Interactive Narratives

These are stories about a patch of land in Sydney, an infamous acre known as the Block, a place steeped in a rich history of Aboriginal culture, activism and hope. Over time, tragedy, drug abuse and crime crept into the Indigenous-owned housing precinct. In September 2010, the few remaining tenants received notice to vacate their homes. The Aboriginal Housing Company, which owned the crumbling terraces, was keen to redevelop the land. Now vacant, the Block sits on the verge of a new, uncertain rebirth. This virtual time capsule invites you to explore the Block, to witness the events that defined its 40-year history, and to meet the people whose lives it has shaped. More…

Jon Lee Anderson writes about gangs in the favelas, or shantytowns, of Rio de Janeiro. In this audio slide show, Anderson discusses how the gangs operate and what local police have done to curb the illegal drug trade. More…

An in-depth video series and Flash presentation site dealing with addiction, substance abuse and recovery mainly from the perspective of the addict. Project completed while a fellow in the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at The Ohio State University. This site won second place in the Newspaper-Affiliated Online Journalism category of the 76th Annual National Headliner Awards; is a finalist in the 2009 Livingston Awards; and is a finalist in the "video" and "multimedia" categories of the Tennessee Associated Press Managing Editors competition. More…

The border between United States and Mexico is the land where straight lines blur, and where two national cultures collide and collude. There is a lot of good on the border, and these days, plenty of bad. The border is a militarized hot zone, where tens of thousands of Mexican soldiers are fighting a vicious drug war against well-armed, rich and powerful drug traffickers, who smuggle across these desert highways 90 percent of the cocaine so voraciously consumed in the United States. More…

Every day, Americans help finance both sides of the Mexican drug war by purchasing illegal drugs and smuggling weapons. More…

Border agents in New Mexico rely on tracking skills borrowed from Native Americans to intercept drug smugglers who cross the border on foot. It's a 75-mile walk to a drop point on Interstate 10. More…

A U.N. survey is expected to find that at least 1 in 12 Afghans abuses drugs. Karima and her daughter Fahima are among a growing group of women and children to fall victim to heroin. More…

6,285. The estimated number of people who have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since the start of 2007, shortly after Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on drug traffickers. That's more than U.S. casualties in the Iraq war. More…

It could be said that Sixth Street forms a coarse border between San Francisco's glitzy downtown and its gritty South of Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Via an interactive, streetscape interface, "A Walk Down Sixth Street" uses audio, video, VR panoramas and more to tell the stories of the real people who live, work and thrive on Sixth Street. More…

The San Diego Union-Tribune's Brent Schrotenboer has done his own "Mitchell Report" of sorts on performance-enhancing drugs in pro football. More…