A look at some of last year’s highlights
NEWPORT – Following months of planning, Ocean State Stories debuted two years ago today. In our letter of introduction, co-founder Jim Ludes, director of The Pell Center at Salve Regina University, and I wrote that our focus would be:
“Journalism about issues that often are neglected or under-reported—stories that explore healthcare, education, public policy, socioeconomic and racial disparities and injustices, domestic violence, food and housing insecurities, ageism, suicide prevention, mental health, veterans affairs, and developmental and intellectual disabilities, among others.”
In the hundreds of stories we have published since Feb. 7, 2023, we have been true to our word.
During 2024, we expanded our already extensive roster of publication partners to include The New Bedford Light, and Rhode Island PBS/The Public’s Radio.
All of the content produced by Ocean State Stories is widely available—on our website and on our partners websites—free of charge. From time to time we also publish content from our partners—also for free. These arrangements help fill the gap as traditional news outlets in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts downsize or cease publication.
In addition to stories I report and write, we publish stories by a growing corps of freelance writers, including college students and established writers.
During 2024, we won a Silver Award in the international Anthem Awards competition, a recognition of the quality of our work.
We also launched a redesigned website with a “newsier” tone, a more news-like typeface and design and a masthead that incorporates the Salve logo. Along with English, we now can be read in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
We adopted a set of strict editorial standards.
And we were accepted as a member of the Rhode Island Press Association.
Below you will find links to a selection of articles and Q&A interviews we published in the calendar year 2024. Stories and Q&As we published in 2023 can be found here.
— Fifty-six years on, we’ve still not reached King’s Promised Land
January 15, 2024
— Fueled by social media and pandemic, teenage depression rates rise across Rhode Island and America prompting ‘crisis’
February 15, 2024
— Sowing native plants is crucial to the health of the environment, pollinators, food systems
April 11, 2024
— Ocean State Stories asked rabbis to reflect on the meaning and observance of Passover 2024. Here’s what they said.
April 15, 2024
— Shared living opens new doors to people with disabilities
April 24, 2024
— Heart transplant saves life of Foster resident Tommy Hardiman
May 27, 2024
— Alcoholism could have ruined the life of Iraq Army veteran David Fields
June 27, 2024
— Moving beyond disease-specific approach, Health Equity Zones give Rhode Islanders opportunity to improve quality of life
July 11, 2024
— Statewide association of community organizations helps disadvantaged Rhode Islanders
August 9, 2024
— Race, sexual orientation a factor in rates of depression among R.I. youth, new report finds
October 11, 2024
— Providence Steps Up Efforts to Divert Food Waste and Boost Composting
October 21, 2024
— Shorter, colder days can present mental health challenges
October 25, 2024
— Progress and hope for treatment of type 1 diabetes, T1D, an autoimmune form of the disease that can affect children and adults. But challenges and disparities remain as scientists work toward a cure.
November 21, 2024
— Thanksgiving: A holiday with two decidedly different narratives
November 25, 2024
— New documentary about the Ladd Center tells the story of decades of abuse at the long-closed institution for the intellectually and developmentally disabled
December 19, 2024
Q&As
Interviews all conducted by Miller.
— Q & A with Steve Klamkin
January 10, 2024
— Q & A with Rebecca Bertrand
February 26, 2024
— Q & A with Charlene Traynum
March 7, 2024
— Q & A with Jen Fantozzi, co-founder of Plates With Purpose
March 28, 2024
— Q & A with Brown School of Public Health Dean Dr. Ashish Jha
April 17, 2024
— Q & A with Boston Globe R.I. reporter Ed Fitzpatrick
May 6, 2024
— Q & A with Alicia Pratt, Coalition for a Multilingual RI Coordinator
June 3, 2024
— Q & A with the Rev. Donnie Anderson
June 26, 2024
— Q & A with Tom Coderre, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at SAMHSA
August 5, 2024
— Q & A with Claudia Cardozo
September 2, 2024
— Q & A with Lisa and Chris Van Allsburg
October 17, 2024
— Q & A with author Cindy Elder
October 28, 2024
— Q & A with Claudia Cardozo
September 2, 2024
–Q & A with artist Jay Davani
November 4, 2024
— Q & A with Daniel Solomon, student co-founder of Blind@Brown
December 2, 2024
