According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 647 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2022.

Relaying the stories of the victims, highlighting acts of heroism and visiting communities in the wake of a tragedy are all essential elements to reporting the humanity behind the headlines.

Los Angeles Times crime reporter Kevin Rector has covered mass shootings for more than a decade and wrote about the haunting and unavoidably human parts of the job. He joined Lisa McRee on "LA Times Today."

Rector covered his first mass shooting while still in college. In the years since, he has covered several tragedies. He spoke about whether it's possible to remain objective or detached while covering such events.

"If a reporter can show their human side and connect with individuals who are suffering and feel some of the outrage and sadness that is inevitably felt when these sorts of incidents occur, then the sources, the families, the people who are experiencing it for themselves and their own communities feel that they can share more with the reporter and can trust to the reporter to tell the story as it should be told — which is with outrage and sadness and a desire to see it stop," said Rector.

Connecting with victims' families with empathy is vital to Rector's job. He talked about the toll that mass shootings take on families and whole communities.

"Everyone in the community is feeling that attack in a personal way," he said. "And the families are dealing with that on top of dealing with the unimaginable loss of a loved one. They are trying to navigate so many things all at once. At the same time, reporters are coming and knocking on their doors and asking them for comment and trying to tell their story. What has stuck with me from a reporter's perspective the most is that [families] want to talk."

Hundreds of mass shootings occur in the U.S. each year. Rector reflected on moments of futility while reporting on them and shared his hope for a future with fewer tragedies.

"I don't think that anything is going to change overnight," he said. "I don't think that one shooting is going to be the shooting that turns the corner for this country. But I do think that covering them collectively, and each time there is one to the best of our ability as the media, there can be change. And I have not given up on change. I think that change comes incrementally, and it will have to do so with this issue just like any other issue."

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview.

Watch "LA Times Today" at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News app.