Database of Death: Best of the Net

In an era when everyone from politicians to readers to journalists bemoan how jaded media professionals are, it’s especially gratifying to find examples of outstanding journalism. Things that point to the very best of what the press can do for communities.

With a tip of the hat to my good friend Hart for sending me the link, I want you to take a look at the Arizona Daily Star’s “Death on the Border” feature. Based on data from Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations, Arizona county medical examiners, and local law enforcement, it’s a searchable database of all bodies of illegal aliens found in the desert in the past few years (to be extended back in time as data becomes available).

The results give names (if known), home, age, cause of death, location, date found, and additional notes pertaining to aid in identification. Users can also search in Spanish.

How good is this work? How far has the Daily Star risen above party politics, vitriol, and discord surrounding the biggest issue on the border today?

With another tip of the hat, this time to the movie “A Time to Kill"...

I want you to picture a young wife, with three little children, whose husband left months ago to seek a better future for them. Imagine how she would go to sleep each night, quieting her children, consoling them when they miss their father, lying down, exhausted and alone, staring at the ceiling and listening to sirens and the sounds of drunk men in the alley outside. Imagine not hearing from her husband, her best friend, her lover, her only hope, night after night after months on end. Imagine not knowing what has happened to him.

Now imagine she’s white.