NCJ Number
165037
Date Published
Unknown
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This conference on child welfare noted that journalists play a critical role in informing the public about the debate over welfare reform which is now shaping policy for children and families for decades to come.
Abstract
The conference also indicated there is too much superficial journalism which focuses on divergent explanations of economic change versus moral decline for the failure of families and on individual versus collective responsibility as the solution. Many conference speakers emphasized that journalists must contribute to the current policy debate about child welfare by exposing misinformation, stereotypes, and myths and by making stories relevant to people's lives. Conference speakers specifically looked at difficulties in telling stories about children in understandable ways, the trauma and pain associated with child abuse, economic issues in child welfare, and teenage pregnancy. Hillary Rodham Clinton met with conference journalists for a discussion about children and family issues, and excerpts from her interview are included. 5 photographs