Provide names of other journalists involved.
Thanh Tan, multimedia reporter (formerly of Texas Tribune, currently at Seattle Times) Emily Ramshaw, editor, Texas Tribune Justin Dehn, multimedia producer, Texas Tribune
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Throughout July 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The Tribune’s Fertile Ground series examined the Texas Legislature’s deep funding cuts to family planning for low-income women and the ripple effects being felt in communities statewide. From the evolution of state and federally subsidized contraception to the battle over Planned Parenthood to the cost of unplanned pregnancies, our six-part series is the most comprehensive look yet at the politics of reproductive health in Texas.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
This video series required extensive delving into state and federal family planning funding records, historical documents on past legislative battles over reproductive health, source video and photography, mapping of state family planning clinics and serious data analysis to determine how many women were losing access to care, and where.
Explain types of human sources used.
Human sources included researchers, lawmakers and state health officials — but most important, the family planning providers statewide who invited us into their clinics, and the women and families they treat who welcomed us into their homes and personal lives.
Results:
The packages aired through our free syndication agreement on television stations throughout Texas and was an interactive element in our reporting partnerships with The New York Times. Ahead of the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are discussing a bipartisan agreement to restore all or some of the funding they slashed in 2011.
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.
There have been no corrections or clarifications, and no one has challenged the accuracy of this project.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Don’t be afraid of using a multimedia approach to tell a sensitive story like this one. We worried women — particularly in some of Texas’ underserved communities — would be uncomfortable talking about their reproductive health, talking about contraception and child birth and cancer screenings and their relationships with their husbands. We couldn’t have been more wrong — and it provided illuminating anecdotes that made these packages so strong.