1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Bobby Brown's Been "Berry, Berry Good" For Baseball by Mark Fuerst
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
May 2010 Heart Insight
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Bobby Brown was not only a great ballplayer and role model, but left his mark on the game even after he hung up his cleats when he banned Minor League players from using smokeless tobacco as President of the American League. Just as this cover story was going to press, Major League baseball announced it would consider a smokeless tobacco ban when players' contracts are renegotiated this year. Thanks to Brown, ballplayers and the youngsters who idolize them no longer think baseball and tobacco go together like peanut butter and jelly.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I accessed about two dozen web sites, including those on Major League baseball, federal government documents about smokeless tobacco, and medical journals.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Two-hour in-person interview with Bobby Brown, followed by numerous phone calls to obtain additional quotes and to check facts.
6. Results (if any).
Brown was very forthcoming and had lots of good anecdotes to tell during our personal interview, but due to his age he couldn't remember all the names and specific dates we discussed. I called him later at home to verify information and made sure to have two sources for every fact.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Keep your eyes and ears open for story ideas. My editor is a lifelong Yankees fan — her father insisted on naming her after Babe Ruth — and she got the idea for the cover story in July 2009 at Yankee Stadium during the nostalgic Old Timer's Day game when the announcer mentioned that former third baseman Bobby Brown had been a practicing cardiologist.