Daniela Gerson

Daniela Gerson is an experienced multimedia journalist and educator specializing in civic engagement, participatory, and ethnic media. Daniela brings strong networks with Los Angeles media and national journalism innovators as well as editorial and training expertise to her work with the Tow Center. Daniela previously directed the Civic Engagement and Journalism Initiative at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School, and is founding editor of Alhambra Source, an affiliated research-based site investigating how local news can impact civic engagement and overcome linguistic and ethnic barriers. Daniela holds a B.A. in History and International Relations from Brown University and an M.A. in specialized journalism with a focus on immigration and demographics from USC’s Annenberg School. Working with Evelyn Moreno and Andrea Wenzel, Daniela is a co-researcher and journalism consultant for this project.

Tow Center Project:

Engaging communities through solutions journalism is a collaborative research project that will assess how audiences process local solutions-oriented stories, and their online and offline behavioral intentions. Adapting stories developed through a Metamorphosis research group project connecting South Los Angeles community organizations and local media, South LA residents will participate in focus groups exploring the impact of solutions-oriented community-based journalism. The project will make recommendations for a model for solutions journalism interventions that may be particularly useful for diverse communities.