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March 2008 - Posts

Monday, March 31, 2008 8:45 AM

Prisoners of War

Two fascinating pieces about POWs and detainees have recently been published. "Out of a Tortured Past," by Matt Soergel in the Florida Times-Union, is a moving account of how American prisoners survived their mistreatment in the Hanoi Hilton. "A Day in
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Friday, March 28, 2008 8:00 AM

Steve Fossett's Last Adventure

The March issue of Chicago magazine features a brilliant profile by Bryan Smith of pilot Steve Fossett. Smith's "Without a Trace" explores the mystery of how a man who escaped death so many times could disappear during a routine flight
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Thursday, March 27, 2008 8:00 AM

On Sex Abuse

"Secret Shame," by Deseret Morning News reporters Lucinda Dillon Kinkead and Dennis Romboy, is a comprehensive series on sex abuse in Utah. Abuse of children, Kinkead and Romboy found, is more widespread than commonly thought: one in four girls, and one
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:00 AM

Shell Game

Farah Stockman of the Boston Globe has produced an outstanding investigation into the tax practices of war contractor Kellogg Brown & Root, "Top Iraq Contractor Skirts US Taxes Offshore." KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, has avoided hundreds
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:00 AM

Bad Care for Soldiers, Flight School for Terrorists?

I'm finally catching up to a couple of excellent network news investigations. In "A Question of Care: Military Malpractice?" Byron Pitts of CBS News explores accusations that military doctors frequently misdiagnose the illnesses of American troops. Pitts
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Monday, March 24, 2008 8:30 AM

Five Years of War

To mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Reuters and Media Storm collaborated to create the powerful "Bearing Witness." The Web package combines brilliant photographs of the fighting and everyday Iraqi life, video interviews with some
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Friday, March 21, 2008 12:11 AM

Mapping our Lives

I doubt any newspaper's Web site uses maps any better than the Bakersfield Californian does. Some of the things you can do using Bakersfield.com's interactive maps include identifying the worst potholes in town, pinpointing unsolved gang killings, searching
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Thursday, March 20, 2008 12:16 AM

In Their Hands

"Deciding If a Man Should Live or Die Is Soul-Wrenching Task for Jury," by Gilbert Gonzalez in the Tampa Tribune, is a short, first-person account by the foreman of a jury that decided whether to recommend that a convicted murderer be put to death. Even
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:50 AM

Fugitive Justice

"Free to Flee," by Joe Mahr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is a stunning investigation into gaps in the criminal justice system that allow hundreds of thousands of felony fugitives to flee and evade capture. After the Post-Dispatch's exhaustive review
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:22 AM

Killer Series

In the past few weeks, newspaper readers have been treated to two superb true-crime series. We highlighted Jon Wells' "Deadly Encounter" here. Now Tim Madigan's splendid "To Catch a Killer" has completed its 24 chapters in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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Monday, March 17, 2008 8:30 AM

Small Town Lives

Boyd Huppert of KARE 11 News in Minneapolis has crafted a wonderful series about opportunities and tribulations in rural America. His "Four Corners" project takes us to the Grand Portage Reservation and the towns of Northcote, Luverne and Caledonia in
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Friday, March 14, 2008 9:34 AM

Final Chapters

Tyrone Beason of the Seattle Times and Don Colburn of The Oregonian have written memorable accounts of people facing death on their own terms. In "Last Hurrahs," Beason introduces us to Gladys Blaine, an 85-year-old with a theatrical bent who, dressed
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Thursday, March 13, 2008 7:33 AM

Portrait of a Street

Miami's 27th Avenue stretches for 17.5 miles through some of Dade County's most culturally rich neighborhoods. Although the street was officially renamed "Unity Boulevard" more than 20 years ago, Robert Samuels of the Miami Herald shows us that these
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:30 AM

Hurray for the Winners

We're proud to write that many of the stories we've highlighted in News Gems won National Journalism Awards last week. "Hidden Hazards: Kids at Risk" by Patricia Callahan and Maurice Possley of the Chicago Tribune took first prize in the public service
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008 8:30 AM

A Shooting in Black and White

In The New Yorker this week, Calvin Trillin brilliantly dissects a shooting in suburban Long Island. "The Color of Blood" recounts what happens when a middle-age black man who has just moved into his dream home confronts a gang of
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Monday, March 10, 2008 8:30 AM

When Schools Protect Predators

Amy Hsuan, Melissa Navas and Bill Graves of The Oregonian have produced a first-rate investigation into sexual abuse by educators, "Disciplining Oregon Teachers." Their most damning finding: School administrators often cut secret deals with teachers who
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Friday, March 07, 2008 8:30 AM

Don't Die Here

Nebraska, under a law dating back to 1917, is the only state that requires county attorneys to serve as coroners, even if they have no medical training. A few coroners bring along a doctor, but others do little more than call a mortician. This haphazard
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Thursday, March 06, 2008 8:45 AM

Deadly Medicine

There have been two impressive stories recently about how prescription drug overdoses are becoming leading killers. In "Deadly Combinations," Chris Tisch and Abbie Vansickle of the St. Petersburg Times report that prescription drug overdoses killed
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008 8:30 AM

True Crime Story

Jon Wells of The Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada, has written another exceptional long-form narrative, "Deadly Encounter." This series is about the aftermath of a fatal beating in a blue-collar bar, and Wells uses a novelistic style to capture the
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Tuesday, March 04, 2008 8:30 AM

The Boxer

Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated proves he is one of the best sportswriters around with an amazing profile of middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik. Hoffer's "Forged to Fight" weaves Pavlik's story with that of his hometown, Youngstown, Ohio,
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Sunday, March 02, 2008 12:05 PM

Reporting from Dangerous Places

No matter what you think of the controversial John McCain lobbying story of Feb. 21, this weekend The New York Times shows why it remains our most indispensable newspaper. The simple reason: it regularly sends writers to places where few reporters
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