The United States has a gun problem. Students at Indiana University are going to tell us about it in a series of stories.
Source: The JAMA Network
The United States has a gun problem. And students at Indiana University are going to tell us about it.
Starting tomorrow, News-Decoder will publish a four-story series on guns in the United States, produced by students at the midwestern university.
The series, spearheaded by News-Decoder student ambassador Rae McFadden, explores some of the complexities surrounding guns in the United States, an issue we have already tackled in a decoder and in articles by correspondent Bernd Debusmann, who along with Robert Holloway edited this package.
Indiana University is one of 16 academic institutions in News-Decoder’s pilot program. Encouraged by News-Decoder correspondent Elaine Monaghan, who teaches at Indiana, students there had already distinguished themselves by creating a News-Decoder club to promote our mission of examining the world’s biggest issues impartially and in depth.
Now they have taken the initiative with a package of stories that delve into America’s love affair with guns and the effects it has on communities and public health.
In line with News-Decoder’s mission
Tomorrow, Rae McFadden kicks off the series with a look at the severity of the problem and Congress’s occasional efforts to control the sale of guns.
Then Cody Thompson writes about how perspectives on guns in his small home town differ radically from those at his college. True to News-Decoder’s mission, his piece explores contrasting outlooks on a single issue.
Christine Fernando looks at shifting attitudes among Afro Americans towards gun ownership, before Diana Sokolova — Indiana’s other student ambassador — closes the series by exploring new efforts to tackle gun violence as one would an epidemic — as a public health issue.
Half of News-Decoder’s articles have been produced by young adults — call them millennials — including students at our pilot institutions. We want our website to be a platform for that generation as well as for our experienced correspondents. The mix can be enlightening.
This is the first time that one of our pilot institutions has taken charge of an issue that concerns their students with a view towards helping others understand. That is very much in line with our mission, and I look forward to more such packages by students at other institutions.