Take Back The News
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Take Back The News is a non-profit organization which confronts the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of sexual assault in mainstream media with the goal of improving both the quantity and quality of media coverage of sexual assault. Take Back The News provides outlets for rape survivors to publish their stories in their own words. Take Back The News seeks to raise public awareness about the epidemic nature of rape to foster public dialogue and public responsibility.
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[edit] History
Take Back the News was founded by Emily Brandt in 2001. It began as a print project in an independent Boston-based newspaper in response to local misrepresentation of a highly publicized sexual assault. The goal was to provide victims of sexual assault a chance to tell the public what happened in their own words.
The success of the first print project prompted the development of takebackthenews.net, so that the project could expand to communities around the country. Again, this website provided a forum for sexual assault survivors to tell their stories in a public forum in their own words. Several communities and campuses have sponsored and continue to sponsor local Take Back the News Print Projects, which replicate the format of the original print project.
Take Back the News became an official non-profit organization in the summer of 2005. During that same summer, Emily’s three sisters, Maria Brandt, Laura Blasberg, and Julia Brandt, took on roles as Board Members of Take Back the News. They continue to collaborate on all aspects of the project and on the maintenance of takebackthenews.org.
Take Back the News now has a board of directors and is conducting new projects to confront the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of rape in mainstream media.
[edit] Projects
In addition to collecting and publishing rape survival stories on the web, Take Back the News is conducting the following projects:
- Media Response Project: a streamlined system to track and archive media articles regarding rape and to contact editors and reporters regarding our concerns of how rape is misrepresented or underrepresented in the media
- College Writing Workshop: a program for colleges to use to encourage survivors to write about the circumstances surrounding their assault
- Book Project: a published book of compiled rape survival stories intended to increase public awareness that sexual assault is an epidemic that must be addressed with greater urgency by our lawmakers, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies
- Community Print Project Kits: Take Back the News print kits to be sent to community centers and campus women’s centers with instructions on how to raise community awareness through newspaper print projects and related events.
