Back to Mexico
The Record in Stockton, Calif., proves that you don't need to be a big newspaper to put together lively Web packages. "And a Song Shall Carry Them Home" by reporter Jennifer Torres and photographer Victor Blue follows three musician brothers as they return to Mexico after working illegally in the fields of California's San Joaquin County for two years. Torres weaves together facts about immigration and its impact on San Joaquin's economy with scenes from the Fermin brothers' journey, such as this one as they began their trip:
Workdays in San Joaquin County fields were broken up by weekends at Stockton flea markets, where Constantino bought a keyboard, microphones, guitars, accordions, amplifiers and a conga drum.
All of it was piled into the back of the truck, along with water coolers, bags full of clothing, a bicycle, a television set, cowboy boots, a DVD player - every little thing that was out of reach in Mexico and that America had seemed bursting with. And they were taking it back.
One more time, they crouched behind the Chevy and sucked in their breath.
They pushed the truck all the way into the street.
Each of the five stories comes with a photo gallery and the package has a Google map that traces the brothers' route, a podcast of Torres talking about the stories and a forum for readers, many of them angry, to share their comments. The one thing that could make made this package even better would be some samples of the Fermin brothers' music.www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=A_SPECIAL92 A big thanks to cyberjournalist.net for letting us know about this story. Are there any immigration stories that you recommend?