[act-ma] 3/21/2013 "Guns Don't Kill People, The Media Kills People, " presented by Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk

Fri Mar 1 18:07:39 PST 2013

FORD HALL FORUM
AT SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY
presents

GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, THE MEDIA KILLS PEOPLE
w/ John Rosenthal and Charlton McIlwain

moderator Edward Powell

Thursday, March 21, 6:30-8 pm

Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University presents Guns Don't Kill People, The
Media Kills People with John Rosenthal and Charlton McIlwain; moderated by
Edward Powell. Thursday, March 21, 6:30-8:00 pm. Admission is free and open
to all. Suffolk University Law School, McLaughlin Moot Court Room, 120
Tremont St., Boston, MA 02108. Conveniently located near the Park St. MBTA
Station. For more information, contact Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk
University: 617-557-2007, www.fordhallforum.org
<http://www.fordhallforum.org/> .

The media shapes how we see things, even when we know the truth is
otherwise. After all, why is the national conversation on guns framed as
"pro-gun vs. anti-gun" despite most of our perspectives being much more
nuanced? Moderator Edward Powell (Executive Director, The Boston
Foundation's StreetSafe Boston) shines a spotlight on how the media's
distortion of reality exacerbates gun violence. He speaks with John
Rosenthal (gun owner and founder/Chairman of Stop Handgun Violence) and
Charlton McIlwain (Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication,
NYU Steinhardt) to identify how TV, internet, and newspaper reporting paints
an inaccurate picture of guns' effects on communities of color and engages
in fear-mongering that fails to prevent further tragedies.

Further background information on the participants:

Charlton McIlwain is an Associate Professor of Media, Culture and
Communication at New York University at Steinhardt. His research interests
focus broadly on issues of race and media, particularly within the social
and political arena. McIlwain co-authored/edited the books Race Appeal and
The Routledge Companion to Race and Ethnicity. His other scholarly works
have appeared in the International Journal of Press/Politics, American
Behavioral Scientist, Communication Quarterly, and many more. Currently, he
is researching individuals' cognitive and physiological responses to
race-based messages in political ads. McIlwain is also exploring how people
use digital media to influence both the discourse and political work
surrounding racial equality and equal opportunity. Additionally, he recently
launched a new site, KidsOnColor.com, a forum for exchanging childhood
stories about racial awareness.

Edward M. Powell is the executive director of StreetSafe Boston, bringing 20
years of experience in the private, not-for-profit, and government sectors
to StreetSafe's mission of transforming Boston's toughest youth in an effort
to make city neighborhoods safe. Powell comes to StreetSafe Boston from the
Boston Private Industry Council, one of the nation's premier public-private
partnerships that connects business, the Boston Public Schools, higher
education, government, labor, and community organizations to create
innovative workforce and education solutions. A decade ago, he co-founded
the All For One AAU Basketball program where he served as an assistant coach
and oversaw the academic component of the program. Powell now serves on the
board of the Manny Wilson Developmental Basketball League at the Yawkey Boys
and Girls Club which receives academic support through an educational
component implemented by Powell.

In 1995, gun-owner and recreational Trap Shooter John Rosenthal founded Stop
Handgun Violence, an organization known for its giant billboard along the
Mass Turnpike near Fenway Park. Their billboard campaign communicates the
extent of the national gun violence problem as well as practical solutions.
In 2005, Rosenthal co-founded a membership organization called American
Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). AHSA is an alternative membership
organization to the NRA for moderate gun owners who care about gun rights as
well as gun safety, conservation and wildlife habitat, and support for law
enforcement. John Rosenthal is also the President of Meredith Management
(real estate development) and the founder of Friends of Boston's Homeless.

Coming up next in Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University's Spring Series:

Whose Choice Is Death?
Guy Maytal, M.D. (Associate Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry, MGH) and
Marcia Angell, M.D. (Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine, Harvard Medical
School);
moderated by Jack Wrobel (Vice President, Ford Hall Forum).
Thursday, April 18, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Main Function Room, Suffolk Law School

With the vote on the physician-assisted suicide initiative coming down to a
slim margin this past November, voters of Massachusetts appear torn. Is this
dignity or playing God? Mercy or giving up too soon? Does it give people who
are suffering a way to control their own destinies, or people with hidden
agendas a way to do away with the vulnerable? And how soon will this issue
arise again in our state? Jack Wrobel, Ford Hall Forum Vice President,
moderates a debate that elucidates the issue from each side. Marcia Angell,
M.D. (supporter for "Prescribing Medication to End Life" initiative) and Guy
Maytal, M.D. (opponent to "Prescribing Medication to End Life" initiative)
discuss facts, feelings, and unintended effects while the audience decides
for themselves whether physician-assisted suicide should ever be
Massachusetts law.

About Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University:

Ford Hall Forum is the nation's oldest free public lecture series. The Forum
provides an open venue for sharing opinions and discussing controversial
points of view. It advances the First Amendment through freedom of
expression, encouraging attendees to engage directly with speakers. Ford
Hall Forum discussions illuminate the key issues facing our society by
bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking orators from a
broad range of perspectives. These experts participate for free, and in
settings that promote a culture of involvement in a non-partisan
environment.

The Forum began in 1908 as a series of Sunday evening public meetings held
at the Ford Hall, which once stood on Beacon Hill in Boston. While the
original building no longer exists, the public conversations have continued
throughout the Boston area with the generous support from state agencies,
foundations, corporations, academic institutions, and individuals. In its
104th year of programming, the Forum continues to build upon its partnership
with Suffolk University. Suffolk is now housing the Forum's administrative
offices just a block away from where the original Ford Hall once stood.

Ford Hall Forum programs are made possible through the generous
contributions from individual members as well as corporations and
foundations, including American International Group (AIG), AMES Hotel,
Broadway Video, Compass Eight, The Fred & Marty Corneel Fund, Gray Media,
Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Helen Rees
Literary Agency, Iron Mountain, Jackson & Company, LCMG Certified Public
Accountants, The Lowell Institute, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Nellie
Mae Education Foundation, Penny Pimentel, The Pfizer Foundation, Plymouth
Rock Assurance Corporation, Prince Lobel & Tye, Saturday Night Live, Suffolk
University, True North,  and WBUR 90.9 FM.

For more information on Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, visit
www.fordhallforum.org. Information about Suffolk University's partnership
with the Ford Hall Forum can be obtained by contacting Mariellen Norris,
(617) 573-8450, mnorris at suffolk.edu.

###

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617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), marycurtin at comcast.net
"dedicated to staging insightful entertainment, particularly in
non-traditional venues"
www.marycurtinproductions.com
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