Weekly Brief: 05.22.25
Each week we share news from our center, local updates from our partners at Billy Penn and all the latest gun violence and prevention headlines. Read More
Meet the Association of Gun Violence Reporters at two upcoming national journalism conferences
You can meet the leaders of the Association of Gun Violence Reporters (AGVR) if you are attending either of two upcoming national journalism conferences:
At Health Journalism 2025 next week in Los Angeles:
On Thursday, May 29 from 5 to 6 p.m. local time, the AGVR team will be featured during a networking reception sponsored by the Joyce Foundation and the Blue Shield of California Foundation. If you are registered for the conference, just go to room Aviation 2.
At IRE 25 next month in New Orleans:
On Friday June 20th, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. local time, the AGVR team be available during a “brown bag” lunch event, location TBD.
From the archives:
- AGVR leaders held a kickoff webinar last December: Association of Gun Violence Reporters aims to link journalists across the U.S.
- Three of the AGVR leaders and PCGVR research director Dr. Jessica Beard discussed better gun violence reporting during a National Press Club webinar last year focused on: Covering Firearm Violence — How journalists can reframe their reporting.
- AGVR chapter leader Kaitlin Washburn interviewed AL.com violence prevention reporter (and now AGVR member) Alaina Bookman and PCGVR director Jim MacMillan for the Association of Health Care Journalists last year, exploring: Gun violence reporting certification: What it is and why journalists should get it.
Stay tuned for more news from AGVR coming soon. For now, you can reach the AGVR team through the PCGVR contact page: Send us a message
Above, from left: AGVR Co-Directors Sammy Caiola and Abené Clayton, and Chapter Leaders Jennifer Mascia, Alain Stephens and Kaitlin Washburn.
Gratitude and Impact
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our Lightning Round campaign. Your support will put a printed copy of our Better Gun Violence Toolkit in the hands of 150 more journalists. We learned a lot about crowdfunding too. YOU CAN STILL SUPPORT THIS CAMPAIGN
Training journalists and students in best reporting practices
Clockwise from top-left, above: PCGVR research director Dr. Jessica Beard and newsroom liaison Oronde McClain, Temple University Journalism Prof. Yvonne Latty, who also directs the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting at Temple, and PCGVR founder and director Jim MacMillan. (Missouri School of Journalism photos)
Each year, the PCGVR team visits dozens of newsrooms, conferences, colleges and universities across the country. Last year, we started turning toward more national activities and impact.
Conducting and publishing multidisciplinary research for impact
Above: Researchers participating in our collaborative gathered for a meeting at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Photo by Kriston Jae Bethel for PCGVR.
PCGVR director of research Dr. Jessica Beard is the corresponding author on our most recent study: Defining harmful news reporting on community firearm violence: A modified Delphi consensus study.
The study included 21 experts — from the gun violence survivor community, journalism practice, and scholarship — who identified 12 specific harmful elements found in news reports and then rated those harms across individual, community and society levels. FINDINGS | READ THE STUDY | OUR PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Centering the voices of survivors in the media
The Survivor Connection is a new resource intended to make experts from the gun violence survivor community more readily accessible to journalists in Philadelphia.. READ THE PRESS RELEASE | VISIT THE WEB SITE
Tips for shifting gun violence reporting toward a public health lens
Our director of research Dr. Jessica Beard joined three of our favorite reporting partners for a discussion on how to shift story framing to one that emphasizes solutions, prevention methods, and data. This is a master class.
Watch now: New, national Association of Gun Violence Reporters kicks off
Clockwise above from top, left: Moderator Laura Bennet, director of The Center for Just Journalism, and AGVR founding staffers: Jennifer Mascia from The Trace and CNN, independent journalist Alain Stephens, Sammy Caiola from the Kensington Voice and Abené Clayton from The Guardian.
Leaders of the new Association of Gun Violence Reporters kicked off activities with a webinar in December, 2024. The organization was launched with support from PCGVR. WATCH NOW.
Watch now: New PBS NewsHour documentary checks in with PCGVR research director
“Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun,” is a new documentary produced by PBS News Student Reporting Labs and featuring stories produced by 14 young journalists from around the country, including an interview with PCGVR director or research Dr. Jessica Beard. WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY | JUMP TO DR. BEARD’S INTERVIEW
Watch the trailer: The Second Trauma
The Second Trauma documentary tour is underway. We are visiting colleges and universities, journalism conferences, newsrooms and other organizations. To request an exclusive screening and expert panel discussion, visit: thesecondtrauma.net
Certification workshop feedback, outcomes and next steps
02.16.24: PCGVR director Jim MacMillan and Alaina Bookman of AL.com discussed our recent Gun Violence Prevention Reporter Certification Workshop in this webinar hosted by the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Get to know the public health approach
Some of the data is this video is now out of date but this is still a great primer on public health strategies to prevent gun violence, including interviews with our research director Dr. Jessica Beard and a couple of our favorite partners.
Voices from Philadelphia journalism and survivor communities
We were honored with the opportunity to co-produce and participate in this invigorating and informative conversation on advancing community-centered and solutions-oriented reporting on gun violence in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities in 2022.
