The judges were impressed by the lively quality of Grossman’s work, which looks at the struggle to preserve biodiversity in Madagascar, an African island smaller than Texas but home to a prodigious diversity of fauna and flora more varied than that of all of North America. Grossman introduces online visitors to a rich catalogue of critters, including the fossa, a remarkable predator that looks like a cross between a cat and a dog and loves to snack on lemurs, the tree-dwelling primates for which Madagascar is famous.
Diedtra Henderson of the Boston Globe said Grossman gives “a clear sense of discovery, wonder and excitement” in his reporting, including “captivating details and a nice use of audio, visual and written story telling.” Grossman’s reporting from the jungles of Madagascar includes compelling video interviews with working scientists.
Jody Brannon, the executive producer for news at USA Today.com, said Grossman’s entry is “richly interactive, with important research that makes learning fun.”
Grossman said he chose Madagascar as a venue for his reporting after previous trips to Antarctica and Greenland. “I decided I wanted to go to a more tropical place,” he said. Grossman, who has developed his multimedia toolkit during his travels, did two video interviews with each subject in Madagascar in addition to the interviews for his online text stories.
Daniel Grossman
Daniel Grossman is a veteran print and radio journalist as well as video and web producer. He has reported from all seven continents and near to both the North and South Poles. He has contributed to National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition” and has worked with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Germany’s Deutsche Welle radio, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Netherlands. He has written for the New York Times, Discover, The Boston Globe and Scientific American, among other national publications.