Four Women, Four Stories from News21 on Vimeo.

Post-9/11 veterans commit suicide at nearly twice the rate of civilians. That revelation tops the list of issues revealed in an in-depth report published this week by News21, a national, student-led investigative reporting effort. It also revealed long waits for benefits, high rates of unemployment and other problems faced by soldiers coming home. Related Link

“Investigative project on veterans teaches student journalist new skills” by Jessica Wilde on Knight Blog.

“Back Home: The Enduring Battles Facing Post-9/11 Veterans” is the 2013 project of News21, which produces interactive investigative journalism on issues of national importance. It was researched, reported and written by 26 students from 12 universities. The cohort of News21 fellows worked under the direction of a team of editors led by Jacquee Petchel, the executive editor of News21 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Petchel said the project “had multiple engaging elements that allowed the reader to feel and experience something and not just read something.”  That immersive experience makes the problems of the veterans resonate even more with readers, she said.

She cited student-produced data visualizations, photographs and even the website itself as examples. The site features interactive graphics, one focuses on the demographic breakdown of veterans, another demonstrating that returning service members tend to cluster around military installations. Adding these interactive elements was intentional, Petchel said. She credited News21 fellow Gregory Kohn from the University of Maryland for his dedication to making the site so engaging.

Another feature piece focuses on how female soldiers who return from war have a more difficult time than their male counterparts finding jobs. They’re also likely to be single parents with children to support. Video interviews and photographs tell the stories of four women and the problems they experienced trying to adjust to life back home. This year’s project also produced News21’s first-ever documentary feature. The 23-minute film, “Marching Forward,” focuses on how veterans acclimate to life after serving abroad, particularly those who choose to deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome without prescription pills.

But it was working on a daily basis with the students, watching them develop their journalism skills and following their dedication to the project that Petchel found most rewarding.

“They were indeed an incredibly exceptional group,” she said. “I say this as both someone who recently left the profession of journalism and worked with many reporters over the years, and as someone who has worked with younger people just starting their careers. They were simply outstanding.”

Mainstream media partners have already published parts of the project’s research. Both Fox News and The Washington Post posted articles revealing that despite the backlogs, VA disability claims processors still get bonuses. The fellows’ research revealed: “In 2011, a year in which the claims backlog ballooned by 155 percent, more than two-thirds of claims processors shared $5.5 million in bonuses, according to salary data from the Office of Personnel Management.”

For the first time this year the Investigative News Network is also syndicating content to its expansive network of nonprofit news organizations, like The Minn Post, Oklahoma Watch and The Center for Public Integrity.

The latest News21 project kicked-off in January with a video-conferenced seminar taught by Leonard Downie Jr., the former executive editor of The Washington Post and a  Cronkite School journalism professor. The 10-week fellowship to research and produce the content began in May.  Fellows traveled to more than 60 cities and 20 states to conduct hundreds of interview and review thousands of public records and government reports.

News21 is funded by Knight Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Hearst Foundation and others.

By Elizabeth R. Miller, communications associate at Knight Foundation

Previously News21 programs produced in-depth investigations into voting rights and food safety issues.