Bernt Jakob Oksnes presented the “The Baby in The Plastic Bag” story in nine chapters as a series over five weeks. The series has achieved record-breaking success in Norway and the rest of the world. The Baby in the Plastic Bag is praised and tweeted about by individuals and media organizations in about 45 countries. Among others, it is recommended by journalists and editors working at BBC, New York Times and Bloomberg Business Week. Polly Mosendz, in Bloomberg Businessweek, writes: “The story of a baby abandoned in a plastic bag and what became of him years later is the best thing I read all year”.
Oksnes: “We engaged in extended investigative work, reporting and storytelling over more than two years, presenting the nine chapters as a innovative digital series released over five weeks. The series has achieved record-breaking success in Norway, attracting more than 1 million unique online users, which translates as 20% of the entire Norwegian population. All in all, Norwegian readers have spent a total of 23 years reading the series. The project has proven that quality journalism and distinguished writing can also create success in business terms: halfway through the series, each of the following chapters were made available to premium subscribers earlier than these appeared online for free. This strategy boosted sales of digital subscriptions more than any other article in the history of the newspaper.”
Fore more background information, read the essay and interview published by The Nieman Foundation for Journalism.