This week, the Online News Association announced the finalists for its Online Journalism Awards, honoring excellence in digital journalism. Among them were nine investigative reports, many of which used multimedia tools to get behind the story with powerful visuals, databases and original documents.
Investigative, Large Site
> Unequal Justice | DallasNews.com, The Dallas Morning News
Five-part series uses video, print and interactive features to probe why so many Dallas County murderers are on probation. Also nominated for the Knight Award for Public Service.
> Talking to the Taliban | TheGlobeandMail.com
Provides a portrait of Taliban foot soldiers in their own words, based on interviews conducted by a single researcher with a video camera and standardized questionnaire. All 42 transcribed, raw videos are included in the six-part series, along with graphics, maps and discussions with reporter Graeme Smith. Also nominated in the Multimedia Feature, Large Site category.
> Inside the CIA's Notorious "Black Sites" | Salon.com, Mark Benjamin
The "first in-depth, first-person account from inside the secret U.S. prisons," given by Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah, a Yemeni held for 19 months without being charged.
> Big Phat Liar | TheSmokingGun.com
Print story unravels how "a federal inmate duped the Los Angeles Times, fabricated FBI reports, and linked Sean 'Diddy' Combs to 1994 ambush of Tupac Shakur."
Investigative, Small Site
> Schools Promote Students Despite Widespread Failure | Azstarnet.com, Arizona Daily Star
Three-part series uses print and video storytelling to uncover social promotion of failing students in Tucson-area schools, then provides original documents and a database of local school performance to dig deeper.
> Blood and Money | EastValleyTribune.com, East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune
Traces the path of human smuggling from Mexico to Arizona using a three-part print series, videos in both Spanish and English, and interactive route maps.
> Coincidence or Cluster | NWHerald.com, The Northwest (Ill.) Herald
Six-part series on the McCullom Lake brain cancer lawsuits and the stories behind them, told through videos, interactive maps and original documents gathered over a six-month investigation.
> The Permanent Republican Majority | RawStory.com, The Raw Story
Five-part investigation into the "architects and the execution of backroom Republican politics," starting with the jailing of Don Siegelman, former Democratic governor of Alabama.
> 'I Didn't Do That Murder': Lebrew Jones and the death of Micki Hall | RecordOnline.com, The Times Herald Record (Middletown, N.Y.)
Uses videos, graphics and original case files to investigate the 20-year-old murder case of a New York City prostitute, and the man who says he was wrongly convicted.
The winners will be announced at the 2008 ONA Conference Awards Banquet on Sept. 13 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.
The American Journalism Review features the Chauncey Bailey Project in its August/September issue, with senior writer Sherry Ricchiardi calling it "the biggest journalistic show of force since 1976."
From AJR:
During the past 10 months, media professionals in the Bay Area have taken collaborative journalism to new heights as they produced more than 140 stories related to Your Black Muslim Bakery and Bailey's assassination.
It's the biggest journalistic show of force since 1976, when reporter Don Bolles' car was blown up by a bomb while he was investigating organized crime in Phoenix. Journalists from all over the country gathered to continue Bolles' work under the banner of the Arizona Project.
At the first anniversary of Bailey's death, reporters continue to peel away layers of intrigue about a Bay Area crime family that for years confounded Oakland police and city officials. Leadership of Your Black Muslim Bakery, founded by Yusuf Ali Bey in 1971, has been implicated in such crimes as torture, murder and child rape.
As the project broke important stories, a one-for-all-and-all-for-one mentality took hold among the core group of reporters and news managers. "We're competitive with each other until something like this befalls one of us," says [Oakland Tribune reporter Josh] Richman, who has devoted large blocks of time to the investigation. "Then we work as a team to get to the truth."
More recent news on the Chauncey Bailey Project:
>The National Association of Black Journalists has honored the project with its Best Practices Award, reports the Oakland Tribune:
"It is horrendous when a journalist is killed for reporting on a story that needs to be told," said Barbara Ciara, president of the association. "This is really something that deserves to be honored, so it was an easy decision."
>The trial of Devaundre Broussard, the bakery handyman charged with murder in the 2007 slaying who since recanted, has been postponed. From the Oakland Tribune:
Judge C. Don Clay granted the delay to allow Broussard's attorney, LeRue Grim, more time to review evidence in the case. Clay set Sept. 19 for a hearing to set a trial date.
According to Grim, the secret police video released by the Chauncey Bailey Project on June 18 may exonerate his client. From KCBS:
Grim claims law enforcement videotape shows Devaughndre Broussard was ordered by Yusuf Bey IV, the leader of the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, to falsely confess to Bailey's murder.
Watch the video or share it with others on Vimeo, YouTube or blip.tv.
See more stories by the Chauncey Bailey Project.
Not to be missed today: The ACLU's release of three memos it received from the Department of Justice and the CIA in response to a FOIA request. All three, issued between 2002 and 2004, detail the authorization of "enhanced" interrogation tactics for use on specific detainees.
From the AP:
The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause "prolonged mental harm."
The Aug. 1, 2002, legal opinion signed by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee was issued the same day he wrote a memo for then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales defining torture as only those "extreme acts" that cause pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure. The Bybee legal opinion defining torture was withdrawn more than two years later.
