Ann Curry Reports on ‘Friends & Neighbors’

By Chris Ariens 

Next Sunday, July 25 “Dateline” debuts a new hour called “America Now: Friends & Neighbors.”

NBC News cameras spent nine months documenting how the recession has affected people in Southeast Ohio. Ann Curry spent time in the area interviewing the hardworking poor, who have deep traditions in mining, manufacturing and military service. The special examines how the “Great Recession” has affected America’s poor across the heartland.

Curry tells TVNewser, “We went in without pre-conceptions. And perhaps because the people we found had already felt disenfranchised by their poverty, we had to win their trust.”

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Curry found that covering this story reminded her of some of her global reporting over the last several years.

“This reporting is more like my experiences covering third world countries than any other I have ever done in America,” says Curry. “The stories were unpredictable and you got the clear sense the people we interviewed felt invisible to the world outside their own.”

“Friends & Neighbors,” airing Sunday, July 25 at 7pmET/PT, is the fourth installment of America Now, “Dateline’s” ongoing series examining issues facing Americans today and how communities across the country are pulling together to rise above these adverse times.

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