Our reporters produce service journalism pieces and report on issues related to poverty through our partnerships with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Athens Banner-Herald. Read how they reported their stories to see how these journalists take multiple different approaches to reporting and storytelling.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Everyday Heroes Special Section
Awards
Covering Poverty contributed to Everyday Heroes, a special section produced by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which won two awards.
- Everyday Heroes was awarded Best ePaper Concept at the first combined Digital Media Awards LATAM & North America. Noted as the most competitive in the history of WAN-IFRA Americas, there were 81 participating companies and more than 150 projects.
- The 30-second video for Everyday Heroes won an Award of Excellence, Film & Video at the 29th Annual Communicator Awards. The promo about Everyday Heroes was selected in the social issues/responsibility category.
How I Reported the Story
How I Reported the Story: Everyday Heroes: Claire Mistretta
Reporters Olivia Wakim and Sarah Donehoo share their story of reporting on Claire Mistretta and her role in Fresh Express which helps fight food insecurity on campus.
How I Reported the Story: Everyday Heroes: Esther Kim
Reporters Julianna Russ and Jack Rhodes share the reporting process behind UGA student Esther Kim and her role in helping with The Backpack Project of Athens.
How I Reported the Story: Everyday Heroes: Erin Faircloth and Naveen Bateman
Reporter Elizabeth Rymarev shares the reporting process behind the story of how two UGA students are helping fight student food insecurity through the campus club Farmers Market Friends.
How I Reported the Story: Everyday Heroes: Rachel Johnson
Reporters Dawn Sawyer and Sydney Hood share the reporting process behind the story of Rachel Johnson and her role in helping period poverty through the Period Project at UGA.
Features: Food Security
How I Reported the Story: Marigold Market among the farmers markets working to make fresh produce more accessible. Reporters Irene Wright and Foster Steinbeck share the reporting process behind this feature piece on a Winterville, Georgia farmers market that teams up with an Atlanta nonprofit to match SNAP benefits so families can spend double on healthy foods.
How I Reported the Story: Pantries at Athens area colleges, student centers grow to combat hunger. Reporters Allison Caso and Brieanna Smith share how they contextualized the prevalent issue of student food insecurity, and how they localized the issue.
How I Reported the Story: Colleges Expand Food Pantries to Help Students in Need. Reporter Sofi Gratas explains how she discovered a trend in the development of new and expanded student pantries in Atlanta-area universities.
Features: Housing
How I Reported the Story: How Metro Atlanta Housing Groups Adapted to COVID-19. Reporter William Newlin shares what he learned while reporting on how metro Atlanta housing groups adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.
How I Reported the Story: For Local Nonprofits, Need and Support Swells. Reporters Carolyn Crist and William Newlin examine trends in Atlanta-area nonprofits.
Features: Youth
Sydney Rainwater and Navya Shukla share how the story developed over several months for The Oglethorpe Echo, which was written through our participation with The Carter Center’s Mental Health Parity Collaborative.
Reporter Jacqueline GaNun shares the reporting process behind the story about children in residential treatment facilities and the shortcomings of Georgia’s mental health care system as a whole.
How I Reported the Story: New Books for Keeps executive director seeks to grow nonprofit for youth literacy. Reporter Janelle Ward shares how she told the story of a local nonprofit that aims to grow youth literacy.
Service Journalism
How I Reported the Story: Ways to help those in need in Oglethorpe County
Read how Olivia Wakim, Elizabeth Rymarev, Sarah Donehoo and Sydney Hood reported this piece for The Oglethorpe Echo: Ways to help those in need in Oglethorpe County
How I Reported the Story: Food, gifts, financial assistance available this holiday season
Reporters Dawn Sawyer, Julianna Russ and Jack Rhodes share their experience of reporting on different ways that the citizens of Oglethorpe County give back to their community during the holiday season.
How I Reported the Story: Need rental assistance? These 3 routes are available for metro Atlantans. Reporter William Newlin shares the process behind finding and learning more about relevant resources for rental assistance in Georgia.
How I Reported the Story: How Organizations are Working to Diminish Diaper Need and Where to Find Free Products. Reporter Janelle Ward shares the research she did to better understand the problem of “diaper need,” and explains how she found key sources.
How I Reported the Story: Help for those in Northeast Georgia: Where to find shelters, washrooms and food pantries. Reporters Allison Caso, Brieanna Smith and Foster Steinbeck reflect on the reporting process behind a project to provide an extensive list of resources available to food and shelter insecure residents in Athens-Clarke County.
How I Reported The Story: 3 Things to Know About COVID Care Costs. Reporter Sofi Gratas shares her strategy for a fact-based piece for people concerned or struggling with the cost of COVID-19 care.
How I Reported the Story: How to Find Affordable Child Care in Georgia. Reporter Anila Yoganathan explores the world of affordable child care for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
How I Reported the Story: Grab your sneakers! Here are some upcoming fundraiser runs, events in the Athens area. Reporter Liset Cruz explores community engagement and explains how to ask questions about sensitive topics.
How I Reported the Story: Where to find COVID-19 vaccines in East Athens. Reporter Janelle Ward explains the need for a service journalism piece on local vaccination sites and her research process.
Investigative Journalism
Read about their experiences culling through a database of more than 750 title lending operations in Georgia as they tried to verify that each was still in operation, their hours and their address, using online research, Google maps and cold calling the businesses.
