FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2013

Presented by KERA, The Dallas Morning News and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – KERA, the public broadcasting station of North Texas, will air Erasing the Stigma: Mental Illness and the Search for Solutions on Wednesday, February 20 at 7:00 p.m. on KERA TV. Why is there still such a stigma related to mental illness? How can the community work together to better identify and help young adults struggling with it? A joint presentation of KERA, The Dallas Morning News and Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Erasing the Stigma is moderated by KERA’s Lee Cullum and features a distinguished panel of experts and leaders, including State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston); Vanita Halliburton, President and CEO of the Grant Halliburton Foundation; Matt Roberts, President of Mental Health America of Dallas; and Dr. Preston Wiles, Medical Director of the UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Autism Center. The candid and frank discussion about mental illness, youth and society was taped live at City Performance Hall in Dallas. An encore broadcast of Erasing the Stigma: Mental Illness and the Search for Solutions will air Sunday, February 24 at 5:00 p.m. on KERA TV.

Erasing the Stigma: Mental Illness and the Search for Solutions will air as part of a national public broadcasting initiative, continuing the public conversation on mental illness, gun laws and school security. Titled “After Newtown,” thoughtful and thought-provoking documentaries and news pieces will provide context to the national conversation about gun violence in America. This special programming will kick off each night with a PBS NewsHour report focusing on topics tied to the Newtown tragedy. The series also includes a Frontline special report profiling the Connecticut shooter and his relationship with his mother as well as a report on the battle over America’s gun laws and gun culture; a NOVA documentary about violence and the brain; two independent documentaries — one on the history of guns in America and the other on school security; and an update on political action in the nation’s capital surrounding gun control from Washington Week With Gwen Ifill.

AFTER NEWTOWN: GUNS IN AMERICA

Tuesday, February 19 at 8:00 p.m. on KERA TV
Guns In America is an unprecedented exploration of America’s enduring relationship with firearms. From the first European settlements in the New World to frontier justice; from 19th-century immigrant riots to gangland violence in the Roaring Twenties; from the Civil War to civil rights, guns have been at center of our national narrative. Guns in America traces the evolution of guns in America, their inextricable link to violence and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity.

FRONTLINE “Raising Adam Lanza”

Tuesday, February 19 at 9:00 p.m. on KERA TV
Adam Lanza left behind a trail of death and destruction, but little else. He left no known friends, no diary. He destroyed his computer and any evidence it might have provided. His motives, and his life, remain largely a mystery. Frontline looks for answers to the central question: Who was Adam Lanza?

NOVA “Mind of a Rampage Killer”

Wednesday, February 20 at 8:00 p.m. on KERA TV
What makes a person walk into a theater or church or classroom full of students and open fire? Can science help us understand these horrific events and provide clues to prevention? NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all by the wish to die, not by the urge to kill.

THE PATH TO VIOLENCE

Wednesday, February 20 at 9:00 p.m. on KERA TV
The Path to Violence details a powerfully effective Secret Service program – the Safe School Initiative – that’s helped schools detect problem behavior. However, despite progress, recent attacks reveal a gaping hole in the safety net. Can the gains made by social psychologists and law enforcement be extended to encompass the parents and families of violent individuals? Is the country ready to have a national conversation about the balance between school safety and civil liberties that interventions – including gun control – require?

WASHINGTON WEEK WITH GWEN IFILL

Friday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. on KERA TV
Moderator and Managing Editor Gwen Ifill will feature a segment discussing how Washington lawmakers are addressing the issue of gun control.

PBS NEWSHOUR

February 18-22 at 6:00 p.m. on KERA TV
Each newscast will include a segment dedicated to exploring the issues surrounding the Newtown tragedy.

Monday, February 18: A report on how the community of Aurora, Colo., scene of last summer’s shooting spree in a movie theater, is reacting to the national debate stirred by Newtown and the recommendations for reducing violence proposed by the task force led by Vice President Joe Biden. The town has recently been reliving the details of its own tragedy during the pre-trial hearings for the alleged killer.

Tuesday, February 19: NewsHour Senior Correspondent Jeffrey Brown taps into a discussion about the connections—or lack of connections—between violent video games and violent behavior. The Newtown killer reportedly spent hours playing such games, but is there any evidence that one thing leads to the other?

Wednesday, February 20: NewsHour Science Correspondent Miles O’Brien explores what scientists know, and don’t know, about adolescent brain development and what risk factors may lead a young person to violent behavior.

Thursday, February 21: NewsHour delivers a report from Florida, the first state to record more than 1 million requests for permits to carry concealed weapons. The story explores the increase in requests for gun licenses in the wake of Newtown, and the arguments for and against concealed-carry laws in the state where Trayvon Martin’s killing is still a fresh memory.

Friday, February 22: From Chicago, a look at gun violence as a public health issue. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently shared that many more children die of gunshot wounds every day in Chicago than are killed by mass murderers in a year. NewsHour explores how the Administration’s proposals for gun violence might change that statistic.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. KXT 91.7 FM, KERA’s new music station, KXT 91.7, is streamed online at www.kxt.org.

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