{
  "id": "1991-march-startling-population-changes",
  "slug": "1991-march-startling-population-changes",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1991-march-startling-population-changes.html",
  "year": 1991,
  "month": "March",
  "monthNum": 3,
  "headline": "Startling Population Changes",
  "kicker": "Success Story News",
  "author_name": "",
  "author_title": "investigative reporter",
  "affiliation": "WRC-TV",
  "summary": "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.",
  "keywords": [
    "defibrillators",
    "investigation",
    "layoffs"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Investigative Methods",
    "Health & Environment",
    "Technology"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "Food and Drug Administration's Medical Device Report"
  ],
  "full_text": "Last December, UPLINK featured a story produced by Chris Szechenyi, an investigative reporter at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.\n\nSzechenyi 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.\n\nThis 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.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "extracted_at": "2026-07-05",
    "verified": true
  },
  "similar": [
    {
      "slug": "1990-december-fatal-flaws-death-by-device",
      "score": 0.189
    },
    {
      "slug": "2004-june-readmetxt-2",
      "score": 0.122
    },
    {
      "slug": "1995-may-arizona-tv-station-seeks-car-reporter",
      "score": 0.11
    },
    {
      "slug": "1991-june-still-plugging-in-the-palm-beach-post",
      "score": 0.107
    },
    {
      "slug": "1994-october-dambrosio-hill-win-njpa-award",
      "score": 0.097
    }
  ],
  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1991-march-startling-population-changes.html",
  "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1991-march-startling-population-changes.json"
}