The new documents indicate that senior Bush administration officials were aware of the controversial and potentially problematic use of certain interrogation methods, including waterboarding.
Track those officials yourself with today's interactive flash feature from Slate, Crimes and Misdemeanors: An interactive guide to Bush-administration lawbreaking:
Says Slate:
The accompanying diagram highlights a truth of criminal conspiracy: Whenever legal liability is spread among many actors, it becomes difficult to ascertain with any specificity who's on the hook for what. This, to steal a phrase from Douglas Feith, is "the whole point."
While the graphic doesn't offer any new information, it does give a stark, powerful visualization of which officials have been involved in warrantless wiretapping, coercive interrogation, Department of Justice hiring and firing practices, and the destruction of CIA video tapes – and which ones might stand a chance of being prosecuted.
For example, here's what Slate detailed on Bybee:
Jay Bybee
Office of Legal Council
Implicated in: coercive interrogationAs the head of the OLC, Bybee signed the infamous August 2002 torture memo. Now a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, he was confirmed before the memos leaked and hasn't come under the same scrutiny as Yoo. Should he? By all accounts, Bybee relied heavily on Yoo's work. But the ACLU just released another memo that Bybee signed, which explicitly approved enhanced interrogation techniques for use on a specific detainee, based on the questionable theory that they did not constitute torture because "we believe those carrying out these procedures would not have the specific intent to inflict severe physical pain or suffering."
Case for prosecuting: By signing these memos, Bybee took responsibility for them. He may have also helped draft them. Yoo testified before Congress in May that his superiors reviewed and edited the torture memos.
Case against prosecuting: As with Yoo, there is resistance to prosecuting Bybee for giving legal advice. He is a sitting federal judge to boot. And as far as we know, there's no evidence that he helped set policy on interrogation.
Slate senior editor Emily Bazelon will be online Friday at noon EST to discuss the story behind the project, and its possible impact.
Edward Murrow's spirit lives on in the work of broadcast journalists he inspired, says the Radio-Television News Directors Association, which this week announced its 2008 picks for excellence in electronic reporting. Investigative reporting has its own category of the Edward R. Murrow Awards; this year's national winners are:
ABC News, Brian Ross Investigates | Prescription for Error
Television Network/Syndication Service
Chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross exposed pharmacy errors in America's major drug store chains, and their effects. Watch the original report, "Pharmacy Errors: Unreported Epidemic", or track the follow-up stories on The Blotter's Pharmacy Investigation blog.
NPR | Sexual Abuse of Native American Women
Radio Network/Syndication Service
Reporter Laura Sullivan led a two-part investigation, from South Dakota and Oklahoma, on the ongoing epidemic of sexual violence on Native American reservations. Read the transcript, listen to the original broadcasts, and dig deeper with interactive maps at "Rape Cases on Indian Lands Go Uninvestigated" and "Legal Hurdles Stall Rape Cases on Native Lands". Hear Sullivan discuss the the reporting challenges she faced in this interview with Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center:
KNBC-TV | Contaminated
Television: Large Market
Reporter Joel Grover and his team went undercover for four months to expose contaminated food supplies delivered to Southern California restaurants, and public health officials' failure to protect the public. Explore the project site, Produce Market Investigation, to read the transcript and watch parts one, two and three of Grover's video series.
WLOX-TV | Home Sweet Meth Home
Television: Small Market
In this three-part series, reporter Keli Rabon investigated how former meth labs in Biloxi, Miss. were being rented and sold to unsuspecting people, exposing them to harmful chemicals. See the full reports: "Mississippi Failing To Protect Families From Former Meth Labs", "Meth: It Can't Be Seen, But Could Be In Your Home" and "Innocent Families Discover Meth Still Lurks In Their Homes", and follow-up stories.
WTMJ-AM | Unlawful Restraint?
Radio: Large Market
Reporter Dan O’Donnell investigated the use of restraining devices in a special education classroom in Racine, Wis. Read the transcript and listen to the original report.
Hundreds of other radio and television reports received Edward R. Murrow Awards at the regional level. Explore the full list.
Top investigations in the Philippines on human rights, the environment and governance and corruption were honored June 26 with the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism for 2007. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a nonprofit promoting and protecting ethical media in the Philippines, administered the awards.
Writers for Newsbreak, an online magazine covering the nation's news and current affairs, took home the two highest honors:
Newsbreak describes its coverage as "honest, independent, and spunky reportage" that emphasizes "in-depth stories, investigative reports, incisive analysis, as well as insider stuff that give a ringside view of the workings of people, politics, and power." Paid subscribers can access the winning articles by Gloria and Landingin in its archives.
Finally, Prime Sarmiento of the PCIJ received a Plaque of Merit for "What's Swimming in Your Soup?", in which she documents the impact of domestic wastewater pollution on the Philippines' waterways and wildlife. Sarmiento now works for IPS-Asia Pacific; see more of her work on her website.
The JVOAEJ program was established in 1990 by CMFR in the name of Jaime V. Ongpin, secretary of finance during the Aquino administration, who struggled against the Marcos dictatorship and advocated a stronger alternative press. Past winners include The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Newsbreak, and Philippine Graphic.
See the full list of this year's finalists here.