I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Dasani and her family, I found myself rooting for them during tough times, and rejoicing at times when things were going well, like when they had a birthday party for Dasani, even though the cake was stolen from Pathmark. I didn’t feel her last name particularly mattered, we knew her family intimately by the end of the series, and I don’t think the fact that I don’t know their last name changes anything.

The story did run a bit long, but it was essentially telling somebody’s life story. That absolutely deserves some time. As for the Times not disclosing the extent of following her family, I found it clear that at the bottom of every article, there was a link to “Summary of Reporting” that detailed exactly what Andrea Elliott had been doing with Dasani and her family. Perhaps this was added after any controversy started brewing.

I also felt there was very much attention called to the policies and politics on how homeless people are treated, it was clear almost every time Chanel and Supreme suffered a setback  or were mistreated at Auburn how messed up the system is.

There is always risk when relying on a single story, but I don’t think there was any generalization and it was certainly not a caricature of larger and more complex issues. It may not have touched on these issues, but it didn’t caricature them in any way.