Ambulance

• After T disappears, Tasha learns from law enforcement and Barron that her older brother has been shot and killed.
• While the PSA – released in September 2023 – is heartbreaking, a critical question remains: Will it work?
• To answer that question, The Conversation reached out to three communication scholars for their perspectives on the effectiveness of PSAs.

Jessica Gall Myrick, professor of health communication

• They are at what researchers call the “precontemplative stage.” For such people, a PSA can be more persuasive if it just gets them to think about the topic.
• Research suggests that many audiences often respond more favorably to messages that offer some hope, at least by the end.
• Hope is an important emotion because it can boost our confidence in our ability to handle the threat discussed in the PSA.
• However, it is memorable – it has the potential to keep people thinking about the issue of gun violence.

Holli H. Seitz, professor of communication

• In such cases, the effects are called “boomerang effects” because they go in an unexpected direction.
• Case in point: From 1998 to 2004, Congress appropriated over US$1.2 billion for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.
• To increase the effectiveness of PSAs, we can look to communication research for guidance.
• An evaluation of that campaign showed desirable effects on public attitudes toward the appropriate use of ambulances.

Sara C. Doan, assistant professor of experience architecture

• This story allows people to bring their own knowledge, experience and social connections to the problem of gun violence, making people want to act.
• … Just feed my birds for me, alright?” This dialogue feels genuine, without the cheesiness that made people joke about previous anti-drug PSAs.
• The horrors of gun violence should not be made into a snappy slogan, which, thankfully, Maryland’s PSA avoids.

• Holli H. Seitz receives funding from the Extension Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• She has previously received funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
• Jessica Gall Myrick receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

• The attack, some Israel supporters and political observers note, must be seen in the light of Hamas leaders repeatedly stated goal of destroying Israel and their recent promise to attack Israel “again and again” until it is gone.
• Pro-Palestinian supporters see this as part of a longer history of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
• U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib amplified these allegations when she said on Nov. 4 that President Joe Biden is guilty of supporting genocide in Gaza.
• As the Israel-Hamas conflict grinds on amid continuing genocide allegations, it’s crucial to understand what genocide actually is and how this term has been used for political purposes in the past.

What is genocide?

• His definition also encompasses cultural genocide.
• The 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention specifies that genocide can happen by killing and destroying a group, preventing births and transferring children to another group, among other means.
• At the time, some countries used the convention as a political tool to obscure their own histories of genocide.
• This made it less likely the U.S. would be charged with genocide for Jim Crow policies that enforced segregation of Black Americans.

Using genocide for political reasons

• Governments and political leaders have long used genocide claims to make threats against other countries or to provide a rationale for foreign intervention, ostensibly to ward off a genocide.
• There is also a long history of government officials arguing about the definition of genocide to deny that it was actually happening.
• Today, countries like Russia and China continue to deny that they are committing what many experts consider genocide.

Three ways genocide is discussed

• In my research, I have found that people often approach genocide in three ways.
• First, legal scholars contend that before violence is considered genocide, it is necessary to demonstrate that what occurred neatly matches what the Genocide Convention spells out.

Genocide and the Israel-Hamas war

• People are using these three different interpretations of genocide to characterize the Israel-Hamas war.
• Genocide, for all its conceptual limitations, provides a way of understanding the violence in Israel and Gaza.
• And so, people invoke the word genocide in its conventional sense, sometimes through genocide-related hashtags and slogans.
• Her remarks echo those of others who say that it is Israelis who are at risk of genocide.

Alexander Hinton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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• Sinclair, Inc. today announced the company has launched Sinclair Cares: Humanitarian Relief in Israel, a fundraising partnership in conjunction with Magen David Adom (MDA), an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to help with their efforts providing humanitarian relief and emergency medical services for all people in Israel, regardless of religious creed or political belief.
• Beginning today, Sinclair Cares will be raising funds to support the delivery of emergency medical aid, ambulances, and blood bank services.
• In addition, the company will match employee donations through Sinclair’s Matching Gifts Program.
• To learn more about Sinclair Cares: Humanitarian Relief in Israel or to assist with the relief effort, please visit Sinclair Cares .