Latest multimedia from PCGVR

PBS checks in with our experts

05.25.23: PBS Vitals interviewed our Director of Research Dr. Jessica Beard, our research partner Dr. Sara Jacoby and Philadelphia gun violence prevention community leader Zarinah Lomax to produce this report on taking the same approach to gun violence that has eliminated diseases and reduced smoking deaths and car crashes.

Slide show: Credible Messenger Link-up and Info Session

05.06.23: More than 40 people attended our first Credible Messenger Link-Up and Info Session on May 6 at Temple University, including some of the city’s most prominent journalists and gun violence prevention community leaders. MORE INFO


Credible Messenger Report: Unsolved pocast

04.24.23: Tiffaney Flynn, who lost her daughter Ojanae Thompson to Philadelphia gun violence in 2021, shares her experience with victim advocate Ikey Raw, a community reporter participating in our Credible Messenger Reporting Project. The professional reporting partner supporting this report was Yvonne Latty of the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting at Temple University’s Klein College.


Sharing our story

04.03.23: Our team joined the Full Frame Initiative and another special guest recently to discuss how solutions might be unlocked by fundamentally shifting the way we talk about gun violence. The panel included Maxayn Gooden, Oronde McClain and Jim MacMillan from our Center as well as Cheryl Thompson-Morton, Black Media Initiative Director at the Newmark J-School at CUNY, and was moderated by Tanya Tucker, Chief of National Engagement and Partnerships at the Full Frame Initiative.

PCGVR research and program popdate

03.15.23: We had the opportunity to present our work to the Firearm Injury Prevention Institute at the University of Colorado.

Word for word

02.27.23: Because researchers are required to protect the anonymity of study participants, we are sharing quotes from our recent study — word for word — in dramatic readings by other Philadelphians affected by gun violence. This video was produced by Philadelphia filmmaker Shameka Sawyer and young people who have also been personally impacted by gun violence, working for the “Bout Mine I Matter” program at her 5 Shorts Project.

NPR check in with our research director

02.28.23: Our director of research Dr. Jessica Beard discusses harmful gun violence reporting on Consider This. (Jump to 4:05 for Dr. Beard or listen to the whole report.)


Critical conversations

02.27.23: Our director of research Dr. Jessica Beard discussed our recent study on a panel with the staff of The Trace during a virtual conference on “Addressing gun violence in Black and Brown communities through journalistic solutions,” organized by the New York Amsterdam News, NYC’s oldest Black newspaper. AGENDA | VIDEO

Exploring the role of the media

12.10.23: Our team participated in “Changing the Narrative on Gun Violence: The Role of Media,” a new webinar from the Stoneleigh Foundation. WATCH THE VIDEO |MORE INFO


Healthcare journalism summit

10.27.22: Our Director of Research Dr. Jessica Beard introduced our work at “Reporting on Violence as a Public Health Issue,” a summit organized by the Association of Heath Care Journalists. Listen:

Get to know us

11.30.22: Our director of research Dr. Jessica Beard discussed our work on Trauma Code at WBAI in New York.


Slide show: Credible Messenger Film Festival

08.28.22: Our first-ever Credible Messenger Film Festival took place at the Cope House at Awbury Arboretum in the Germantown section Philadelphia in late August, 2022. We screened every short documentary we have supported to date, each followed by a panel discussion including some of the community journalists, producers and professional partners behind each production as well as some of the people who appeared.


Audio Documentary

06.01.22: Tashawn Strother, a community journalist from our Credible Messenger Reporting Project, hosts an audio documentary sharing her family’s journey after her son Walter Willis was shot and critically wounded on New Year’s Eve in 2019. Voices include our Director of Research Dr. Jessica Beard, who is also the trauma surgeon who cared for Walter – and Walter himself. LISTEN: BEHIND THE SCENES INTERVIEWS