Joel Downey
Joel Downey has been at The Plain Dealer for over 40 years. For most of his career he was in the Graphics Department and worked as an Artist and then the Graphics Coordinator. He had a short stint, 2 years, filling in as the acting Graphics Editor. The last seven years his focus has been on Design and Layout as an Assistant News Editor.
Recent Posts by Joel Downey
Case Closed
April 8, 2020 by Rachel Dissell, Andrea Simakis, Lynn Ischay, Ellen Stein Burbach, Kelley Benham French, Melodie Smith, Wendy Carr McManamon, Joel DowneyThis multipart series focuses on rape survivor Sandi Fedor’s efforts to track down the serial rapist who attacked her as she discovers that her trust has been betrayed by the indifference of an historically under-resourced Cleveland Police sex crimes unit. Judges praised the team for “successfully intertwining a visceral survivor’s point of view narrative with traditional investigative reporting.” They said the series “meticulously documents with photographs, video clips, audio recordings, public records, police documents, and prior investigative reporting” a “pattern of systemic police department failure dating back decades” which “enabled serial offenders like the man who attacked Sandi Fedor to evade justice for years.” Originally published in the Plain Dealer on September 29, 2019.
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