Featured Projects
On 01, Aug 2013 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
John Liu’s Long Day: Following an underdog on the NYC Mayoral Campaign Trail
For New York Magazine
In this assignment for New York, I received intimate access to the hardest-working candidate in the 2013 mayoral race. As the first Asian-American elected to citywide office, comptroller Liu was intent on making history as mayor. Liu held to a grueling campaign schedule to counter the long odds of his candidacy, and keeping up with him was a tall order.
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On 21, Jun 2013 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
Super Secret: Revealing the real original Superman
For Esquire
A story for Esquire about superheroes and rip-off artists. Uncovering the source material for the 1930s Superman comics reveals why 2013’s supposedly fresh and edgy reboot,Man of Steel, probably wasn’t so original after all.
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On 04, Sep 2012 | In Multi-Platform Storytelling Print Journalism Video Production | By erikgerman
Joint Forces: Following local enforcement as they wage a war on weed
For The Daily
After months of cajoling, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office agreed to give me an unprecedented chance to fly along with police as they boarded helicopters for a mountain raid on an illegal marijuana operation. The result was a multi-platform piece for the The Daily, where I served as producer, writer and aerial on-camera reporter.
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On 24, Jun 2012 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
Pattern of Waste: Revealing the Army’s $5 billion camouflage fiasco
For The Daily
US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan started wearing an odd, grayish digital-patterned camouflage in 2004. Ever wonder why combat units suddenly abandoned those uniforms for different ones five years later? In this story for The Daily, I secured rare interviews with the Army’s top camouflage developers who gave the first inside account of why the Pentagon spent $5 billion dressing soldiers in uniforms that failed to blend in.
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On 03, Jun 2012 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
Fire Flies: Taking the plunge with an elite group of ‘smokejumpers’
For The Daily
Smoke jumpers may skydive onto burning mountains to face down wildfires, but they’re notoriously press-shy. It took a year of coaxing to convince the U.S. Forest Service to let The Daily’s multi-platform production crew follow a team of the elite firefighters in Idaho as they trained for some of the world’s most dangerous work.
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On 11, May 2012 | In Multi-Platform Storytelling Print Journalism Video Production | By erikgerman
A Mother’s Pain: Searching for America’s only current P.O.W.
For The Daily
America’s only current prisoner of war is 27-year-old Bowe Bergdahl, held by insurgents since his 2009 capture in eastern Afghanistan. His parents had long refused to speak with the press about their son but finally broke their silence in 2011. As national news networks flooded the Bergdahls with requests, I flew to Idaho and secured for The Daily the only on-camera interview the couple has done to date.
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On 07, May 2012 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
Our Heroine: Becoming one of the first women to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross
For The Daily
It’s Erin Brockovich meets Blackhawk Down. This print story for The Daily reconstructs a harrowing, 60-hour mission that made flight medic Julia Bringloe famous across the U.S. Army. The 39-year-old became one of the few women to win the Distinguished Flying Cross for a 2011 mission in which Bringloe rescued more than a dozen wounded soldiers while under heavy fire in Afghanistan’s rugged Pech River Valley.
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On 01, Apr 2012 | In Multi-Platform Storytelling Print Journalism Video Production | By erikgerman
Carpe Diem: How fisherman are reeling in big profits from the Asian carp invasion
For The Daily
Fast-breeding slimy aliens have taken over middle America’s rivers, and some people couldn’t be happier about it. In this multi-platform piece for The Daily, I cast nets alongside the Asian carp-fishermen of the Illinois River, serving as producer and writer — as well as on-camera fish-taster.
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On 01, Sep 2011 | In Multi-Platform Storytelling Print Journalism Video Production | By erikgerman
Aporkalypse Now: Texas declares war on feral pigs
For The Daily
Texas has long been ground zero for America’s infestation of feral pigs, which causes millions of dollars in damage to farms and ranches across the South each year. In a Texas-style bid to fight back, Lone Star State lawmakers passed a measure allowing hunters to shoot wild pigs with assault rifles from helicopters. We flew along for the ride in a story I wrote and co-produced with my wife, Solana Pyne, for The Daily.
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On 01, Aug 2011 | In Print Journalism | By erikgerman
Yuma, Arizona: Life inside the unemployment capital of America
For The Daily
For a bleak stretch of 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics dubbed Yuma, Ariz., the most unemployed city in America. Joblessness there stood at nearly 28 percent, worse than the nationwide unemployment rate in the depths of the Great Depression. In this print story for The Daily, I interviewed desperate residents in the pawnshops, homeless shelters and job centers of Yuma to dramatize life inside the unemployment capital of America.
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