How to Push Back Against Harmful Media Narratives About Youth of Color

The media plays a large role in influencing the public discourse on critical topics like race, youth justice, mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline.

In cities across the country we’ve seen regressive youth justice and education policy shifts driven in part due to media narratives criminalizing black and brown youth. In order to advance positive outcomes for youth, and ensure youth of color are not targeted by our youth justice system, communities, organizers and advocates must counter these narratives by building relationships with the media and ensuring accurate  reporting.

In this vein, this toolkit aims to provide advocates guidance on how to identify harmful media narratives, build relationships with media professionals, and hold the media accountable for its reporting.