Thank you, Dustin, for another excellent discussion. I couldn’t be happier with our Friday morning sessions so far. They have been rich, and I noted that each and everyone participated this morning. That’s a good discussion.
I would like to build on our froth of engagement by bringing up a few things we simply didn’t have time for this morning, in particular what journalistic storytelling is and for what it should strive.
Kovach and Rosenstiel write on page 188 of The Elements of Journalism, paraphrasing Roy Peter Clark and Chip Scanlan of the Poynter Institute, that “effective newswriting can be found at the intersection of civic clarity, the information citizens need to function, and literary grace, which is the reporter’s storytelling skill set.”
I want to explore this skill set, begin unpacking it, because it is precisely this skill set with which the course endeavors to equip you.
First, what is journalism? In this course, as in many if not most instances, it is storytelling with a purpose. What’s the purpose? “To provide people with information they need to understand the world,” Kovach and Rosenstiel write (page 189). First we have to find the information, then we seek to make it meaningful, relevant and engaging. This is our task with the AIDS Resource Council. We will gather information, then we will make connections, reveal how relevant this information and cause are, and engage site visitors with the plight of AIDs survivors, showing them how they can get involved.
To that end, I point us to the advice on the book’s page 197, that “better storytelling doesn’t begin after you sit down to edit a story on video, write a script, or pull up to an empty screen to write a narrative story. It begins before you ever go out to report. And it involves reporting differently, going to different sources and asking different questions.”
The book suggests a few questions to guide this story-planning process:
- What’s this story really about?
- Who is the audience for this story and what information do these people need to know to make up their own minds about the subject?
- Who has the information?
- What’s the best way to tell this story?
How do we tell our story? Again, Rosenstiel and Kovach have us covered (page 199):
- A profile
- Explanatory piece
- Issues and trend stories
- Investigative
- Narrative
- Descriptive day in the life
- Voices or perspective story
- Visual story
Which of these make the most sense for us working with ARC? Specifically, we have these events coming up:
On Feb. 12 here at Berry, HIV testing will be offered free to anyone at Berry. This will be done 10am-2pm in the Ladd Center. We’re welcome to be there and to interview, photograph, etc., but we need to be sure to ask each and every individual’s permission before proceeding. I will put a consent form together. How are we going to tell this story? Brainstorm.
On March 3, another HIV testing event, from 9am to 1pm.
On March 7, the Latino community is having a health fair in West Rome. This opportunity is golden – two marginalized communities, Latinos and AIDs survivors. Hundreds came to this event in October 2007. How are we going to tell this story?
Finally, on March 10, Women and Girls HIV/AIDs Awareness Day, with free testing and some other events. More on this later.
ARC also delivers and otherwise provides food/groceries on Wednesdays. How do we tell this story, which is part of a larger story about the services ARC provides?
So, for each of these pieces of our overall, what is the story, and how do we tell specifically that story? Which medium or media should we use? I await your brainstorms.
BTW, Sanna’s Swedish for “Lies, damned lies and statistics”:
Löngn, törbannad löngn och stateshic.
And, finally, a pointer to Jon Stewart on CNN’s now-defunct Crossfire making many of the same points you all so aptly made this morning in discussion.
February 7, 2009 at 12:39 pm |
While reviewing the list of various ways to tell a story, I saw many possibilities in using different storytelling methods in covering the ARC.
Issues and trends:
Perhaps, many are too familiar with the national trends or national trends don’t hit close enough to home. Could we localize this and cover some AIDS issues and trends happening within Rome? Consider schools, hospitals, social scenes, etc. This would fit right in with the upcoming health fair.
Narrative/Descriptive day in the life:
While thinking of those who would most likely be visiting the ARC’s website (people seeking information for themselves or someone close to them, students researching information, curious minds), I thought that telling the story by telling someone’s specific story would be a method that would be interesting and relevant to the audience. It would also put the information into a format that would be easy for the audience to understand and grasp.
Visual story:
I quite possibly enjoyed viewing the audio slideshows last week a little too much, but I’m really sold on the idea of incorporating audio slideshows into this project. Maybe we could use the slideshow to tell the narrative or descriptive day in the life.
Again, with our future audience in mind, I’m trying to place myself in their position. If I was someone who thought I had AIDS, my biggest fear would be the unknown. Therefore, something I think would be helpful would be to have information explaining some basic steps. Where can I get tested? What is the test like (could we get video of a local clinic?)? Does it cost anything? How do I make an appointment? What do I do if the test comes back positive? What does life after a positive AIDS test look like (narrative/day in the life)?
Looking forward to other ideas.
