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November 2006 - Posts

Thursday, November 30, 2006 9:00 AM

The Stigma

Yesterday I featured a great series from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on AIDS orphans in the Caribbean. Today I'm turning my attention to the hills and valleys of western New England to highlight an excellent radio series on the struggles of the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 8:00 AM

Tales from the Caribbean

Writer Tim Collie and photographers Mike Stocker and Joe Amon of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel have launched an impressive new series that travels to a place that many people try to ignore, the impoverished world of Caribbean children whose parents
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 8:30 AM

The Naked and the Dead and the Brave

For its November/December issue, the Columbia Journalism Review has put together an astounding collection of first-hand accounts from reporters and photographers in Iraq. "Into the Abyss -- Reporting Iraq 2003-2006: an Oral History" shares the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, November 27, 2006 2:00 PM

Dealing Drugs with Dad

If you're like me, you get bombarded with spam e-mails trying to sell you medicine "cheap, cheap, cheap." Now we have someone to blame for clogging up our inboxes. The Philadelphia Inquirer just completed a masterful crime series by John Shiffman that
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 8:00 AM

A Laughing Matter

News Gems is taking a break for Thanksgiving and will be back next week. But before I start stuffing myself with Mom's turkey, I want to leave you with some holiday cheer. This "Land of 10,000 Stories" report comes from Boyd Huppert of KARE 11 in the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 8:15 AM

Social Security Terror Hunt

A tip of the hat to a couple of Medill journalism students, Carlos Roig and Christopher Kriva, who developed a scoop that was featured in The Washington Post. Roig's and Kriva's "Social Security Data a Major Source in Terrorism Probes" reveals how
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, November 20, 2006 1:08 PM

The Run of his Life

As I prepare to stuff myself with football games this week, I doubt any of them will give me the kind of thrill I felt reading Curtis Bunn's story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. "Disabled Student the Unlikeliest of Players"
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Friday, November 17, 2006 12:11 AM

Slim Chance

We've all read about the alarming rise in childhood obesity, but what's it like being one of the kids who struggles daily with dangerous weight? In "The Weight," Sacramento Bee photographer Manny Crisostomo puts us in the shoes of three teens desperately
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 16, 2006 8:00 AM

Alabama Giveaway

Brett J. Blackledge of The Birmingham News had a great investigative story Sunday about some old-fashioned Alabama wheeling and dealing. In "Software Firm Given Millions in No-bid Deals," Blackledge revealed that in the past five years the state's college
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 8:00 AM

Down and Out in Long Beach

The Long Beach Press-Telegram is running a terrific series this week by reporters Greg Mellen and Kevin Butler that looks at the plight of people who work one or more jobs and still can't make ends meet. Part of what impresses me about "The Working Poor:
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:30 AM

Stuck in Lodi Again

Nicole Hill of The Oakland Tribune does a wonderful job describing a community where few reporters venture. Her "A Shrinking World" explores the tight-knit, often isolated world of Muslim women living in the California city of Lodi. Hill shows us how
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, November 13, 2006 10:45 AM

Rahm's Revenge

Rahm Emanuel will do just about anything to win, Naftali Bendavid makes clear in his piercing profile of the congressman in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. Bendavid and photographer Pete Souza followed Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Friday, November 10, 2006 8:45 AM

Drunken Pass

What happens when someone gets caught driving while drunk? Sometimes not very much in South Carolina, according to a nifty investigation by Rick Brundrett of The State, a McClatchy paper based in Columbia. "A Setup for Tragedy" shows how judges are frequently
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 09, 2006 8:30 AM

Baquet's Banquet

When I first began News Gems 15 months ago, I expected to find great stories on a daily basis in The New York Times. The same with the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. But the most pleasant surprise has been how consistently stories in the
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 08, 2006 8:15 AM

Scholar, Soldier, Blogger, Spy

Even John le Carre couldn't have imagined what the high-tech spy world would look like today. Last week Kevin Whitelaw of U.S. News & World Report gave us a peek inside that world by describing the National Counterterrorism Center,
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 07, 2006 8:10 AM

Haircuts and Puppies

As election day arrives at last, I'm happy we'll no longer have to watch the same rancid political ads polluting the airwaves over and over again. Then again, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post points out that some of these ads can be works of political
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Monday, November 06, 2006 8:30 AM

Three Friends, Three Brothers

What happens when three devoted friends who feel as close as brothers head to Iraq together and only two come home alive? Last week Thomas Farragher of The Boston Globe shared a wonderful series tracing how soldiers Andy Wilson and Dustin Jolly struggled
posted by jonmarshall | 1 Comments
Friday, November 03, 2006 8:30 AM

After the Horror

Abraham McLaughlin of the Christian Science Monitor has written a fascinating series about the capacity of the human heart. His "Paths to Forgiveness" explores how some Africans who have lived through unimaginable horror have found ways to reconcile with
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Thursday, November 02, 2006 8:10 AM

Beyond the Blotter

With "What Kind of Person Does a Thing Like That," Susan Clairmont of The Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada, takes an arrest that would appear as a brief police blotter story in most newspapers and turns it into a compelling narrative. Clairmont's
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 01, 2006 8:30 AM

Grits with Salsa

What happens when Hispanic immigrants settle into a community known more for its Southern charm than its diversity? The Roanoke Times has been exploring this question with its ambitious and impressive "Land of Opportunity" series. Photographer Josh Meltzer
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments