- jsonline.com/emptycradles
- jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/121355344.html
- jsonline.com/multimedia/video/?bctid=1332076648001
- jsonline.com/news/128682118.html
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
All pieces were published throughout 2011 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The key pieces included with this entry ran on the following dates: Jan. 23, April 17, May 8, Aug. 21, Sept. 25, Nov. 13, Dec. 18.
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
A deep, solutions-oriented look at Milwaukee’s perpetual problem, infant mortality. Milwaukee ranks seventh worst among big cities when it comes to infant mortality. Black infants die at a rate about 2.5 times that of whites. In some neighborhoods, the rate rivals that of Third World countries. Beyond reciting the grim facts, we examined many critical issues, from the science of stress and its affect on prematurity to the way America’s health care system is structured, focusing money and effort on saving babies born ever earlier while investing little on preventing prematurity. Other pieces examined health literacy, efforts that have worked elsewhere and the global economic shifts that saw the city, in a generation, go from one of the best for babies to one of the worst. In addition to the newsy stories, every one of which broke new ground, we completed many pieces aimed at providing important information to mothers, from available resources to tips for pregnancy and the first year of a baby’s life. We shared this content with a weekly newspaper focused on the African-American community.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The main documents we used were infant death records from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office. For one story, reporter Crocker Stephenson examined any sleep-related death for the risk factors identified by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Beyond that, the documents formed the underpinnings for a map of all infant deaths that was filled in throughout the year.
Explain types of human sources used.
The stories were driven by human sources, notably parents who lost their children or gave birth in challenging circumstances. We also tapped into a wide variety of experts, including many of the most prominent national experts as well as local individuals, from public health officials to doctors and nurses on the front lines.
Results:
Since the project began, we have sharply elevated the community understanding of the issue as well as the importance of it. Where the city had no set goal and no unified approach, the mayor has set a specific goal for reducing the infant mortality rate and racial disparities. Others groups have set goals for their involved. A community-wide plan appeared to be languishing, but got back on track after a report looking at how many resources are already going to the issue. We created a database of needs from social service agencies, to facilitate individual contributions of money and cribs. Additionally, the United Way adopted infant mortality as one of its main areas of focus and other foundations, citing our efforts, put money behind the cause.
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.
We have continued to follow developments and will do more enterprise work in 2012. We have not run any corrections associated with this project.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Set the bar high. Plan, plan, plan. Then execute. This project was exceedingly complex, from the issue itself — infant mortality is driven by and related to a thicket of factors, from poverty to education, from global economic changes to personal health care decisions. Thus, we built as multidisciplinary team with reporters focused on health care administration, economics, child welfare and public health, as well as a data specialist. The approach we used, integrating the project with interactive maps and databases, as well as videos and print graphics, required much coordination, as did working with the columnist who joined the reporting team to provide his own perspective, and to gather material for use in editorials.