Also, detached objectivity has its uses, but it has its limitations, too. It’s hard to connect with your readers if you’re doing that walk-the-tightrope journalism that all too often drains the life out of stories. “Sesame Street” clearly empathizes with the families it profiles and ends each segment with advice on how viewers can get help if they need it.
Lastly, don’t buy into the one-and-done story, “Oh, that’s been done to death.” This is a long recession, and it’s going to be a long recovery. Times weren’t exactly great for the middle class and poor before the downturn.
Hang with the story. It’s ongoing.
Finally, print reporters looking to translate this into text: read Michael Luo’s recent New York Times piece on the hardcore unemployed—those who are so discouraged from months and years of not finding work that they’ve given up looking—and don’t get counted in the unemployment data.
That’s how it’s done.
Nice work! About 8 months ago here in Dallas, there was a broadcasting seminar that several PBS producers helped organize. It was titled, "Back to Basics". The program encouraged journalists to do, well, exactly that. This show, as well as, "Your Life, Your Money" (PBS) is a perfect example of what many call the "revitalization" of journalism. I am surprised that of all people, public broadcasting would execute as well as what they have.
#1 Posted by Trent Spradlin, CJR on Fri 11 Sep 2009 at 12:13 PM
Sesame Street has played an instrumental role in how I create multimedia journalism: simple, straightforward with a little bit of entertainment. Considering many web users don't want to sit and decipher complex subjects, the Sesame Street approach lends itself well to online journalism.
#2 Posted by Mark S. Luckie, CJR on Tue 15 Sep 2009 at 02:37 PM