Angela Bradbery, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications, is the author of “Don’t Care About Build Back Better Act? Hearing People’s Personal Stories Might Change That” published in The Conversation on Dec. 21.

Bradbery comments on the roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act touted by President Joe Biden to bolster the frayed social safety net. Many Americans are unsure of how it will benefit them if it passes.

“Largely omitted from news coverage – and consequently, from the national conversation – are the voices and stories of individuals who would be affected by the legislation,” Bradbery said. “What if daily media coverage instead featured those voices? What if reporters and talk show hosts ditched the pundits and issue experts and instead explored the problems that led to the proposed policies – through the eyes and voices of those living with those problems?”

Bradbery argues that people’s stories elicit emotion in readers that policy pieces do not and that participants would be more willing to help the people they read about.

“Including real people in news stories doesn’t mean that engaged readers will only feel sympathy for the characters profiled. Engagement could produce support or opposition to proposed policies,” she said.

She adds, “If the press eases up on the machinations occurring in the marble halls of Washington, D.C., and instead focuses on real people, the U.S. could perhaps build back something else: civic engagement, a necessary part of our democratic system.”

Posted: December 21, 2021
Category: College News
Tagged as: Angela Bradbery, Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications