Philadelphia gun violence survivor Dashawn Walker tells his own story in “Unheard,” a new short documentary he co-produced with filmmaker Jessica Griffin, who is also a photojournalist with The Philadelphia Inquirer. Support was provided by the Credible Messenger Reporting Project at the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting. Dashawn was also a 2023 intern here at PCGVR, working with staffer and fellow survivor Oronde McClain, who also appears in the film.
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.
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
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
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, convened by the National Press Club Journalism Institute. This is a master class.
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.
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
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.
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.
