Exposed: How the toxic legacy of lead lingers in New Orleans

About the Project

Much of New Orleans is exposed to lead, a toxic metal that is a pervasive threat in homes, water lines and even playgrounds across the city. This series investigates some of these sources of lead contamination that remain in New Orleans today, the threat to public health and ways the city can move closer to becoming lead free.

The social media plan to share the investigation included sharing digestible breakdowns of each story in the series in Instagram carousels with DM automations for sharing the article link, vertical videos and threads, as well as hosting a Reddit AMA to answer reader questions.

The strategy behind our social media plan was to show the humans at the heart of the investigation and the data and methodology behind it. In vertical videos reporter Halle Parker broke down the investigation and showed viewers how she and her reporting partner tested the soil at local playgrounds.