Telling the easy story
Tragedy. It’s the easy way to be sure, but there are so many stories to tell … wouldn’t it be better if we stretched out and told the difficult story, the one that’s less emotional, less heart-stringy. I think we might surprise ourselves.
But I’m having a problem with stories about sick people, people with cancer or leukemia, and addicted people (also a sickness) that just take us down a hole and leave us there. I also think that far too many stories by student photojournalists are focused on these subjects. I start to think, “Oh, no, not another sweet little child with cancer …” when the slideshow starts.Shouldn’t we be looking for other stories? What does anyone in the audience learn from seeing yet another child with a disease, and the grieving parents, the valiant fight? Effort be damned — what is the value to the public in these tragic tales? Is this what journalism is for? [From Sad and tragic stories, and photojournalism]