Ken Burns film Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness debuts on PBS June 27, with the second part on June 28. The four-hour film looks at 21 diverse youth, between the ages of 11 and 27, across America who are living with mental health challenges.  

Burns executive produced the project and Erik Ewers and Christopher Ewers directed. 

Also: New Ken Burns Mental Health Doc Gets Streaming Exposure 

“Through the experiences of these young people, the film confronts the issues of stigma, discrimination, awareness and silence, and, in doing so, help advance a shift in the public perception of mental health issues today,” according to PBS.  

“We interviewed a diverse group of courageous young people from across the country with a range of diagnoses who spoke openly with us, and shared intimate, and often painful, details of their mental health journeys,” said Erik and Christopher Ewers. “We hope that by bringing these experiences to a broadcast and online audience, our film will help shed light on how commonplace—how truly universal—mental health challenges are, and encourage other young people who are struggling to seek help. As the pandemic has made clear, caring for the mental health of kids, teenagers, and young adults is more vital than ever.”

Hiding in Plain Sight is part of a public media mental health initiative called Well Beings.  

“We hope that this film will save lives,” said Burns. “As a society, we continue to test the resiliency of youth without truly understanding how the stresses of today, including this unprecedented pandemic, are impacting them. Erik and Christopher and their team set out to listen and learn from America’s young people, documenting their experiences and allowing them to share how they are identifying new ways to address mental health challenges. It is a remarkable journey that captures the unique voices of these young people as they navigate an extraordinarily difficult era in our country’s history.”

Florentine Films, Ewers Brothers Productions and WETA Washington produced the film with John F. Wilson and Tom Chiodo exec producing for WETA. 

Burns’ documentaries include Country Music, Baseball and Hemingway. ■ 

PBS and major TikTok publisher NowThis are teaming up to promote mental health and the new Ken Burns documentary, Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness, by providing online content from the TV documentary online in advance of its premiere.

The documentary, co-produced by WETA-TV Washington, debuts on PBS June 27 and 28 at 9 p.m.

NowThis will share short video excerpts from the four-hour documentary weekly on various social media platforms during the month of may. They deal with issues including  depression, bullying and stigmatization. The online effort will culminate May 24 with a live TikTok with two of the mental health experts featured in the documentary.

The first video debuted Tuesday, May 10.

"Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness, the extraordinary new PBS film directed by Erik Ewers and Christopher Ewers, which I’m proud to have executive produced, has the potential to spark a conversation that helps young people share their stories and further eliminate the stigma associated with mental health," said Burns. "We are honored to work with NowThis and their creative teams to get this material out to young people around the country.

Another day, another online content issue that has legislators alarmed and ready to grill Big Tech.

In this case it is an online site that provides information on how to commit suicide and support for those who are contemplating or have decided to take their own lives.

The New York Times earlier this month reported on the site and 45 people whose deaths could be linked to it. The story pointed out that web content providers continue to have immunity from liability for third-party content, the Sec. 230 issue that has been in the forefront of Washington legislator's concerns about hate speech, discrimination, political advertising manipulation and much more.

In response Monday (Dec. 20), the bipartisan leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee said they have called for briefings from executives with search engines, web hosting companies, content delivery networks, and social media platforms.

Also: Surgeon General: Big Tech Has Role in Youth Mental Health Challenges

"It is imperative that companies take the threat of such sites seriously and take appropriate steps to mitigate harm," they said in a joint statement.

Joining that statement were Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Health Subcommittee chair Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Ranking Member Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Communications Subcommittee chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee chair Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Ranking Member Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.). ■

The Surgeon General said that social media companies have a role to play in protecting the mental health of children since the misuse of its platforms appears to contribute to the problem.

That came in an advisory report about what Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said was an alarming increase in certain mental health challenges for young people and what can be done to stem that troubling tide.

"[T]oo often, young people are bombarded with messages through the media and popular culture that erode their sense of self-worth—telling them they are not good looking enough, popular enough, smart enough, or rich enough," Murthy said in his introduction to the report. "That comes as progress on legitimate, and distressing, issues like climate change, income inequality, racial injustice, the opioid epidemic, and gun violence feels too slow."

He signaled that Big Tech platforms, when not "deployed" safely and responsibly, can contribute to the mental health problem by "pitting us against each other, reinforcing negative behaviors like bullying and exclusion, and undermining the safe and supportive environments young people need and deserve."

He suggested that the pandemic has put even greater urgency on the need for action.
 
