Damon Thompson Biography
- Title:
- Former Director of Communications at the Office of the Surgeon General
- Position:
- Con to the question "Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?"
- Reasoning:
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“Media violence – specifically video games – are not a major risk factor for violence. We did find rising links between media violence, television violence, and short-term aggressive behavior. But that is significantly different from violent behavior allegedly caused by playing video games…
In children, there is a difference between aggressive behavior like pushing or shoving, and real violence – like hitting – which causes bodily harm. But the key factor regarding video gaming is that we simply don’t have enough research at this point to form conclusions.”
“Video Games: Bad, But Not All Bad,” USA Today, Jan. 22, 2001
- Involvement and Affiliations:
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- Director of Communications, Office of Surgeon General David Satcher, 1998-2002
- Communications Director, Partnership for Prevention, 2008-present
- President, Damon Thompson Communications Consulting, 2006-present
- Vice-President, Public Affairs, Lipman Hearne
- Board Member, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, 2003-present
- Recipient, Surgeon General’s Exemplary Service Award
- Recipient, Surgeon General’s Medallion, 2002
- Communications Director, US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Public Health and Science
- Director of Communications, Office of the Surgeon General
- Press Secretary, US Sen. David Pryor (D-AK)
- Press Secretary, US Rep. Ed Bethune (R-AK)
- Reporter, Washington Times
- Reporter, United Press International
- Reporter, Arkansas Democrat
- Reporter, Pine Bluff Commercial
- Education:
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- BJ (Bachelor of Journalism), University of Missouri School of Journalism, 1979
- Other:
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- None found