One of the first big stories that I covered in 2008 was the story about Best Bath and its move to Kuna, which some neighbors opposed because of the company's use of the chemical styrene in its manufacture of shower and walk-in tub units. I spent weeks researching a three-part series titled, "Will Best Bath smell?" The series rolled out in April.
Literally hundreds of people had purchased the first issue
but did not come back for the second and third installments. It was perhaps my
first hint that the public’s appetite for “important” stories was greatly
limited.
I suppose I was heartened, a year later, when the series won
first place for Best Series from the Idaho Press Club, beating out the much
larger papers Idaho Mountain Express and The Star-News. It also earned an honorable mention in that year's National Newspaper Association contest.
But still, unfortunately, the experience made me more hesitant about launching a deep investigation that would take several
weeks and span more than one issue of the newspaper.
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