February 7, 2009 at 2:51 pm |
I agree with Lindsay:
I think photo slideshows with audio (but no voiceover) are going to end up being where and how we make the most hay. The ARC story seems to lend itself to the poignancy of still photographs, and audio seems a necessary additional layer of information, texture and interpersonal connection to engage viewers.
Let’s drill down and think about how we can cover these specific events.
February 8, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
I agree with Lindsay as well on her ideas. On the stall wall this week there is a note about getting tested in the ladd center, maybe they can tell some stories about what the most frequent asked questions are, how tests are done and things like that. I specially agree with Lindsay on the information site, i think that information is the most important thing and the challenge would as the book suggest be to find the way between useful information and making it interesting. I think that that is possible with the human perspective and visual information. Maybe we can do some kind of “game” (a bad choice of word but i cant think of a better one) were you can answer questions, click yes or no and depending on your answer get more information that you need.
February 8, 2009 at 3:08 pm |
Ooh, Sanna is thinking interactively. I like this. A “Did you know” quiz or survey inviting visitors to participate. We should look into this.
And Sanna is right on with our challenge: Taking what is a lot of information and engaging people with it. Showing its relevance. Making it applicable somehow. Storytelling with a purpose.
February 8, 2009 at 4:00 pm |
Frankly, I was a little bit surprised to see the topic which Dr. Carroll gave us. I’ve never heard about offering HIV testing ON CAMPUS, especially in Korea. If HIV testing offers on campus in Korea, nobody may go there. Anyway, I totally agree with Lindsay’s opinion, which is “trying to place myself in their position.” I think, one of the most important things that we should tell a story are about how the testing will be going on, like Lindsay mentioned above.
Personally, I would like to interview a person who is in charge of HIV testing in order to cover the event in Berry. The questions in the interview could be like that, “Why did you plan HIV testing in Berry”, “Do you think what benefits would be for the Berry students”, “Do you think HIV testing is important for students? If you think like that, why did you?” etc. I cannot come up with other questions.
February 8, 2009 at 7:45 pm |
I really like Lindsay’s idea about providing some kind of information to those who fear they may have HIV/AIDS. This would be an extremely helpful resourc for these folks.
We need to try to do a good job of covering these events visually. We need to show any visitors to the site that this can affect anyone, so it is important to see people. That being said, my biggest concern here is privacy. This is going to be a pretty sensitive issue with some people, and I think we should be really careful in how we approach our interviews and photo/video shooting.
Maybe we could see if we could go with some of the people who deliver food on Wednesdays. We could talk with those voluteers and see how they got involved. I think we should do what we can to highligh the people who volunteer their time, because this site should also be a way for people to see how they can get involved. What other kind of opportunities are there?
February 8, 2009 at 9:52 pm |
Dustin is right on target with the privacy concerns. As Amber can attest, Jeanne indicated that we would get plenty of cooperation. She also suggested the consent forms for people we talk to or otherwise include in our coverage. The Berry person in charge of HIV testing at Ladd gave us permission to attend and do our thing. So we will be careful and make sure we document everything we do.
The food delivery piece makes sense for video. It’s not a fact-heavy story, and seeing the service would make much more of an impact that merely describing it. So we have Minyoung interviewing test providers at the HIV event and Dustin doing video of food delivery?
We will further flesh out who is doing what tomorrow in class. And I just experimented with the digital audio recorder. I found already on the handheld some audio of Sanna singing a Swedish song. She’ll have to re-create this for us in class!
February 8, 2009 at 11:12 pm |
I think we all understand that our biggest challenge in telling stories for the ARC is going to be balancing honesty with anonymity. From that angle, visuals might become a problem, especially with video.
I think for the testing events, a first-hand description of the process would be a good way to go. I can only imagine that getting tested for AIDs would be terrifying, and giving visitors to the site a first-hand account of the experience is an intimate way to both shed light on the process itself and to let those who want to get tested but are afraid know that they’re not alone in what they’re feeling.
I also have to agree with Lindsay and Minyoung that it’s important to put ourselves in the shoes of the people we’re going to encounter. It’s always important to remember your humanity as a reporter, but in this situation especially we have to remember that these aren’t just information or soundbites for a website, they’re people and, in some cases, they’re people going through some really tough and scary things. We’re likely to run up against a lot of walls in getting personal accounts or consent, because some people just aren’t going to want to share their stories, and we’ll have to remember to respect that and just keep trying with other people.
We should also remember not to generalize, even in our heads, about the people we talk to who are getting tested or who perhaps already know they are HIV-positive. HIV/AIDs is commonly called an STD, but for some people it’s not really, and making that kind of assumption, even to ourselves, could negatively affect our attitude towards the people we’re trying not only to get information from, but help.
