Covering Firearm Violence: How journalists can reframe their reporting

Firearm violence is largely covered in the media as a crime issue focused on individual shooting events. But experts assert that reframing firearm violence as a broader public health issue is crucial to finding policy and community solutions aimed at preventing deaths and injury from guns. 

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute, with support from the Association of Health Care Journalists, at 11:30 am ET on Friday, Feb. 9, for a conversation among experts and journalists on where to find the best data and research on firearm and gun deaths for your reporting. Registration is open.

In this 75-minute webinar, we’ll explore the gaps, go-to resources, and facts and myths about firearms and firearm ownership. Participants will also learn:

• The differences among firearm violence, such as what is a mass casualty event versus a mass shooting
• Where to find new research on firearm violence
• How news coverage of firearm violence impacts victims and frontline health workers
• How to move thinking of firearm violence as “the crime beat” to more nuanced coverage across beat

Speakers include:

• Dr. Jessica Beard, director of research at The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting
• Abené Clayton, reporter on The Guardian’s Guns and Lies in America project
• Jennifer Mascia, senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace
• Moderator: Kaitlin Washburn, health beat leader for firearm violence and trauma at the Association of Health Care Journalists and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.

The Institute depends on grants, foundation funds, and contributions from individuals like you. Your donation today allows the Institute to offer the majority of its programming at no cost.