Provide names of other journalists involved.
n/a
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
27-Mar-12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The story is about my struggle to come to terms with why my dog’s sudden death sparked grief that was almost as intense as that I felt when I suffered the loss of my father and one of my sisters. I spoke to counselors and experts, scoured research papers, and compared their reactions with my experience. I realized that in addition to the proven strength of the human-animal bond, the intensity of my grief was related to the facts that he was my constant companion, that the relationship was unconditional and nonjudgmental, that his death was so sudden, and that I live alone. But perhaps most importantly, it was the phenomenon of disenfranchised grief — that I couldn’t escape the feeling from friends, family, and coworkers that his death wasn’t worth dwelling on, so it made it harder for me to process.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I used Nexis and the Post researchers to turn up research from medical journals going back 20 years and dealing with the human-animal bond, and what happens when it is broken. This deepened the scope of the work and let me expand it from a mere essay into something with strong reporting.
Explain types of human sources used.
My human sources included two very experienced pet-grief counselors, including one who has done much research on the phenomenon herself and ended up founding the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University because of her research — and her personal experiences with pet grief.
Results:
The story received hundreds of comments from similarly aggrieved pet owners, and I got hundreds of personal emails — and handwritten notes — expressing thanks for putting this struggle into words. People felt compelled to share their own stories of losing a pet with me, but mostly said my piece helped them express their own grief and process their own loss.
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 corrections, clarifications, or challenges. We did host a live online chat with me and a pet grief counselor to handle reader questions on the subject.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Telling a personal story and interspersing it with solid research is a useful way to make a topic hit home for readers. They identify with the writer’s own struggles, so are then open to considering the factual information even as the writer does. In my case, the fact that the piece was somewhat of a quest — my quest for understanding — seems to have helped its appeal.