Good, thorough journalism is hard to come by these days. For that reason, I was especially impressed by Pipeline of Children, a collaboration between azcentral.com, the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 News.
For once, we’re getting more than well-crafted talking points designed to stoke anger and make political hay. Instead, a team of reporters, photographers, videographers and graphic design experts worked together to provide an in-depth look at why so many children are coming to the U.S. in search of a better life, and why their numbers are growing now. (Myth-buster No. 1: They’re not coming only to the U.S. Plenty also have headed to Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.)
Read the Pipeline of Children package of stories. You’ll meet real children who made the journey. You’ll learn what motivated them to head north from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. You’ll read about how gang activity has intensified and become more violent. You’ll receive an explanation of how a U.S. law passed during the Bush presidency in 2008 is causing complications today.
To learn more about the journalists who went to often dangerous countries to put these stories together, go here.
Spend some time with this remarkable package of stories. You’ll come away much better informed, and you’ll be hungry for more in-depth reporting.