I know this doesn’t have a lot to do with formats, mediums, or modes, but to use an old adage, I believe that in telling these stories attitude will be everything.
February 8, 2009 at 11:17 pm |
I really like the “Day in the Life” idea. We run sports features similar to that in the Carrier, and they seem to be well-received by readers. I also think it would be interesting to do a kind of investigative piece examining what the Rome community (and other communities like it or around it) is doing to support AIDS patients and to prevent the disease as well. I just think it would be interestiing, whether we find any “dirt” or not, it would let our audience know just how involved the community is in AIDS research and treatment.
The interactive aspect of the site sounds like a great idea, especially the quiz as Sanna suggested. I think it’s an obligation of ours to allow our audience to be able to interface with the material we’re putting up. I also think it would be interesting to find the employee or volunteer at the ARC who has been working there the longest and do a profile on him/her (Why they got involved, how they’ve helped, what keeps them going, etc.)
February 8, 2009 at 11:49 pm |
Looking at the current website, I think we need to make the interface more user friendly. Creating large, interactive features like the “Mind,” “Body,” “Spirit,” and “Place” on the Soul of Athens site, would make navigation easier. Our categories could be on the lines of “What is it?”, “Testing,” “Events,” and “Getting involved,” etc.
The painless, easy, quick way of testing (cheek swab) should be stressed in the testing piece. Conducting a Google image search for “AIDS testing” results in quite a few needles and vials of blood. We need to remedy this false assumption. Pictures can illustrate a step-by-step process of how they conduct the test.
I agree that photos, slide shows, and interviews would all be important in event coverage. Getting personal stories from volunteers as well as those directly affected by AIDS is always a good addition.
February 9, 2009 at 12:46 am |
Good Day to all!
As i read the wonderful brainstorming happening above, my mind races with ways this will layout on the actual site (cause im vis com) but i can really zen with the interactive clicking for more info idea provided by sanna, but i tend to see it as a diagram or text book animation/image that is “clickable” for more info. not images that are vivid and unpleasant but ones that are simple and easily comprehensible. i remember seeing HIV diagrams in my books in school and it really helped me understand it. this would help our telling of the story about HIV less text heavy and possibly quicker to grasp. i could likly do the drawings myself.
additionally i love the idea of highlighting people and telling the story through their eyes and giving the reader a name and face to attach to the big stories. The “A Day in the Life” is a story screaming out to be a person sharing their daily journey. likewise, those who are giving to the cause are faces that the readers should be greeted by and welcomed with to the site so as to make it not only navigational and interactive, but relational and generating human connectedness or the human element. Therefore, that the viewer at home, in a way, feels an out stretched comforting hand. much of this is covered in the visual story telling part but hopefully it helps create an tone for the rest of the story.
February 9, 2009 at 12:47 am |
the time is wrong here i posted at 11:30
February 9, 2009 at 1:00 am |
I really love the idea of the Soul of Athens feel that Amber mentioned. I also like the idea of have the stories or testimonies of people struggling with the disease be connected using an interactive graphic, such having a collage of pictures spell AIDS, and when you hover over a particular area, a full blown picture appears with a story or something like that. I feel the more connected the site feels the better. I also like the idea of having a forum or something for people to interact with others that have AIDS, maybe have a support chat room or blog or something. Lots of information about how to get tested of course, and lists of local areas where you can be helped. I think emphasizing the individual stories and how they connect with the overall issue of AIDs is really important.
February 9, 2009 at 1:00 am |
And I left my comment right at 12 a.m.
February 9, 2009 at 11:07 am |
This is actually Briona’s comment, unedited; she was prevented by the gods of WordPress from submitting:
I agree with everyone’s ideas presented here. I like creating a game or quiz for those people who visit the site and are unfamiliar with AIDS and how it’s affecting the world and local Romans. I do believe that a profile, “Day in the Life of” of a person living with AIDS for a years or newly diagnosed AIDS person. I believe telling this story with video and/or a written story would be best.
I don’t know how to approach the AIDS testing day at Berry since we have Berry students’ privacy to consider. I feel that getting the process on video is key to giving the perspective of the story, and consent is definitely going to be an issue for interviewing students. Maybe a slideshow of photos would be easier to show the process and less harsh on students. For the Latino and Women’s health fairs, a visual story is the way to go. I feel that we need to give our audience the feeling of being there and what it’s like for AIDS organizations to put together these functions. Showing who is there and why would be a primary focus. I think that we should get different perspectives on AIDS: from volunteers, to victims, to families with AIDS relatives to people who want to know more about it and how it’s affecting the Rome community.
–Briona A.