Please read Handout #1, "From meth addict to businessman." Next, use the handout "Ten Questions" to give your impression of this article. How are each of these questions addressed in the article? How does this qualify as "solutions journalism?" Having read this article and completed the blog assignment, what ideas might this prompt for our group project?
Due: 9/7 @ 5 p.m.
The story almost immediately explains the cause of the social problem when it compares data on how much it costs to keep a prisoner vs. how much it costs to go to college at Princeton. "Fiscal hawks have, almost inadvertently, recognized that sometimes taking care of people saves money. Both top down and bottom up, public officials are now aggressively innovating to help keep people out of prison." The problem is clearly stated, and the anecdote with Dave's Killer Bread adds personality to the beginnings of this article.
ReplyDeleteThe article smoothly transitions from Dahl's journey to Jeremy Travis, a policymaker. This gets into the problem solving and the how-to details of solutions journalism. The author uses Travis to open up the broader topic of nationwide prisoner reentry.
The article explains the limitations when it says, "How that gets done is still a work in progress..." and when the article talks about the HOPE program in Hawaii. Not all prisoners do perfectly in the system, and the consequences for those who fail are outlined.
The article isn't a puff piece—one organization or person is not glorified. There are strong sources from both ground-level people and experts. The story does keep the answers broad, but it brings Dave Dahl along the entire article to use as an anchoring example, which is helpful to readers who met Dahl at the very beginning.
There's sufficient data, the article is not too lengthy and it's easy to understand. This is an anecdotal solutions journalism that starts on the ground level and works its way up into a broader, nationwide concern. It got me interested in something I'd never really thought about before.
“From meth addict to businessman,” was a very good example to illustrate what exactly solutions journalism is. Dave Dahl personified a positive deviant, someone who strayed from the norm and recovered from drug addiction against powerful odds. Dahl was a perfect introduction to the problem: too many people are in prison and too many people go back as soon as they get out.
ReplyDeleteEric Schultzke then moved into what people are doing to solve the problem, creating programs for prevention and reform, and which approaches have worked. He told the story of Judge Steven Alm in Hawaii, whose HOPE program creates immediate accountability for criminals and addicts. As proof of success, Schultzke cites the results in lives of HOPE participators: “55-percent less likely to be arrested for a new crime, 72-percent less likely to use drugs, and 53-percent less likely to have probation revoked.”
At the end of the story Schultzke goes back to Dahl’s example. He clearly describes the problem, the reasons behind the problem, efforts to solve the problem and the results of those efforts. After reading this story, I better understand the problem of prison reentry, but I also see that there are successful ways of combating it.
Erin Schulzke’s story, “From meth addict to businessman,” is an engaging piece of solutions journalism that answers the core ten questions of a whole article.
ReplyDeleteThe heart of the story is Dave Dahl, an ex-convict who successfully revamped his family’s bread business after serving prison time and getting clean from meth. Dahl represents a trend in American prisoners whose addictions (often linked to struggles with mental health) lead to criminal activity. Keeping people like Dahl in prison is staggeringly expensive, which Schulzke exemplifies with a shocking comparison between the cost of prison and the cost of Princeton, and often does not rehabilitate them enough to keep them from being sent back.
After identifying the core problems, the high cost of keeping prisoners incarcerated and the high likelihood for them to return for future sentences, Schulzke identifies what is being done to address those issues. She interviews Jeremy Travis about his work through the government to help prisoners reenter (and permanently stay in) society and Judge Steven Alm who developed the HOPE initiative to try to keep offenders clean once they leave prison. She asks these men how they got their programs going and what success they’ve seen. Schulzke cites statistics from outside studies conducted about the effectiveness of both of their programs.
A poignant point Schulzke makes early in the article is that Dahl had a supportive family to help him get his life on track after prison, which many ex-cons do not. Including this detail shows there are limitations to the solutions presented in the article.
Schulzke’s article is a strong piece with hard evidence that makes readers think about the problems she identifies and the solutions she presents. She avoids glorifying the people behind the solutions and instead turns the attention to the work they do.
