Date: February 9, 2005

Contact:
Trudy Schuett
928-726-6200
media-at-mediaradar.org

RADAR Super Bowl Campaign Tosses a Shut-out

The RADAR campaign to stop false claims about domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday recorded a shut-out. Not a single article making the claim of an increase of domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday has been identified. And not a single women’s shelter is known to have seen an increase in requests for service that day.

During the week preceding the Super Bowl, RADAR mounted broad-ranging efforts to educate newspaper editors and the public about the facts of domestic violence – that women are just as likely as men to commit partner violence. RADAR Media Monitors sent hundreds of press releases to newspaper editors all over the country.

In addition, RADAR released an Op/Ed column, “Superbowl Myth Has More Lives Than a Cat,” which was published on the following websites:

1. Ifeminists.net
2. FreeRepublic.com
3. RightNation.com
4. ThePriceofLiberty.com
5. FamilyRightsAssociation.com
6. SierraTimes.com
7. MensActivism.org
8. TheRealityCheck.org
9. RightNation.us

According to Ned Holstein, MD, a public health specialist in Boston, “By making sure that media reports about domestic violence are accurate, RADAR performs an important public service. The history of public health shows that we cannot cure problems such as domestic violence until we share an accurate understanding of them.”

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RADAR is the acronym for Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting. RADAR is a coalition of men and women working to assure balanced and accurate media coverage of the domestic violence issue. For more information, contact Trudy Schuett or visit the website, http://www.mediaradar.org/.