By Christopher B. Daly
By now, most readers of the NYTimes have discovered Dasani, the remarkable girl whose story epitomizes the plight of the 22,000+ homeless in New York City. Kudos to investigative reporter Andrea Elliott and photographer Ruth Fremson.
BTW, the online version has extras. Although the series “Reasons to Dream” did not get the full Times “Snow Fall” treatment, it still looks better online. There are big, gorgeous, poignant, full-color pictures of
Dasani at play.
NYT/Ruth Fremson
Dasani and her world, and some videos too.
But not to be missed is this: The full credits at the bottom of the last installment indicate how much institutional heft counts in a series like this.
Here is a brief summary of how they went about it:
SUMMARY OF REPORTING
Andrea Elliott, an investigative reporter with The New York Times, began following Dasani and her family in September 2012. The series is written in the present tense, based on real-time reporting by Ms. Elliott and Ruth Fremson, a photographer with The Times, both of whom used audio and video tools.
Throughout the year, Dasani’s family also documented their lives in video dispatches from the Auburn Family Residence, which does not allow visitors beyond the lobby. Ms. Elliott and Ms. Fremson gained access to the shelter to record conditions there.
The reporting also drew from court documents, city and state inspection reports, police records, the family’s case files at city agencies and dozens of interviews with shelter residents. Most scenes were reported firsthand; others were reconstructed based on interviews and video and audio recordings.
The Times is withholding the last names of Dasani and her siblings to protect their identities. The nicknames of some of Dasani’s siblings are used in place of their birth names.
And here is a long list of people who pitched in:
CREDITS
By Andrea Elliott
Photographs by Ruth FremsonDesign, graphics and production by Troy Griggs, Jon Huang, Meghan Louttit, Jacky Myint, John Niedermeyer, David Nolen, Graham Roberts, Mark Suppes, Archie Tse, Tim Wallace and Josh Williams.
Reporting was contributed by Rebecca R. Ruiz, Joseph Goldstein and Ruth Fremson, and research by Ms. Ruiz, Joseph Burgess, Alain Delaquérière and Ramsey Merritt.
By my count, that’s 18 people — not to mention all the editors who had a hand (who should also be credited/held accountable). And, of course, Andrea Elliott has done basically nothing else for 15 months — so that in itself is a big commitment.
Plus, the Times is providing the “source notes” (like scholarly footnotes) so that others can confirm or pursue further info. This is a model practice for many other stories.
That’s how it’s done.
Prof Chris Daly's Blog 