In terms of our own project, I think it would be good for us to have anecdotes to make our story personable. Reading about his life got me interested and hooked me into the presentation of the problem and solution, and I liked how she closed with him too so the story came full circle.
When I first started reading "From meth addict to businessman" I thought it would focus more on the story of Dave Dahl. However, by the end of the article one of my favorite parts of the article was that it doesn't focus on him for very long. It uses him to create the introduction to the real piece which focuses in on how people can leave jail and change their lives.
ReplyDeleteComparing the article to the "Ten Questions" Handout the article lines up with the requirements for solutions journalism.
1. The article does explain the cause of the social problem and in addition to doing that it shows how the problem is growing. More people are in jail than before meaning more people will be leaving jail soon.
2. The article shows not only the response of Dave Dahl but several responses. It shows President Bush's response. It shows the response of the HOPE program in Hawaii.
3. The story shows that some models are working and even describes the solutions that aren't working.
4. The story-telling is employed by Dave Dahl and the story starts with him and ends with him. It helps readers have someone to follow through the story.
5. The story also presents evidence of results. It includes several statistics from the HOPE program in Hawaii as well as some results that have been implemented on the mainland.
6. The story also talks about how the program hasn't necessarily worked everywhere. The solutions presented aren't perfect but they are trying to improve the conditions.
7. The story shows that prisoners can change and that there are successful programs to help them.
8. The story isn't a puff piece because it looks at so many different solutions. If it was just about the HOPE program and Dave Dahl was a proponent of that program it would have an agenda. Since it doesn't, it conveys facts not puff.
9. While the story does have experts included, it also centers around the story of a regular man who is an example of the solution himself.
10. Since the story draws in more resources than just Dahl, it can be seen as more than just a "Good News" story. It conveys solutions nationwide instead of just a one-in-a-million case scenario.
Looking at our project, I think it might be very easy to find anecdotes but what made the story so interesting was how the anecdote was supported through data and organizations. It will be really important to find factual evidence instead of just stories.
I think this article was a great example of solutions journalism for many of the reasons we have discussed in class. It draws the reader into the story by providing a good anecdote, one that could be viewed as a solution, and then goes on to discuss the issue of inmates being re-introduced into society without the proper support or skills to function as they should.
ReplyDeleteI think the reporter does a good job explaining the steps professionals have made to keep people like Dahl out of prison, and how to help those coming home from prison. The story also has good narrative, as we're able to look into the life of Dahl and his back-and-forth battle with drug addiction and depression, but also focuses on the problem throughout the story so as to not confuse the reader that this story is about the problem, not a glorified profile on Dahl.
I think the story is great in how it discusses methods to recovery in life after prison, specifically mentioning the Second Chance Act implemented during the Bush administration and the HOPE program in Hawaii. Both had different levels of success, but showed how on a national and local level solutions that had some level of success.
The lesson to be learned from the David Dahl's story is that even for the prisoner that has messed up time and time again, there is hope. Programs exist and have helped those that actively participate and are willing to adhere to specific rules, like with the HOPE program.
I think the story absolutely throws around ideas, not just solutions. Of course, it backs up the solutions part with data and anecdotes. At the end of the story I was left thinking about those ideas, and how they could be applied to our generation Y project. I think it's important to throw possible solutions out there in order to investigate our topic more thoroughly.
"From meth addict to businessman" qualifies as a solutions journalism piece because it uses Dave Dohl's bread business to demonstrate how ex-convicts can overcome the ineffectiveness of jail time.
ReplyDeleteThe problem-solving process is central to the narrative, as the article follows Dohl's successes and failures after serving time. But it doesn't read as a puff piece. Dohl isn't the focal point of the piece-- the issue is. The author does a great job of both telling Dohl's story and incorporating over-arching data that makes the issue more universal.
The piece also succeeds at using the story to convey an insight/lesson. The author describes the HOPE program and theorizes about whether that would have worked in Dohl's scenario or not.
For our project, we can take cues from this by including concrete examples and colorful stories as attention-grabbers that point our readers to facts and over-arching trends.