Startling Population Changes

Investigative reporter Chris Szechenyi won a National Headliner's Award for his series on faulty defibrillators created through FDA data analysis, but was laid off by WRC-TV on the same day due to budget cuts.

Last December, UPLINK featured a story produced by Chris Szechenyi, an investigative reporter at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.

Szechenyi used a computer analysis of the Food and Drug Administration's Medical Device Report to create a multi-part series on faulty defibrillators, the device used to jump-start hearts that have stopped beating. NBC Nightly News featured his story.

This month, the story won the National Headliner's Award for investigative reporting by a television station. On the same day Szechenyi learned of the award, he was laid-off by his station due to budget cuts.