The Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) and the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI), in collaboration with UNESCO, will launch two new educational videos next week.

The videos, which were both funded by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), explore the topical issues of crime and violence from different angles.

“Reporting News”, produced by CARIMAC part-time lecturer, Franklyn St Juste, features Caribbean media professionals discussing the challenges in the news-gathering process and the socio-economic factors that affect the coverage of crime and violence.

Seeing Red: the Science of Violence, was produced by the Science Media Unit of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, under the supervision of Professor Ronald Young. The video explores the link between violence and brain function; in particular, the impact of social and environmental hardships on brain function, and the correlation between altered brain patterns and violent behaviour.

According to Alton Grizzle, the UNESCO officer responsible for the project, “crime and violence is a cancer in our society that requires a systemic strategy to be combated. UNESCO believes that the culture of violence begins in the minds of people and can be propagated by the media. Violence prevention interventions must therefore target the minds of people in the Caribbean, changing that culture of violence to a culture of peace”.

“The media have a critical role to play,” he said.

Support for the project extends UNESCO’s long-standing commitment to the development of media applications that drive social change. The videos will be distributed throughout the Caribbean to mainstream and community media organisations, to allow for wider dissemination of the information and to facilitate dialogue, debate and feedback.

UNESCO and CARIMAC also will distribute an interactive disc for journalists on best practices for reporting crime and violence.

The launch will take place in the Multifunctional Room in the Main Library at the UWI Mona Campus on Tuesday, April 17 at 9:00 am.

The videos will be screened, followed by a brief panel discussion and a question and answer session with the project leads.