A group of students from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award on May 24 for their project "Stateless in the Dominican Republic."
The student journalists combined research with interviews and video footage to examine border issues between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The project was funded by an endowment from the Howard G. Buffet foundation.
The 17 students were in a depth reporting course in fall 2010 directed by faculty members Rick Rodriguez and Jason Manning, a faculty adviser to student media.
The students researched topics relating to border issues between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where the class traveled to report for eight days in March 2011.
ASU alumnus Brandon Quester, a student involved in the project, said the Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic following the country’s earthquake in 2010 led to issues with birthright citizenship for children from Haitian parents born in the Dominican Republic.
"It's created an entire ... population of individuals who aren't recognized by the Dominican government or the Haitian government," Quester said. "They have no country. We went to document that process."
Quester said the group of reporters covered different aspects of the border issues, including healthcare, labor and water conditions.
He said his focus in the project was covering a population of street kids ignored by the Dominican government.
"We documented (the kids') lives and their struggles in the streets of Santo Domingo and the neighboring communities there," Quester said.
He said creating the project required those involved to become experts and learn how to report in a foreign country.
ASU alumnus Josh Armstrong, also a student involved in the project, said his focus was on a six-year-long court case involving two young girls born in the Dominican Republic who were denied citizenship.
Armstrong said the girls eventually won the court case, though the Dominican government did little to amend their citizenship process.
He said at one point while he was reporting in the Dominican Republic he was offered the opportunity to interview one of the girls involved in the court case.
Armstrong said he didn't have a translator available to help with the interview.
"We had to ... plead with somebody to translate for us," Armstrong said. "Luckily, we pulled it off. Situations like that teach you that sometimes things aren't going to work out and you have to keep on pushing and make it work."
ASU Alumnus Dustin Volz, a student involved in the project who reported on labor issues, said one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of the project was never knowing what was going to happen next.
"Nothing we could have done really could have prepared us until we got there," Volz said. "A lot of plans fell through and a lot of stories changed angles. That was just part of the process of learning to think on your feet."
Volz said reporting in the Dominican Republic is one of his most important experiences from his time in college.
Quester said the RFK Award was a tremendous honor for all involved.
"It goes to show you that even though we're students we can produce professional-level, impactful journalism," Quester said. "It's great to see a school like Cronkite willing to invest in their students. It's great to be recognized on an international level for really great humanitarian reporting."
Reach the reporter at dgrobmei@asu.edu
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