USC Center for Health Journalism announces Domestic Violence Impact Reporting Fund Grantees

The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is pleased to announce the selection of six California journalists who will be participating in our Domestic Violence Impact Reporting Fund.

Domestic violence impacts more than 10 million Americans each year, and nearly two-thirds of Californians have been affected by it. Yet domestic violence often is treated as a criminal or private matter rather than a public health epidemic. 

The Center for Health Journalism’s annual Domestic Violence Symposium and Impact Fund provide reporters with a roadmap for covering this epidemic with nuance and sensitivity. Grantees will receive five months of professional mentoring along with a total of nearly $15,000 in reporting grants. 

The Center is proud to support these talented journalists as they undertake ambitious explanatory and investigative reporting about domestic violence as a public health issue. Their work will tell important stories about what goes on behind closed doors and discuss the programs and policies that can help domestic violence survivors and their families. 

Topics the grantees will report on include the ways funding cuts are impacting domestic violence services and survivors, how law enforcement agencies fail to serve or enforce restraining orders, the use of medical technology to detect strangulation that shows no outwardly visible bruising, educational efforts to prevent teen dating violence, and the scope of domestic violence among immigrant and indigenous farmworkers in California.

The program initiative began with a virtual 2025 symposium on domestic violence that brought together leading journalism, public policy, community and research experts to speak on the topic to journalists who joined us from across the nation. The program is made possible thanks to the generous support of Blue Shield of California Foundation. 

“These talented journalists will shed light on an incredibly common experience that we all have a role in preventing,” said Jenna Lane, communications officer with Blue Shield of California Foundation. “Their reporting can help survivors of domestic violence, their families, policymakers and other leaders see paths to healing and opportunities for prevention.”

Here is a list of the Domestic Violence Impact Reporting Fund grantees:

Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee, Los Angeles Times

Roxsy Lin, American Community Media

Jasmine Mithani, The 19th

Elizabeth Moss, AfroLA

Megan Myscofski, Central Valley Journalism Collaborative/The Intersection

Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times