Debtors' prison revisited

National Public Radio series brings national dimension to story first reported in Strib

December 16, 2011 at 3:20PM

Good story by National Public Radio about the 21st Century version of debtors' prisons: Unpaid Bills Land Some Debtors Behind Bars.

Regular Strib readers might recall reporter Chris Serres' groundbreaking project on this topic nearly two years ago. The entire series can be found here, including a story about debt collectors who prey on the families of recently deceased creditors. The Wall Street Journal had a version of that story last week.

The package of stories earned Serres, who is no longer with the paper, and colleague Glenn Howatt a 2011 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.

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about the writer

Eric Wieffering

Deputy Managing Editor | Enterprise and Investigations

Eric Wieffering, deputy managing editor for enterprise and investigations, works with reporters and editors across the newsroom on short- and longer-term enterprise stories.

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