In a Pennsylvania town, a Facebook group fills the local news void

One in six boys in the United States has experienced sexual abuse before turning 18. With few recovery options in real life, more of them are going online for support.

The Office of Neighborhood Safety in Richmond, CA took a radical new approach to urban violence by creating mechanisms to financially stabilize perpetrators of violent acts in crime-ridden neighborhoods - essentially paying people not to kill. They have been dramatically successful at weening violent criminals off the destructive behavior by using a comprehensive approach that includes using solid data, employing mentors with similar backgrounds to the criminals, and monetary incentives.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

The Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Quebec has expanded rapidly, becoming a model for programs around the world. What sets it apart from projects in Europe and the United States is that it confronts extremism of all stripes — not just Islamist — and focuses on behavior that signals the risk of violence, not just radical ideas, only involving law enforcement as a last resort.

A growing number of tribal judges nationwide - including Judge Abby Abinanti of the Yurok Tribal Court - are using a framework of traditional culture and an approach known as "restorative justice" to address both the need for rehabilitation of offenders and resolution for people often failed by the dominant criminal justice system.

Police departments across the United States are implementing strategies and reforms in response to the growing number of unsolved criminal cases. With cold cases often linked to declined trust in police and the undermining of wellbeing in, typically urban, neighborhoods, these reforms are seeking to reverse course.

Getting away from daily publishing helps local newspapers focus on serving their audience. The Quoddy Tides, a family-owned newspaper in Eastport, Maine, publishes only twice monthly. Publishing less frequently allows the newspaper to include more local stories, which are of interest to their community of readers, many of whom either live in, or have ties to the community. By avoiding the 24-hour news cycle, the newspaper can focus on local discourse and civic engagement.

Since Camden began addressing its high homicide rate in 2012 with closer collaboration with the community and stricter rules on the use of force, both murders and complaints about police have fallen dramatically. As part of what is considered some of the most extensive police reforms in the country, the city put more police on the streets. That had both good outcomes (interactions outside of crises) and bad (a troubling increase in low-level arrests). But, when many cities’ police-brutality protests in 2020 turned violent, Camden’s did not.

Athletes are mobilizing young voters and raising awareness about the perils of climate change. The athletes have been able to use their large social media platforms and following to educate people, urge them to act, and reach out to elected officials through a concerted effort by nonprofit Protect Our Winters (POW).

A data analyst who is a Microsoft-certified trainer uploads videos on social media teaching digital technology skills in the Yorùbá language. The videos are free to watch and break the language barrier that arises with most English-only tech information available online.