1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Private Battles: The challenges facing military families after 10 years of war. By David Tarrant
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
All in 2010: June 6; Aug. 22; Oct. 3; Oct. 31; Dec. 19.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Two wars and multiple deployments have caused enormous strains within the military ranks, contributing to a rising divorce rate that outpaces that of civilians, a record numbers of suicides and a sharp increase in mental health problems. After nearly 10 years of constant war, these burdens are straining military families to the breaking point, yet their plight has received scant attention outside of the military community. In this 5-part series, The Dallas Morning News looks at how repeated combat tours have broken up families and contributed to a record number of suicides. How the two signature injuries of these wars — post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury — are wreaking havoc in many military families. And how citizen soldiers and their families, including the National Guard, are deploying at numbers not seen since World War II. These issues are explored through the personal stories of individual service members and their families. They generated strong response from readers via phone calls, comments and letters to the editor and helped raise awareness within the civilian community about the struggles facing military families today.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
These stories were primarily developed through personal interviews to produce narratives that reveal the struggles of individual military family members. Some stories required examination of medical records that were either submitted by family members or through official military channels.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
All five stories (as well as multiple sidebars) required a deep investment of time to find family members willing to tell their stories. In the case of Patrick Zeigler, the soldier seriously wounded in the Fort Hood shooting, the reporter spend months staying in touch with the soldier's fiance until the time was right for an interview.
6. Results (if any).
These stories produced a tremendous outpouring of reader comments, letters and phone calls, and helped raise awarenss withing the civilian community about the plight of military families today.
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 corrections or clarifications have been published related to this series of stories.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Military stories are challenging because the military community is by nature insular and somewhat suspcious of the media. It's important to develop sources outside of official military channels, such as media relations. I spent a lot of time talking to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, civilian experts — particular in the medical field — and daisy-chaining active-duty sources to develop the foundation of knowledge and expertise needed to produce stories about military families that have the ring of authenticity.