Here are the three projects by the Annnenberg journalists who each focused on some part of the question: Does gang intervention work? And if so, what works? To explore the issue, the team went to Homeboy Industries. (Yes, this was the team with which I was involved. But I did nothing but help with contacts. They determined their angles and produced their stories.)
For instance, Jill Krebs and Kirsi Crowley each looked at the early results of the 5-year long longitudinal study that Dr. Jorja Leap is conducting of the Homeboy Industries model and what it portends.
(To my knowledge the early results of Jorja Leap’s research findings have not appeared elsewhere, so Jill and Kirsi were breaking news.)
The third project, by Gabriel Cifrelli takes a far less expected view of gang recovery, as you’ll see.
The journalists’ bios are at the end of the post. You’ll note that while all three reporters have interesting backgrounds, none had experience with LA gangs, and Gabriel’s background is in art history, design and education, not journalism at all. Plus the stories had to be researched and produced very quickly—and they could not exceed 4 minutes in length. But the three reporters brought intelligence, talent and insight to the project. The results are below.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
by Jill Krebs
Homeboy Industries is a not-for-profit organization helping to rehabilitate gang members all over Los Angeles County.
Homeboy is participating in a five-year study which aims to accurately evaluate the program’s statistical effectiveness.
But is there really “strength in numbers?”
The preliminary results are now available for Homeboy Industries’ first evaluation.
(For Jill Krebs’ Strength In Numbers slide show click here.)
PRIEST’S UNUSUAL SUCCESS IN STOPPING GANG CRIME
by Kirsi Crowley
A gang rehabilitation program in central Los Angeles is turning two out of three gang members away from crime. Yet this successful program is under threat because of lack of funds.
Previous studies have shown that only one in three gang member from LA’s impoverished neighborhoods can turn their lives around in rehabilitation.
The extraordinary success of Homeboy Industries, run by a Jesuit priest, was revealed by a new academic study by UCLA Professor Dr. Jorja Leap.
Around 12,000 people come to Homeboy Industries every year. Father Gregory Boyle’s project offers jobs, support to end drug abuse and more.
Despite its outstanding success, the project has lost a lot of funding due to the recession and has had to lay off hundreds of people.
Although crime rate has declined in LA, gang violence remains a serious problem.
(For Kirsi Crowley’s Gangs and Crime slide show, go here.)
SERVING THE SENTENCE
by Gabriel Cifarelli
JOURNALIST BIOS
Jill Krebs, B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Kent State University (2001). As a studio associate director, she helped launch ESPN’s West Coast SportsCenter in 2009 in the new production facility. She helps direct and produce SportsCenter, ESPNews, NASCAR Now, and Outside the Lines in addition to editing in-studio footage. Her journalism experience includes reporting for NBC, Fox Sports Net, and The Akron Beacon Journal. Krebs resides in Los Angeles, California.
Gabriel Cifarelli, B.A. in Art History from California State University Northridge (2008). He has served as independent curator for the exhibition, Ulterior Design, that was on display in Terminal 1 at Los Angeles International Airport from August – December 2007. He is an Assistant Education Coordinator for the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House and Barnsdall Park. Cifarelli lives in Los Angeles, California. (Director’s Scholarship)
Kirsi Crowley, Master of Social Sciences in Journalism from University of Tampere in Finland (2005). A Finland native, she speaks Swedish, French, German, and Turkish. She has 23 years of experience writing and producing feature stories for print, radio and television. In 2008, she produced and directed an educational video series about the European Union for Tarinatalo, a television production company, in Helsinki. Also, she worked as a radio producer in the BBC World Service Finnish Section in the United Kingdom and as a freelance correspondent for the Finnish Broadcasting Company in Turkey, Pakistan, and South Africa. She has worked as a Specialist Journalist for Media House ESA, where she covered political and investigative issues and current affairs. Currently she is employed by a Finnish general interest magazine Apu. Crowley lives in Lahti, Finland.
We need Father Boyle and other interventionists. Law enforcement alone is a DISASTER, and that seems to be the only place the money is going anymore.