Downtown Community TV Receives New York Community Trust Grant through the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Community Information Challenge
NEW YORK, Feb. 4—Beyond Bullets, a project of Downtown Community Television (DCTV), has launched a media campaign that will use youth reporters and roving film festivals to raise the collective consciousness about the impact of gun violence in New York City. A grant of $60,000 was made to The New York Community Trust by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the campaign. The Trust matched the grant and has made a $120,000 grant to DCTV for the project.
Television, movies, and music videos normalize carrying weapons and glamorize them as a source of personal
power, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. Meanwhile, news media focus on sensational stories about
gun-related homicides, but rarely work to illuminate the causes or portray effective community solutions.
“ Beyond Bullets will challenge the mainstream entertainment and news media’s narrative,” says Kerry
McCarthy, Trust program officer for the arts. “The effort will offer in-depth youth reporting on the causes and
costs of gun violence, and the unheralded—yet strong—efforts to combat it.”
Youth reporters from neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, East Harlem, Mott Haven, and
Jamaica, will create video reports on gun violence in the City, and original media for www.beyondbullets.org and for broadcast on WNYC-TV. The reports will also be screened at community forums and town hall
meetings, traveling around the City in a mobile production van—the Beyond Bullets CyberCar.
“Media has helped create this problem, and we are using media to help stop it,” says Jon Alpert, Emmy Award-winner and DCTV executive director. “We've recently completed a 15-city investigation of the problem and of local solutions to our gun violence epidemic. This summer we are going to employ everything we've learned as we work in 7 dangerous NYC neighborhoods on a media campaign to combat gun violence in New York City.”
DCTV’s anti-gun violence work began in 2004, when a New York Community Trust-supported media arts fellow, 19-year-old Terrence Fisher, was co-producing what would become an award-winning documentary, Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story. In January 2004, he and his childhood friend, Timothy Stansbury, were met by gunfire in the stairwell of Terrence’s building. A bullet struck Timothy, killing him. Two years later, DCTV toured the film, screening the documentary on the side of the CyberCar. Thousands of youth, elected officials, law enforcement officers, and parents saw the film at each stop.
The campaign will use new media and technology to not only inform residents about gun violence in their neighborhoods, but also to let them know what they can do about it. “Information is as important to a thriving democracy as clean air, jobs and schools. As leaders, local foundations are taking the initiative to meet those information needs,” says Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for communities, who leads the challenge. “This project and others like it help ensure that everyone has the information necessary to make decisions about their governments and their lives.”
About The New York Community Trust Since 1924, The New York Community Trust has been the community foundation of New York City, helping charitable individuals, families, and businesses to improve the quality of life for all the area’s residents through an aggregate of 2,000 funds. The Trust is dedicated to meeting the changing needs of children, youth, and families; aid in community development; improve the environment; promote health; assist people with special needs; and support education, arts, and human justice. The Trust is governed by a 12-member Distribution Committee composed of community leaders appointed by a variety of civic institutions. Its staff is recognized for its experience in grantmaking, financial administration, and donor service. Divisions are located on Long Island and in Westchester. In 2009, The Trust made grants of $127 million from assets of $1.8 billion.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Contact: Marc Fest, VP for communications, 305-908-2677, fest@knightfoundation.org The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org . The Knight Community Information Challenge is a five-year, $24 million initiative to help community and place-based foundations find creative ways to use new media and technology to keep residents informed and engaged.
About Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) www.DCTVNY.org Contact: Stephanie Skaff, (212) 966-4510, Stephanie@dctv.org Started in 1972 and located in Chinatown, DCTV is a media arts center that produces award-winning documentaries as means of strengthening democracy and enhancing civil society. The Center also provides hundreds of media production courses and workshops to students, residents, and producers and rents broadcast-quality production equipment at affordable prices.
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CONTACT:
Ani Hurwitz, vice president, communications The New York Community Trust 909 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022 T (212) 686 -0010 x 224 / F (212) 532-8528 afh@nyct-cfi.org / www.nycommunitytrust.org
