Down in “Tacoma’s gulches, you’re in another world – a wild one. Deep ravines sandwiched between residential streets, fed by springs flowing to Puget Sound, the gulches are a unique result of land, sea and erosion: filled with tangled branches and moss, with deer, coyote and birdsong. Thanks to 150 years of European settlement, you’ll also find trash and sewer lines, blackberries and ivy, drug users and the homeless – as well as trails and restored habitat. Some Tacomans want to tame the gulches; others want them kept wild. Each one tells its own story – if you go in and explore.”
This self-produced multimedia story, with all my own text, photos, video and interactive design, ran in The News Tribune in July 2014. It won the 2015 award for Best Completed Research (M.Comm) from the University of Washington Communications department, and second place in the Comprehensive Coverage category for the 2015 Northwest awards from the Society for Professional Journalists. I wrote, shot and edited it myself, laying out the design on Adobe Muse.
Rosemary Ponnekanti 