In California’s Orange County, some young prescription drug addicts are turning to heroin for a cheaper high. This growing problem appears to hit hardest in affluent communities around the state.

I produced and edited this multimedia feature for California Watch and KQED. It also appeared on KQED’s The California Report with a series of radio stories. The reporting for the multimedia feature was done by Erin Marie Daly, Michael Montgomery and Sarah Varney (see the print article here). The photography is by Daniel A. Anderson.

“Suburban Junkies” won a national award from the Society of Professional Journalists for Best Audio SlideShow.

Americans love hamburgers — we eat about three burgers a week. But what are the hidden costs? I directed and produced this animated short for the Center for Investigative Reporting. I also did the reporting and research with Sarah Terry-Cobo. The illustration and animation were done by the talented Arthur Jones. This cartoon was the leading feature on YouTube’s new investigative channel, The I Files, on the day it launched. It also appeared as part of CIR’s Food for 9 Billion reporting project, a yearlong look at the challenge of feeding the world at a time of social and environmental change.

“The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers” has also been featured online by Time, PBS NewsHour, Marketplace, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Wired, Grist, GOOD, KQED, and TreeHugger. Within 24 hours of launch it already had close to 10,000 views. It won an award for Explanatory Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California.

See the full transcript with sources.