I learned first hand the power of Facebook to fill in when the mainstream media fails.
I recently saw a good friend, photojournalist Jon Goering,
work on what I perceived to be an incredibly important story. His topic was the
humanitarian crisis at the US/Mexican border where undocumented migrants die in
the harshness of a desert nicknamed Desolation. For a week, he lived in a
desert camp profiling a humanitarian group, No More Deaths, which provides
medical aid and relief to undocumented workers. I was a volunteer at that camp
and I watched him formulate his story. 
Throughout the week, he worked with diligence. He overcame language barriers and false leads. He won the trust of seasoned volunteers and traveling migrants and they let him photograph them. I saw him inspire hope in migrants and volunteers, who were glad that someone cared enough to tell this story. As the sun came up over the twin peaks marking the sky beyond the desert camp, you could see Jon sitting in his Ford Explorer. The big white car, parked off the side of a lonely road in the Sonora, served as his office. Its haphazard location was the one place he could get wireless in order to mail his pictures back to his editors.
After we returned from the camp, we waited for the story to come out--desperate for other people to understand the cruel absurdity of the border. We waited. And waited.
Finally, we got an e-mail from Jon. The LJ World has decided not to run his story. In his email, Jon thanked us and apologized. And he included a link to his essay.
Looking at the essay, I wanted to cry. The photos were beautiful and the story so powerful. What was wrong with the LJ World editors? Why wasn't this story being told?
In the face of this injustice, I decided to fill in where the mainstream media failed. I would get the story out as best as I could. I posted the link on my Facebook page. I did it out of desperation and frustration, resigned to doing what I could do under the sub-ideal circumstances.
I was surprised when hundreds of people followed the links that I posted. Jon and I got wonderful responses. People contacted me to thank me for posting it. Students contacted me, interested in volunteering for No More Deaths. A professor contacted me, asking if I could arrange for Jon to come speak to our class.
I am still frustrated by the fact that the media failed this story. But I am grateful to Facebook for allowing this story to be told.
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