Identifying Issues That Affect a Community

Issues are problems that can affect a community. They can be anything from access to clean water, poverty and gang violence and crime to drug use, environmental damage, poor health and inequality. Identifying and understanding community issues can help a journalist connect to the root cause of an issue and lead to possible solutions. It can also indicate if the journalist could partner with other organizations working to address the problem.

Across the country, large majorities say the affordability of health care and drug addiction are very big problems; smaller shares say the federal budget deficit or climate change are very big concerns. Significant partisan differences are evident on views of several other issues, including abortion policy and the Supreme Court’s upcoming consideration of Roe v. Wade.

A global health crisis continues to dominate public concern, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that more than 14.9 million people died from complications related to COVID-19, despite improvements in vaccine availability and distribution. The pandemic has slowed progress toward meeting the world’s Sustainable Development Goals, with key targets in health and economic development suffering from a loss of momentum.

AJ Rebollo and Skyler Acord formed metalcore band Woe, Is Me in Atlanta in 2012. In 2014, the band released their debut album Black Diamonds and won a Punk Goes Pop award for their cover of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend.” Their second album, Headspace, infused more overt R&B references into their rock sound and earned them a nomination for Artist of the Year at the Alternative Press Music Awards.