Thursday, December 4, 2008

life follows capstone ... again

Back in spring of 2006, capstoner Katie Dooling (clearly, a playwright in journalist's clothing) chose to do her capstone as a narrative piece on the folks who live in mobile home communities in the Bay Area.

Who thinks of that?

It was well-reported and beautifully written, loaded with detail, a sense of place, and fascinating characters. More importantly, she uncovered a lot of the inherent insecurity of residents who owned their homes -- but not the patch of land they sat on.

Apparently she jumped the Merc -- and life itself -- by a couple of years. Mercury News photograher Dai Sugano won an Emmy Award Monday for his video of mobile home residents in Sunnyvale, who had been uprooted when their mobile home park recently closed.

You can see Sugano's piece here: thoroughly compelling video that immediately engages you and reminds you why visuals are an important piece of news websites. Still, Katie was able to achieve that same sense of engagement -- with words on paper. bk


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