It would help, Bowen says, if there were more black journalists or journalists of color, in general. At many newspapers in Wisconsin and across the United States, there are just one or two token black reporters, if any.

Shannon Sims
Shannon Sims

“We want to make sure that we highlighted reporters and journalists of color to be on the panel for this town hall,” Bowen says. “We have Shannon Sims co-moderating the event with me, she’s a black anchor/reporter for WTMJ-4 (and president of the Wisconsin Black Media Association). We will have Amanda Porterfield, a black reporter for CBS 58 News in Milwaukee. We will have a lot of talented journalists at this event.”

Panelists will also include Kent Harrell, news director at CBS 58; Janet Hundley, news director at WTMJ 4; Marcus Riley, creative director at WTMJ 4; Eugene Kane, independent reporter and longtime reporter at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Jabril Faraj, a reporter at Neighborhood News Service in Milwaukee.

“The biggest reason to come on out tonight is to engage in authentic dialog with the media that we have both mainstream and community,” Bowen adds. “How do we cover our stories with more context and build more relationships between the community and the media so that we can cover a lot more of the positive stories, as well?”

State Rep. David Bowen will host “TenthTalks Townhall: Mainstream Media Portraying Violence in MKE” on Tuesday, June 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum, 2620 W Center St. in Milwaukee