Provide names of other journalists involved.
Jim Gibbons and Ben Augustine, photographers, helped shoot the reporter standups
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
8/13/12-8/18/12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
It was the closest thing to a miracle that the medical community had seen in centuries. Lingering in mold in a laboratory, a substance that promised cures for a host of illnesses that had ravaged the population. In her series, “Antibiotics: The Broken Promise,” our Katie Gibas says the “wonder drug” changed the landscape of medicine for the 20th Century, but also set the stage for medicine’s most serious challenge in the 21st. I shot, wrote, and edited everything (except a the reporter on-camera standups) by myself.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Used information from a number of website, AHCJ resources, interviews from AHCJ’s Atlanta Conference.
Explain types of human sources used.
Doctors, retired pediatricians, professors of medicine, public health experts, infectious disease specialists, farmers (Beef, dairy, chicken and organic), beef cattle specialists (Cornell Cooperative Extension), MRSA Patients, Infection control experts, professors of medicine, family medicine doctors, Antibiotic Working Group of the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Results:
We received a lot of local feedback that people liked the series, thought it was very informative.
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.
None.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Be prepared and be patient. The series started as a three part series, and as I learned the magnitude of the issue, it became six parts. This story took several hours of interviews and video shoots and even more time to break everything down in simple terms our viewers can understand and even more time to edit.