Under the heading of "What Social Media, Video Gaming, and Other Technology Companies Can Do," the report echoed many of the issues being discussed Wednesday (Dec. 8) in a Senate subcommittee hearing with Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.

In social media's "digital public spaces," said the report, "there can be tension between what’s best for the technology company and what’s best for the individual user or for society. Business models are often built around maximizing user engagement as opposed to safeguarding users’ health and ensuring that users engage with one another in safe and healthy ways. This translates to technology companies focusing on maximizing time spent, not time well spent."

It cites researchers asserting that Big Tech can expose kids to "bullying, contribute to obesity and eating disorders, trade off with sleep, encourage children to negatively compare themselves to others, and lead to depression, anxiety, and self-harm."

And while it concedes there are benefits to online activity like connecting with friends, learning new things or accessing healthcare, it said there is also a "clear need" to better understand how technology impacts users most at risk.

The report provided advice for how tech companies can help, including a call to "step up and take responsibility for creating a safe digital environment for children and youth," and at the least "much more transparency" about their products, including allowing outside researchers to access data, something legislators from both parties have asked Meta (formerly Facebook) to do following whistleblower Frances Haugen's public release of some internal research.

Among the other recommendations: 1) provide user-friendly tools for healthy online interactions, 2) limit exposure to harmful online content, 3) allow users to opt out of harmful content, and 4) actively promote content that supports mental health and wellbeing as well as equitable access to that content. ■

MTV Entertainment said it will kick off its "Better Together" Mental Health Storytelling Series on Oct. 7 with an event titled "A Conversation about the power of Storytelling in Uncertain Times."

In April MTV Entertainment led a coalition of media companies looking to address the national mental health challenges through their programming. 

In addition to units of MTV parent ViacomCBS, The Walt Disney Co., Amazon Studios, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and Starz were involved in a Mental Health Storytelling Summit in May. Speakers at the summit included Oprah Winfrey, Trevor Noah and H.E.R.

The Oct. 7 event is the first follow up to the summit. It will be a one-hour virtual event hosted by MTV Entertainment. It will consist of a keynote conversation and panel discussion. Speakers will be announced at a later date.

The event is designed to drive engagement with the Mental Health Media Guide, a resource for content creators designed to encourage storytelling opportunities that can improve the narrative on mental health.

Following the event, videos will be available on-demand on the Storytelling Series microsite, with select clips also available on the Mental Health Media Guide website, and on MTV Entertainment’s social platforms.

ABC's eight owned TV stations will air mental health-related content and hold community events throughout May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, including streamed and on-air town halls.

The centerpiece of the initiative will be the stations' participation in the first Mental Health Action Day May 20.

WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham will kick off the campaign with a half-hour special, “Eyewitness News Investigates: The Silent Struggle,” May 6, followed by a stream-only town hall available on WTVD's free app and connected TVs.

Also Read: Mental Health Summit Draws Entertainment Talent

Other content includes reports on WABC-TV New York on the impact on mental health of COVID-19 and the increase in opioid-related deaths; a special episode of WLS-TV Chicago weekend public affairs program, Our Chicago, featuring mental health experts talking about the impact of racism; KGO-TV San Francisco will broadcast town halls, including one during its 4 p.m. newscast May 20.

Better mental health treatment and information has been a big issue for the National Association of Broadcasters and its president, former Oregon senator Gordon Smith, whose son, Garrett, struggled with mental health issues and whose death ultimately led to passage of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act funding suicide prevention efforts, particularly among young people.

The Better Together: Mental Health Storytelling Summit has drawn some A-list talent for its discussion of how to portray mental health in a way that encourages viewers to speak up and get help.

The virtual event will be held May 3 through May 5. 

The talent expected to participate includes Kenya Barris, Rachel Bloom, Liz Brixius, Margaret Cho, Andy Cohen, Charlamagne tha God, David Collins, Alex Gansa, Regina Hall, Hill Harper, H.E.R., Michael Imperioli, Lisa Ling, Nika King, Delroy Lindo, Chuck Lorre, Romany Malco, Miguel, DJ Nash, Sheila Nevins, Trevor Noah, Tig Notaro, Kevin Powell, Phor & Puma and Ally Sheedy.

The effort is backed by a wide swatch of media companies including MTV Entertainment Group and its parent ViacomCBS, The Walt Disney Company, Amazon Studios, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, WarnerMedia and Endeavor.

Over the past two decades, suicide rates have been increasing particularly among young adults -- and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already dire crisis. Nearly 50% of U.S. adults said their mental health has been negatively impacted by the pandemic. 

