Together, the staff of This American Life, Molly O'Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, a freelancer with Vice News were recognized by the Pulitzer Board this spring for "'The Out Crowd,' revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump Administration’s 'Remain in Mexico' policy."
Green examined the policy through individuals' direct experiences at the border. Learn more about her reporting, the relationships she developed with her subjects and why she felt audio lent particular nuance to her storytelling.
PULITZER PRIZES: Your reporting is simultaneously an intimate account of David and his son’s kidnapping and a panorama of conditions for migrants seeking asylum. What inspired your decision to address this crisis through this frame?
EMILY GREEN: The Trump administration’s treatment of asylum seekers on the U.S. side of the border — family separations, holding them in overcrowded, squalid detention centers — sparked widespread outrage and condemnation. But as soon as the Trump administration began requiring asylum seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico, the outrage largely disappeared, even though the conditions were just as bad if not worse. It was the classic “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. David’s kidnapping offered a rare chance to pierce the veil of indifference, and provide a powerful first-hand account of the terror suffered by so many migrants.
PP: You mention that offering help is typically “not something a reporter is supposed to say” and that your relationship with David and Laura has since transformed into a long-term connection. How did creating this personal bond impact the way you told their story?
Breathe, I tell him. I wanted to help him. That's not something a reporter is supposed to say, but back when they were kidnapped, their lives were in immediate danger, and I helped in small ways.I connected Laura with an NGO in Mexico City that advocates for migrants. Since David and his son were released, I've suggested safe bus options. The family, they always knew that I was a reporter doing a story on them, but they came to see me as one of the few people they could trust-- that they could rely on. Laura called me almost every day with updates. She still does.A few weeks ago, I went to meet David and his family in Monterrey in northern Mexico, where they were holed up. They were staying with an acquaintance of Laura's in exchange for grocery money and help with construction. David didn't want us interviewing him there. He feels his welcome has run out, so we do the interview at our hotel.It's David, his 11-year-old son, and his 19-year-old daughter, who's also been sent back to Mexico under MPP. I'm here with my producer, Lina. We figure we'll talk to David in one room while the kids watch TV in the other, but the kids sit by their dad on the bed. They won't leave one another's side.
EG: My connection with David and Laura developed as the story unfolded, and it allowed me to report on their experience from an intimate perspective. Usually, journalists are reporting on events that have already happened. But in some ways, I lived through the kidnapping with them. After David and his son were abducted, I was terrified that they would be killed or disappeared. When I talked to David a few days after his release, and he sobbed uncontrollably on the phone with me, I felt physically sick. And because I had witnessed firsthand their fear and trauma, I felt an enormous weight to make people truly understand what they and so many asylum seekers suffer.
PP: What were some aspects of audio reporting that made this platform the best venue to share David’s experiences?
EG: The audio gave the story more depth and emotional punch than a written piece. It’s one thing to say David was crying; it’s another to hear his sobs. Also, the recordings of the extortion calls were powerful — something virtually no one had heard before. Their very existence showed how asylum seekers sent by the U.S. government to wait in Mexico landed straight into the hands of cartels — despite the Trump administration’s insistence that the asylum seekers were safe. Because listeners could hear the panic in David’s voice and the extortion calls with their own ears, it gave the story an intimacy and immediacy that couldn’t be conveyed in text.
PP: Have you noticed any difference in the reactions people have after hearing these stories instead of reading them in the news?
EG: The story I wrote about David’s kidnapping for Vice laid the groundwork for my piece for This American Life. The stories reached different audiences, and that was especially gratifying.
PP: How do you think this reporting will affect broader conversations on immigration policy?
EG: Do I think the Trump administration will change its policies because of this and other reporting? No. If anything, the situation for asylum seekers has gotten much worse since the episode came out. But I consider my reporting an act of bearing witness — policymakers can’t believably claim that they didn’t know the human impact of these draconian immigration policies. I hope that my reporting serves as a guide for the future, and, perhaps, can enlighten how people think about our asylum system.
PP: How did you find out you won the first Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting, and what did this mean to you?
EG: As a freelancer, I had no idea the episode had even been nominated for a Pulitzer! Winning came as a total and complete shock. In normal, non-pandemic times, I probably would have been working alone from my home in Mexico City when the Pulitzers were announced. Because of coronavirus, I was in Atlanta with my family — fretting that my career was taking a nose-dive as media organizations cut their freelance budgets due to plummeting advertising revenue. To win a Pulitzer in this moment made the experience even more extraordinary. I celebrated with my family, and everyone was screaming and losing their minds with excitement.
I feel tremendously lucky that the Audio category made its debut this year. I can’t help but think of all of the amazing audio pieces done by other reporters and producers over the years that never had the chance to win a Pulitzer because the category didn’t exist.