ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 26, 2025) — The Poynter Institute is proud to announce the newsrooms selected for the 2025 cohort of Transforming Local Crime Reporting into Public Safety Journalism, led by Kelly McBride, the nation’s foremost expert on journalism ethics, and Cheryl Thompson Morton, director of the Black Media Initiative at CUNY.

For decades, crime news has shaped public perception of safety, often relying on institutional  methods that lean on law enforcement narratives and ignore community voices. Despite generally declining crime rates, the volume of crime-related news coverage has increased, alongside a rise in the number of police press releases.  

Newsrooms nationwide are recognizing the need for change but often struggle to implement lasting reforms on their own.That’s where Poynter comes in.

Now in its fourth year, Transforming Local Crime Reporting into Public Safety Journalism equips journalists with the tools, frameworks and support needed to shift from reactive crime coverage to reporting that provides meaningful context, accountability and community impact. Participants engage in months of rigorous training, collaborative discussion and individualized coaching to develop policies that reimagine crime reporting in alignment with public safety priorities.

“This program is about moving beyond the ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ mentality,” said McBride, chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at Poynter. “It’s about empowering newsrooms to redefine breaking news, prioritize accountability and ensure that crime coverage serves the public interest rather than just feeding engagement metrics.”

Since the program’s inception, more than 80 newsrooms have participated, implementing customized policies that guide their coverage. Past participants, including Lexington Herald-Leader, Utah’s KSL and Minnesota’s Star Tribune, have reported improvements in reporting depth, audience trust and even subscription conversions despite reducing their volume of one-off crime stories.

Tuition for the program is subsidized by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, Just Trust, and MacArthur foundation. 

Meet the 2025 cohort

The 2025 class includes a diverse range of news organizations, from major metro outlets to local community papers, all committed to redefining their approach to public safety journalism. 

A path toward sustainable change

Participating newsrooms will receive seven months of structured training, including:

• Defining a journalistic purpose beyond “it’s just interesting”
• Establishing guidelines on what crime stories to pursue
• Using data to accurately inform the public
• Developing newsroom-wide policies that prioritize accountability and public service

Through this process, newsroom leaders will create actionable policies that reshape coverage at a fundamental level, ensuring that their reporting reflects the needs of the communities they serve.

The future of crime reporting

As more newsrooms adopt a public safety journalism approach, the media industry as a whole is beginning to rethink long-standing crime coverage habits. This program is paving the way for a journalism model that prioritizes accuracy, depth and accountability over sensationalism.

“We have to understand that we are reporting on systems, and we cannot be the mouthpiece for those systems,” said Kyndell Harkness, head of culture and community at the Star Tribune and a past participant. “This program allows journalists to be more intentional, more reflective and ultimately, more impactful.”

The 2025 class of Transforming Local Crime Reporting into Public Safety Journalism represents another step forward in reshaping the narrative of crime coverage in America. Poynter is proud to support these newsrooms as they take on this crucial challenge.

For more information about the program, visit poynter.org or contact marketing@poynter.org.

Media Contact
Sarah Sweeny
Director of Marketing, Events and Communications
Ssweeny@poynter.org

About the Poynter Institute

The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.

The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.

Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org.