"'Make Us Safe' is an ambitious and unique effort, spearheaded by WXXI Public Broadcasting, to engage the community and respond to the growing problem of [teenage] violence in the Rochester area. "WXXI and its partners, the Gannett Rochester newspapers and WOKR-TV13(ABC) sponsored a poll of 1771 local school students. WXXI Television illustrated the results of the poll, and the community's reaction to it, with the enclosed 60-minute documentary program. WXXI AM Radio featured two weeks of poll and documentary participants on its daily news programs and talk shows. To support WXXI's efforts, the newspapers ran daily stories, mirroring the documentary. [WOKR-TV13] ran two weeks worth of series' segments. The project, which culminated on the anniversary of the murder of a 13 year old girl, was ubiquitous. With a respected public television station, a dominant network affiliate and the daily newspapers running stories about teen violence, it was impossible to ignore. A World Wide Web site set up by WXXI and the newspapers featured poll questions and results and received more than three thousand hits. The enclosed 'WXXI Community Workshop,' broadcast one week after the documentary, received enthusiastic support from local community leaders, educators, parents and teachers who participated. The project continues to have impact, both in the form of follow up on up stories in both television stations, and because 'Make Us Safe' is being put to use in the educational components of both WXXI and the newspapers. Enclosed in the support materials, is a copy of 'Newspapers in Education,' which sent Make Us Safe into thousands of homes and classrooms. "'Make Us Safe' was a phenomenal and successful effort by several relatively small staffs. The partners, especially the broadcast partners looked beyond competition toward community, and sought for solutions through journalism. As we continue 'Make Us Safe' into 1997, we feel it is a project deserving consideration by the honorable committee which judges the Peabody Awards."--1996 Peabody Awards entry form. This program is a community workshop focused on coming up with solutions for youth violence. Featuring students, teachers, community leaders, parents, and experts on three separate panels led by journalists Elissa Marra, Carolyn Washburn, and Jim Redmond, Gary Walker moderates each group as they brainstorm how to solve this problem in their community.
