What’s missing in the media conversation on gun violence

The media conversation on gun violence in California has been driven by instances of mass shootings and focused primarily on legislative solutions, according to a new report commissioned by Hope and Heal Fund. Meanwhile, the report found everyday gun violence including suicide, domestic violence, and community violence goes unnoticed in the media coverage – as do the community-based solutions that can help alleviate the bloodshed.

Hope and Heal Fund, a pooled fund working to stop gun violence in California, commissioned the media scan of nine regional newspapers to better understand the current conversation about gun violence in the state and identify previously overlooked opportunities to talk about everyday gun violence. The scan analyzed 218 news stories and opinion pieces in nine major newspapers in California from December 1, 2015, to January 1, 2017.

The analysis showed that legislative policy solutions dominated the print media conversation about gun violence prevention, accounting for 40 percent of news coverage. Major topics included executive actions on gun violence issued by former President Obama in January 2016, California’s Proposition 63 — also called Safety for All — which enacted background checks for ammunition purchases and other measures, and the California legislature’s 2016 gun violence prevention bill.

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