Season 3, Episode 1: Juvenile Crime Abatement

the mark up by mediaverse, Season 3, Ep 2: Gunplay

In this episode, we talk about several gun-related stories in local media: a good guy with a gun, Ja Morant and Gov. Bill Lee.

Season 3, Episode 1: Juvenile Crime Abatement

On April 14, the Memphis Police Department posted a video on its social media channels, entitled “Juvenile Crime Abatement Program.” In the video, which featured the deputy chief of MPD and the commander for MPD’s Downtown Precinct, the two officers introduce the program which is describe as a response to the “influx of juveniles gathering on weekends in Downtown Entertainment District”  The Commercial Appeal first reported [https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2023/04/14/memphis-police-department-downtown-memphis-juvenile-crime/70116377007/] about the video introduction on the same day and included details from a related PowerPoint presentation or “unapproved rough draft” [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qngVApbKaIgha9If4BylRE349Ep9HpXv/edit#slide=id.p11] about Juvenile Crime Abatement Program, including how unattended children   would be profiled and why as well as  turning over detained children to DCS if their parents failed to pick them up from custody.   The CA article and subsequent news reports generated a backlash against the program, which was quickly iced in favor of more communication. But Mayor Jim Strickland and the Memphis Police Department have made it clear that the enforcement of curfews would still occur.

the mark up by mediaverse: season 2: episode 4: Resonating Eliza

Honestly, I didn’t want to talk about Eliza Fletcher – except to say, she should be alive. So should other homicide victims. But the same day that this podcast was recorded, the universe dropped this gem from WMC Action News 5 [https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/10/28/action-news-5-investigators-looked-through-more-than-100-kidnapping-reports-this-is-what-we-found/]. To be sure, the report centered on a white woman, who recently moved to Memphis, as she played with her child and, even though the story focuses on the concerns of women, the data examined by WMC shows that men come up missing/kidnapped too. Read the full entry on mediaversememphis.com [http://mediaversememphis.com].  (ED. NOTE: In the podcast, we regret the error of referring to Eliza Fletcher as Emily. Apologies.)

the mark up by mediaverse: Season 2, Episode 3: Do Something

While it’s not Sharon Shy Brown’s only job, when it comes to journalism though, she is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for the Memphis Flyer. If you follow her on Twitter, you’d know that her focus has been on more than Ja Morant’s latest 2K-like performance. In her own words, she’s trying to save lives. It’s what you do when you worked hard to grow a platform – and then a tragedy occurs that so personal and important that you can’t help but get involved. You see, in August, in her hometown of Cleveland, Miss., a city two-and-half hours from Memphis straight down Third Street, a 31-year-old mother and her 5 year old daughter from a gas leak in their apartment. Sharon knew them. The gas leak set off a chain of events where they lived, Sunset Village Apartments, that exposed living conditions so horrid and inexplicable that Brown was spurred to action.  When people come to you and ask you to use your platform to amplify their voice, what else are you supposed to do?

the mark up by mediaverse: Season 2, Episode 2 - Memphis: Destination or Pass Through?

We continue our conversation about the changing media landscape in Memphis. Is it a destination or a pass through? That’s the focus of Season 2, Episode 2 of the mark up by mediaverse. We're joined by: Daja E. Henry is an award-winning journalist based in Memphis, Tennessee. She is currently a Frances Ellen Watkins Harper editorial fellow at The 19th* News. She is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and a graduate of Howard University and Arizona State University. In her journalistic work, she strives to center and amplify the voices of the underrepresented. Daja's work has appeared in The Daily Memphian, High Country News, Slate, and The Wall Street Journal, and has taken her to Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and across the U.S. Denisha J. Thomas is a native of Memphis and the news director for ABC 24. Thomas joined ABC24 from WKYC, TEGNA’s NBC affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, where she has been executive producer since 2019. She was also news content producer for WKYC from 2015-2017, before being named executive producer at WGRZ, TEGNA’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo, New York. Thomas participated in TEGNA’s Leadership Development program in 2019, and in August 2020 she was one of 32 journalists nationwide selected for the Poynter Institute and Washington Post’s Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media. Prior to joining TEGNA, Thomas worked as a news producer at television stations in Memphis, Jonesboro, Arkansas and Columbia, Missouri. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the University of Missouri Griffiths Leadership Society.