64: How Public Defense can Win the Media Battle w/Maggie Shepard

How can journalists and public defenders work together to bring awareness to the real issues plaguing our court system? Today, Hunter spoke with Maggie Shepard, Director of Communications at the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender, to discuss how public defenders can use media relations to deepen their connection with the community they are working to protect.

A policy can only be effective if it has adequate momentum behind it and with most offices unwilling to comment publicly, it makes it difficult for the public to fully grasp the issues. There is a lot of bureaucracy in our court system but it does serve a purpose, to protect the rights of the accused. Everytime a public defender refuses to make a comment they miss the opportunity to highlight the deeper issues surrounding the case, which can be done while honoring the anonymity of the client.

Today’s conversation highlights the real need for communication between the public and the courts and between journalists and public defenders.

Guest:

Maggie Shepard, Director of Communications, New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender

Key Takeaways:

• Utilizing media relations to fight at the systemic level [2:30]
• Maggie’s decision to leave journalism to do media relation training [8:10]
• How narrative and perception shapes reality [10:15]
• Courtroom journalism rarely grants time to scrutinize the power structure at play [14:30]
• Deciphering who counts as an “official” source? [19:00]
• A different way for journalists to get a powerful and evocative story [28:00]
• Teaching public defenders to speak to the broader story unfolding [34:00]
• Policy is only as good as the awareness and pressure behind it [39:14]
• Bringing media attention to the positive effects of good reform [42:50]
• Using language in a way that reminds the public of the process [50:00]
• It’s possible for public defenders to have media relations without being quoted [53:00]
• Prison reform is the biggest issue facing New Mexico today [55:40]
• Teaching journalists what they don’t learn in school [58:00]

Resources:

Contact Maggie

[email protected]

Contact Heather at NAPD

[email protected]

https://www.lopdnm.us/media-ipra/

Memorable Quotes:

“I was tired of being part of the propaganda machine, honestly, I was tired of playing a harmful role in the narratives that I was telling, so I left my job.” [8:19] -Shepard

“There is a desire, within the department, within the attorneys, to learn how to do this better and there is very clearly a need in the community to have better access to the public defense world and for the information we have as public defenders to get out into the world, into our communities.” [9:27] -Shepard

“There’s not a lot of thoughtfulness beyond what's in front of me, the actors and the actions and that’s what we focus on. We might call into question the after and the action but we’re not calling into question the machine, the bigger power structure that’s there.” [14:50] -Shepard

“Good policy, not heard by anybody, isn’t good policy.It’s just a good idea that nobody heard and that's where I think a lot of public defenders and people who want to push these policies fail to understand that policy gets pushed when people hear about it and apply pressure.” [39:14] -Parnell

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

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www.publicdefenseless.com