Shop Notes
A shortlist of fall media
Posted: Nov. 14, 2017 | Tags: science
Investigative Reporting Workshop Fellow Zane Anthony recommends the following in-depth stories you might have missed, models of today's multimedia projects.
The autumn news cycle boiled over like some Northwestern river amid a peak salmon run. Here, I bring together exceptional examples of storytelling I’ve spent time with in the last few weeks. They pinball and rebound between the most salient topics in media of the moment: extreme wealth, the White House and race.
Enterprise stories
“The Paradise Papers,” Nov. 13 in VICE News Tonight
It’s paradise found, not lost, this month for the international consortium of slam-dunk investigative reporters who’ve received 13 million documents known as the “Paradise Papers.” The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists — founded by the Workshop’s executive editor, Charles Lewis — has partnered with news organizations worldwide to cull through the documents and shine light on the monetary secrets of the world’s elite. This documentary on VICE News Tonight Nov. 13 goes behind the scenes of one of 2017’s biggest scoops.
“How business titans, pop stars and royals hide their wealth” by Scott Shane, Spencer Woodman and Michael Forsythe, Nov. 7 in The New York Times
The mammoth leak has helped journalists map the wealth of large firms and mega-moguls worldwide.
“Endowments boom as colleges bury earnings overseas” by Stephanie Saul, Nov. 8 in The New York Times
“Revealed: Queen’s private estate invested millions of pounds offshore” by Hilary Osborne, Nov. 5 in The Guardian
Some of the latest revelations from legacy newspapers describe how major universities and British royals stashed cash abroad.
Book world
“Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit” by Chris Matthews, Oct. 31 from Simon & Schuster
MSNBC’s “Hardball” television personality pushed a new expository Kennedy biography to publication Oct. 31, just over four years since his bestseller about Jack Kennedy came out. This 2017 homage to brother Bobby is similarly scrupulous and revealing. The New Republic says the book recalls “the promise of an inclusive populism.”
Quicker reads
"Into the Arctic," the Summer 2017 issue of The Wilson Quarterly
The Wilson Quarterly is one of the finest examples of online storytelling design I've ever seen. The journal won the Editors and Publishers' 2017 EPPY Award for Best Digital Magazine. WQ, founded in 1976, offers exceptional, on-the-ground reporting and compelling, multimedia-driven pieces. This summer issue shows the unprecedented era of change in the Arctic region.
“Ashamed to work in Silicon Valley: how techies became the new bankers” by Olivia Solon, Nov. 8 in The Guardian
Ever wonder what it’s like to make six figures? Some “techies” describe a growing monotony and guilt among workers in the valley of tech colossi.
“Syria joins Paris Climate Accord, leaving only U.S. opposed” by Nov. 7 in The New York Times
The story’s lede — “Then there was one.” — says it all. Here you have it, an indispensable update to the ongoing ratification of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations umbrella. The Syrian delegate of the Bonn, Germany, climates talks confirmed it’s America, and America alone, denying participation in the landmark climate accord forged under President Obama in 2015.
Moving image
“Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me,” directed by Sam Pollard, Sept. 11 world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
Pollard, the Peabody award-winning filmmaker, dropped a trailer for the Sammy Davis Jr. social documentary late this past summer, and the film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September. The piece is fine journalism, spotlighting a black Puerto Rican Jew who married a white woman. We learn how American civil rights-era politics came to the fore, as the 20th-century entertainment legend rose to “star” status. Variety said Pollard, in concert with the other documentary filmmakers featured at this year’s festival, tested “existing mythologies” of American celebrities.
