Freelance Contributor

The Philadelphia Obituary Project was founded in 2016 with the intention of flipping the dynamic by putting the lives of homicide victims front and center. We write positive stories that focus on the life of the victim – treating them as more than statistics – and the families that have lost loved ones to these preventable tragedies. The coverage aims to fill a gap in local media, since, all too often in Philadelphia, the news is filled with bloody details from the latest homicide, and another one comes so quickly that the previous one falls off the radar. Because the media is often ill-equipped to dive deeper than the murder itself, much of the general public blames the victims or assumes they must have been criminals. The vast majority were not violent criminals, and regardless of their background, homicide victims are always people, with lives, families, dreams and struggles. We are seeking one or more journalists to join our stable of freelancers who contribute regularly, up to twice a month. Contact information for relatives will be supplied, and stories will need two interviews a piece. Published stories from recent victims may, but are not guaranteed to, be published in the Philadelphia Inquirer as part of a content sharing partnership.