Storyboard reached out to some key members of the team of “Project Nora:” reporter Kale Williams, the Oregonians’ then- executive editor Mark Katches, Trending News editor Karly Imus, and narrative specialist, Kelley Benham French, who (via phone and email) addressed the process of writing this unforgettable story. But that doesn’t go behind the scenes to explain the origins, decisions, collaborations and emotions involved in producing a package of this scope and intensity. The Oregonian’s package included a summary of its reporting approach in a “How We Did The Story” page. It all began with a seemingly simple story about a polar bear in Ohio moving to a zoo in Oregon.
Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting from by the Scripps Howard Foundation.īut this epic - which takes place across four states, in three zoos, and includes an injured Alaskan hunter, a weeping zoo keeper and a nutritionist who whips up batches of polar bear milk - illuminates issues of global warming and the somewhat discomfiting merits of zoos. “Project Nora,” published in October 2017 after a year of reporting, also took industry experts by storm: The print article won the Best Newspaper Narrative Writing contest hosted by the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas the online package won the top prize in the Online News Association Awards a documentary film called “Thin Ice” by Dave Killen won two regional Emmys and reporter Kale Williams won the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award and Edward J. In other words: “The Loneliest Polar Bear” was a news tsunami. In response to readers’ concerns for Nora, the newspaper ran several follow-up stories. “Project Nora,” as The Oregonian/Oregon Live called it, also featured a 30-minute documentary, “Thin Ice: A Polar Bear’s Plight.” A children’s book, “Hope for Nora,” debuted alongside coloring pages, a drawing contest, puzzles and a board game. It was graced with the kind of cute-animal photos and video that are guaranteed to go viral. It was rationed into five chapters that were published in the print paper and online. It was a suspenseful, multi-thousand word saga about an abandoned newborn polar bear. Courtesy of The Oregonian “The Loneliest Polar Bear” wasn’t just a heart-tugging news story.
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