THE Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) and the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI), on Tuesday launched two educational videos aimed at highlighting the impact of crime and violence on the mind and at changing the way the subject is treated by the media.

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

The second, 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.

The videos were funded by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

“Reporting News focuses on solutions that journalists can implement to make their reporting of crime and violence less socially destructive,” Kellie Magnus, director of carimac.com, told the Observer after the launch at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Tuesday.

“Seeing Red, the Science of Violence looks at the impact of violent behaviour on the brain function and what measures can be taken to prevent those negative brain patterns from being developed,” she added.

Both of the videos, she explained, are intended to foster discussions on proactive instead of reactive solutions to crime and violence.

At the same time, Magnus pointed out that while media are responsible for keeping the public aware of what is happening in the country, more needs to be done to ensure that stories about crime and violence are not sensationalised.

“The question is how you shape a story, how you create context in a story so that we don’t increase fear, we don’t sensationalise (so that) you don’t glorify the perpetrators of the violence, you don’t miscommunicate fact or report inaccurate fact in your zeal to get a story,” she said. “We recognise that crime and violence are probably going to continue to lead news stories because they reflect what is happening in society, but there is a way that those stories can be told responsibly that can have less of a negative impact on viewers and the listeners.”

On Tuesday, Magnus told the Observer that CARIMAC was in the process of creating a toolkit, which will include a code of conduct for journalists, to be released next month.