Keep Us Safe: Teens Talk about Violence, Rochester, NY 1996
Partners:
Rochester Democrat andChronicle
WXXI Public Television
WOKR-TV (ABC)
The partners focused on young people – their experiences, their views, their voices – for “Make Us Safe: Teens Talk about Violence.” First, they surveyed nearly 1,800 seventh through 12th graders in the Rochester area. They found that one-third thought their life would be shortened by violence, 18.5 percent carried a weapon for fear of violent crime and a significant number wanted their parents to set more limits. Then the partners gathered small groups of teenagers for focus group discussions.
All the media partners launched coverage on Sept. 21, 1996, the one-year anniversary of the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old girl by a 12-year-old girl outside of their school. A week of newspaper stories chronicling the problem of youth violence included contributions from 100 students who’d been given single-use cameras to document their day. The television and radio partners broadcast teen essays on violence.
The second week of coverage focused on solutions. A two-hour roundtable discussion broadcast live on WXXI and covered by the other partners generated citizen ideas for combating youth violence. The paper printed a coupon with a “Teens Pledge of Peace,” asking youth not just to sign the pledge but to offer more suggestions for curbing violence. The project shared the 1997 Batten Award.
Contacts:
Blair Claflin (former public affairs editor, D&C)
Legislative Editor
The Des Moines Register
715 Locust St.
Des Moines, IA 50304
Phone: (515) 284-8052
Gary Walker
VP of Television
WXXI-TV
280 State St – PO Box 30021
Rochester, NY 14603-3021
TEL: (585) 258-0241
FAX: (585) 258-0384
EMAIL: gwalker@wxxi.org
Elissa Marra
Director of National Productions
WXXI-TV
280 State Street
Rochester, NY 14614
TEL: (716) 258-0349
FAX: (716) 258-0384
EMAIL: emarra@wxxi.org<