In 2014, the world was confronted with a nightmare turned real. An Ebola epidemic was spiraling out of control, cutting a swath of devastation through West Africa and threatening to explode into a global catastrophe.
With the exception of wire services, NPR was the first U.S. media organization on the ground, sending a reporter into Guinea in early April, months before even world health officials appreciated the magnitude of the threat. And as the epidemic worsened, NPR led media coverage with exceptional intensity, depth and scope. We mobilized unprecedented resources and talent to cover this crisis.
We repeatedly sent photographers, producers and reporters to Liberia to bring this home. Through the use of graphics, images, and web-native storytelling, we told the story of Ebola that that nobody else could.