Each day of the summit will focus on a different facet of content and take content creators through a journey that illuminates how to harness the power of stories to expand representation of mental health and, ultimately, redefine how we support ourselves and others, the organizers said. 

The production partner for Better Together: Mental Health Storytelling Summit is VIVA Creative, known most recently for virtual production on the Oprah Conversations including the President Obama and Oprah Conversation with Ri-Karlo Handy of Sunwise Media serving as executive producer of the Summit.

Providing expertise to the event are mental health organization including the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

MTV Entertainment Group is leading a group of 150 organizations marketing the inaugural Mental Health Action Day on May 20, during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Also participating are media companies including NBCUniversal, Univision, YouTube and other divisions of ViacomCBS, plus dozens of brands, nonprofits and cultural groups.

The day is designed to encourage people to take their first steps toward mental health actions--for themselves, for their loved ones or to advocate for change in society.

MTV is also part of a recently formed coalition that will work to use their storytelling power to address the nation’s mental health challenges.

“To address the ‘second wave’ of mental health devastation due to COVID-19 we need to move from awareness to action,” said Erika Soto Lamb, VP of social impact strategy at MTV Entertainment Group. “MTV is proud to convene so many other leaders in driving forward a culture of mental health action, to inspire people to take actions and to normalize the idea that mental health is health.” 

Mental Health Action Day is being planned in partnership with TaskForce, a cultural organizing agency that builds capacity for those taking on the most pressing challenges facing our communities, our nation and our world.

A coalition of media companies has been formed to use their storytelling power to address the nation’s mental health challenges.

ViacomCBS units including MTV Entertainment Group, The Walt Disney Co., Amazon Studios, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Starz are among those getting involved in the Mental Health Storytelling Summit, which will take place in May.

“The mental health crisis is the silent pandemic that has been on an alarming rise for the last decade and we are so thankful to our partners for joining us in this coalition to unleash the power of storytelling to help shatter the stigma around mental health,” said Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group. “As storytellers, we have the opportunity to represent the continuum of mental health and empower people to help themselves and each other, because mental health is health.”

The effort was created in partnership with the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California.

The media companies, as part of the industry advisory council, will work with expert groups including Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Born This Way Foundation, Entertainment Industries Council, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Council for Behavioral Health, SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), The Boris L. Henson Foundation, The Jed Foundation, The Trevor Project, Vibrant Emotional Health (administers of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), Dr. Jessi Gold, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and Dr. Michael Lindsey.

“How mental health is portrayed in film, television and other popular media deeply impacts the public discourse about and perceptions of people with mental illness,” said Glenn O’Neal, Chief Communication Officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “We’re proud to collaborate on this project so that the diverse experiences of people with mental health conditions are accurately represented, reducing stigma and discrimination.”  

Industry leaders, creators, and celebrities will kick off this collaboration at the Mental Health Storytelling Summit, which will include inspiring conversations, case studies and workshops. 

The coalition will also unveil a comprehensive Mental Health Media Guide which provides best practices and evidence-based recommendations to support storytellers at any phase in the production process, across topics and genres.

“It is a privilege and responsibility to help shine a light on the importance of mental health through stories and shows including Grey’s Anatomy, black-ish, Love, Victor and A Million Little Things that run on our broadcast networks and streaming platforms,” said Craig Erwich, president, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals. “Feeling seen and understood is a powerful step toward seeking solutions, and we will continue to lean into the power of our storytelling and platforms to show support, raise awareness and change the narrative around mental health.”

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks is hosting a virtual panel on Black mental health and the media.

The hour-long “Thriving While Black: The Role of the Media and Communications Technology in Addressing Black Mental Health" will stream July 13 at noon on www.fcc.gov/live.  

"The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent protests for racial justice have further exacerbated stress and anxiety in Black communities across the nation. Media and communications technology offer new opportunities to elevate accurate narratives about Black mental health and new ways to access mental health services," said Starks' office in announcing the event.   

Among the topics will be "policy solutions for reliable and affordable broadband that assist marginalized groups in accessing vital telehealth services."  

The event will feature opening remarks by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). It will be moderated by A. Prince Albert III, tech and telecom fellow at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 

Panelists are Noopur Agarwal, VP of social impact, ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group; Dr. Kia Darling Hammond, founder & CEO, Wise Chipmunk; David Johns, executive director, National Black Justice Coalition; Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, executive director, NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research; Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, senior fellow in governance studies and director of Center of Technology Innovation, Brookings Institution.