Following deadly school shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe last year, people want more in-depth coverage on guns in America — explained in plain English. We organized and survey and found that VICE audiences were more likely to support gun control, and therefore more likely to vote because of it. So as part of VICE’s broader mission to widen perspectives, we took it upon ourselves to create a series that unpacks guns and owns a stance.

As part of VICE’s larger initiative around the gun debate, VICELAND created a series of short-form videos that unpack the complicated history and thorny politics of guns. This is all told through the self-doubting, yet well-informed lens of VICE Correspondent Krishna Andavolu (Weediquette, VICE on HBO). Covering controversial topics such as mental health, gun bans & regulation, guns in the home, and harmful media coverage of mass shootings, these videos aim to inspire debate and interaction.

We created short-form videos in a format that would work well on broadcast as well as social media. Because there is so much out there on guns, our approach was to present a thesis, back it with statistical evidence, and direct people to the live debate to talk about the issues and engage with us in real time.

After airing as interstitial content and posting to our social channels, we held a Town Hall on Facebook Live and discussed with Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter and Chelsea Parsons from the Center for American Progress. The series led to much discussion between the guests and people watching and interacting with us from home — all in time for the pivotal midterm elections. We created a platform for constructive dialogue on guns. We can use this format to continue closely engaging with our audience, tackling more complicated issues, and learning from each other.

We were able to create a platform for constructive dialogue on guns, engaging thousands of people on social media. The series culminated with the live debate, where audiences everywhere participated, asked questions, and engaged with the panelists and host in a timely conversation before the voting season. The campaign garnered over 164K engagements, 900K video views, and 8.8M impressions across VICELAND Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts. But most importantly, people were enthusiastic about us moderating a debate, calling it a “step in the right direction.”