The Initiative for Better Gun Violence Reporting first gained prominence after convening the inaugural Better Gun Violence Reporting Summit at WHYY in Philadelphia in 2019.
The Initiative for Better Gun Violence Reporting (IBGVR) was launched in July 2019 by Philadelphia journalist and educator Jim MacMillan during his fellowship at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, to explore the hypothesis that changing the practice of news reporting could prevent shootings and save lives.
Goals included convening a national conference on better gun violence reporting, publishing a preliminary set of best practices for journalists covering the topic and launching an enduring organization.
In July 2020, IBGVR launched The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting (PCGVR), which now pursues a refined mission of “collaborating to advance more empathetic, ethical and impactful journalism” addressing gun violence and prevention.
PCGVR launched a community reporting project to shift power to people with lived expertise, a professional development curriculum to support journalists reporting on the topic and a multidisciplinary research collaborative to inform our work and others.
The Center has a small staff but has also supported more than 200 community journalists, professional reporting partners, event speakers, workshop and brainstorming session participants, interns, consultants and contractors who have each played an important role in our organizational development, outreach and impact.
Please visit: PCGVR.org
Above: In advance of the Summit, IBGVR convened the Community Conversations Day, a meeting of the Philadelphia journalism and survivor communities at Temple University Hospital.
The Initiative for Better Gun Violence Reporting is co-managed with fiscal sponsorship by CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia and is a member of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia.