Overlooked Stories

Journalists learned a tough lesson when they began posting articles online: Sometimes, the stories we work hardest on get overlooked.

Some of the reasons for this are obvious. Maybe a beautifully crafted feature story is overtaken by a major news event. Maybe an investigation uncovers wrongdoing that affects a niche group, such as the customers of a local utility company. Maybe, hoping to see ahead of the curve, we profile a musician we expect to be famous in a year — but that person doesn’t have legions of followers yet.

Occasionally, this means readers have missed out on a gem. As an editor — someone whose work is often invisible to readers — I don’t mind sharing that this is a source of anguish.

Every year, The Morning dedicates a newsletter to the stories from across the newsroom that Times editors thought deserved more eyes or ears. We hope you will discover some great journalism below.

• Los Angeles is building tiny homes to ease its housing crisis. But some residents need to share and critics say the cramped conditions can be inhumane.

• In Michigan, someone stole props from a ballet company before its annual production of “The Nutcracker.” With the community’s help, the show went on.

• The Nashville district attorney’s office used the faulty science of shaken baby syndrome to convict people of abuse. Now it’s trying to undo those convictions.

• Developers tried to build affordable housing in a wealthy, mostly white South Carolina town. When the residents found out, they killed the project.

• Bob VanCoughnett is an ambulance squad volunteer in a rural town far from any hospital. As his generation retires and few younger volunteers step up, he wonders who will take his place.

War in Gaza

• Hamas took her, and it still had her husband: Listen to the story of one family at the center of the Gaza war.

• Motaz Azaiza, a Palestinian photographer, attracted millions of followers as he documented the war in Gaza while also trying to survive it. Watch his story.

More world news

• China still tries to assert power over Uyghur refugees— long after they’ve left the country. Read one man’s story.

• In India, a reporter went on a journey with a long-haul trucker. It revealed how far the country’s infrastructure has come — and how far it has to go.

• Geneviève de Galard was a military nurse who tended to the wounded in Vietnam. The American media later dubbed her the “angel of Dien Bien Phu.” She died at 99.

• Yoshida, Japan, is famed for high-quality steel used to make Japanese swords. Now the village is attracting tourists with re-enactments of its iron-smelting traditions.

Health and science

• Mucus is a medical marvel to scientists.

• People of color still struggle to receive care for cystic fibrosis because doctors were historically taught that the disease mostly affected white people.

• Health insurance companies have made millions by charging local governments when their employees seek out-of-network care.

THE LATEST NEWS

International

• The South Korean legislature voted to impeach the acting president, barely two weeks after impeaching the president over a martial law bid.

• Israel bombed Yemen, retaliating against missile attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.

• Manmohan Singh, India’s first Sikh prime minister, died at 92. Soft-spoken and cerebral, Singh helped transform India’s economy and sought to mend ties with Pakistan.

• Aviation experts cast doubt on Russia’s claim that a crashed Azerbaijan Airlines jet had hit a flock of birds, pointing to holes in the plane’s fuselage.

• Finland seized an oil tanker that it suspected had helped cut an undersea electrical cable. The ship may have been part of a Russian “shadow fleet,” Finland said.

Politics

• Trump has escalated his threats to retake control of the Panama Canal, falsely accusing Panama of overcharging U.S. ships and letting Chinese soldiers operate it.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York signed a law that requires top-polluting companies to pay to help repair damage from extreme weather.

• Biden signed a law officially making the bald eagle the U.S.’s national bird.

Other Big Stories

• The astronauts on the International Space Station celebrated Christmas in space. They had a zero-gravity cookie-decorating contest and built a reindeer from storage bags.

• Hawaii police are investigating a body that was discovered in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it flew from Chicago to Maui.

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