Videos of the Year 2019: Telling the deeper stories

In 2018, our Seattle Times video team zoomed out. In 2019, we dug deep. And we’re proud to share this collection of our favorite and most compelling Seattle Times video stories and short documentaries of 2019.

We largely focused in on a few pressing issues and experimented by launching new platforms and formats for our visual storytelling — like Her Story: Our Story, an innovative way to watch our video stories that are focused on the experiences of women.

Lead video journalist Lauren Frohne and staff photographer Bettina Hansen launched “Not Invisible: Confronting a crisis of violence against Native women,” the first ongoing docuseries from The Seattle Times. Frohne and Hansen have been filming with activists, families, lawmakers and law enforcement who are working on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women since the beginning of 2018. Now, with four episodes published and more on the way, Frohne and Hansen are sharing these deeply personal stories as well as the solutions indigenous communities are working on to turn around this centuries-old crisis.

Senior video journalist Corinne Chin, along with staff photographer Erika Schultz, pursued stories along the U.S.-Mexico border with the support of the Pulitzer Center and the International Women’s Media Foundation. The “Beyond the Border” series examines the impact of immigration policies on families, individuals and communities. Two parts of the series have published, sharing the stories of asylum-seekers navigating a complex system in Tijuana and a Kirkland family forced to relocate because of deportation. A third installment will publish this month.

We continued our Hostile Waters series, reporting on the plight of southern resident killer whales who call Puget Sound home, and what their condition says about the health of our environment. Video journalist Ramon Dompor reported on the orcas’ food supply, the impact of noise from boats and industry on their ability to find food and communicate, and a look forward at what is to come. 

But we didn’t focus on those topics alone. Along with reporter Crystal Paul, we created a poetic look at the complexity of black, queer identity in the Seattle area and a historical dive into the legacy of Buffalo Soldiers in the Northwest. We heard the deeply troubling experiences of patients who pursued mental-health treatment from ill-equipped facilities in the investigative series “Public Crisis, Private Toll.” And we continued to report on the homelessness crisis through a personal lens, documenting the story of one woman’s ongoing recovery and a couple who are dedicated to reaching out to their unhoused neighbors.

We invite you to dig in with us and view our 2019 Videos of the Year.