Janine Anderson
Storyteller. Community builder. Digital pro.
What I do
It is common to see grandparents step in to raise their grandchildren, when the children's parents are unable to care for them. But in Racine County in 2005, it was difficult for those grandparents to connect with each other or with services that could help them. I spent several months with Bonnie Wozniak, who took in her grandchildren, and then created a support group for other people in her situation so no one else would have to do it alone. The story won the 2006 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in the 200,000 and under circulation category.
Doug and Lana DeVinny watched their daughter Alex struggle with an eating disorder for more than 10 years. They watched through years of therapy. They watched as it destroyed her dream of winning the state cross country championship her senior year. Destroyed her goal of going to college. Destroyed her artistic and academic potential. They watched as it ultimately destroyed their daughter.
The Kenosha News in 2014 put together a team of journalists to look at what life was like for the people living near or below the poverty line. I looked at overall county data, the intersection of health care and income, and the cycle of jail and poverty. The overall project won awards from the Inland Press Association and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
Poverty overview: PDFs: page 1, page 2, page 3
Health care PDFs: page 1, page 2
Jail and poverty PDFs: page 1, page 2
Just a sample of my work. To see more or to work together >>
I'm a regular contributor to the wide-ranging D-Briefs feature for DiscoverMagazine.com, covering the latest high-interest research and advancements.
I've written about why elephants don't get cancer, the correlation between the strength of male howler monkeys' calls and the size of their balls, dissolvable medical devices and how the ancient Romans' taste for fermented fish sauce helped negate the effects of their sanitation practices.
In one of the most chilling homicides in Racine's history - an 11-year-old boy, in front of dozens of people, shot a man coming out of a community center. State law at the time declared the boy too young to be charged with a crime. They prosecuted two others, including Terry Jackson, who has continued to appeal his conviction for more than 20 years. This story was researched over three years and written with the support of an editor through the Mike Levine Workshop. It ran in two parts.
PDFs: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4
Children in Kenosha County are less protected against vaccine-preventable diseases than they were nine years ago. In 2006-07, 22 county schools had at least 95 percent of their students vaccinated as required by state law. Five of those schools had 100 percent vaccination rates. This year, 10 schools had vaccination rates of 95 percent or more, and no schools had 100 percent vaccinated. Across the board, school vaccination rates dropped, and there have been increases in the percentage of students filing personal conviction waivers exempting them from vaccines.
PDFs: page1, page 2, school vaccination chart