Monthly Archives: June 2016

Our 3 most popular posts of 2016 (so far)

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Allow me to present two important reasons for this post:

  1. We have reached the halfway point of 2016.
  2. I am on vacation this week.

I can think of no better time, then, to run the blog world’s version of a clip show: the three most popular posts from 2016 that have appeared on the Telling The Story blog. Here are the links, with excerpts from each piece:

PODCAST EPISODE #37: Jed Gamber, WBFF-TV & Catherine Steward, WTVF-TV

Awards season is underway in local TV news.

Over the next few months, some of the most prestigious associations in journalism will present lists of winners and honor some of the best reporters and photojournalists in the field.

Photojournalists Jed Gamber and Catherine Steward are off to a great start.

This past week, Gamber and Steward each received one of the highest honors in the craft: being named NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year. Gamber captured the crown for the East region for his work at WBFF-TV in Baltimore, while Steward topped the Central region after a stellar year with WTVF-TV in Nashville. The award they won prizes consistency and versatility and honors an entire year’s worth of powerful storytelling.

Watch their work, and you will quickly see why: these two photojournalists care about awards far less than they care about their audience.

Gamber and Steward are my guests of this episode of the Telling the Story podcast.

They discuss questions of technique, teamwork, and communication, but they speak with such obvious and heartfelt passion. They so clearly believe in the power of storytelling to reach an audience, and they bring that purpose into their work. Any storyteller can learn from what these two have to say.

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3 GREAT STORIES: Best of 2016 (so far), written edition

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Every week, I will shine the spotlight on some of the best storytelling in the business and offer my comments. “3 Great Stories of the Week” will post every Monday at 8 AM.

We are halfway through 2016, which means the continuation of an annual tradition: the “Best Of (so far)” editions of my 3 Great Stories segment.

I will post my three favorite audio/video stories of the year so far next week. This week, my three favorite written pieces from January through June, along with what I wrote about them back then, with minor edits for clarity:

Brotherhood (3/23/16, Bleacher Report): Early on in “Brotherhood”, Howard Beck’s infinitely engrossing long-form story about the friendship between two basketball superstars, one of those stars makes a poignant statement.

“In our sport, or sports in general, everyone wants instant oatmeal,” says LeBron James. “Put it in the microwave, hit 30 seconds, you got a meal. Sometimes, no matter how great you are, it doesn’t happen like that.”

Now replace “sports” with “journalism”. In this era, many audiences — and news bosses — demand “instant oatmeal” from journalists, seeking and investing in clickbait and easy answers over more layered, complicated work.

Stories like this prove what one can get by waiting for a splendid meal.

Beck presents a fascinating portrait of two players — James and Carmelo Anthony — whose friendship and rivalry have provided a powerful undercurrent to the NBA’s past dozen years. This piece made headlines for a different “instant oatmeal” quote, where James muses how he would love to, one day, join forces with Anthony. But that quote comes at the end. The rest is a beautiful blend of smile-worthy memories, did-you-know-that stories, and revealing quotes from two of the league’s best.

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NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop: Day 2 (and Awards) Recap

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This past weekend, along with my good friend John Kirtley, I had the privilege of directing and hosting the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, which brought 200 attendees and more than a dozen renowned speakers to Atlanta to discuss visual storytelling and meaningful journalism.

Here is a Tweet-by-Tweet look at the presentations, advice, and all-around festivities of Day 2 of #NPPASE:

Matt Pearl is the author of the Telling the Story blog and podcast. Feel free to comment below or e-mail Matt at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.

NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop: Day 1 Recap

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This past weekend, along with my good friend John Kirtley, I had the privilege of directing and hosting the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, which brought 200 attendees and more than a dozen renowned speakers to Atlanta to discuss visual storytelling and meaningful journalism.

Here is a Tweet-by-Tweet look at the presentations, advice, and all-around festivities of Day 1 of #NPPASE:

Matt Pearl is the author of the Telling the Story blog and podcast. Feel free to comment below or e-mail Matt at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.

PODCAST EPISODE #41: John Kirtley, assistant chief photojournalist, WLOS-TV

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Through the first 40 episodes of the Telling The Story podcast, I followed a self-made rule that I would avoid repeating guests. I wanted to showcase as many storytellers and journalists as I could, so I refused to interview the same person twice.

This week, I am breaking that rule.

But it’s for a good reason.

My guest for Episode #41 is John Kirtley, who by day works at Asheville’s WLOS-TV as the assistant chief photojournalist. When he last appeared on the podcast, we mostly discussed the craft of visual storytelling. But John, like me, has recently added a second professional title: co-director of the NPPA Southeast Storytelling Workshop, June 10-11 in Atlanta. John first came to me with the idea last March; we tabled the discussion until this January, and once we officially decided to do it, we began a long road of meticulous planning and non-stop calls and messages.

Now the workshop is barely a week away, and I invited John back on the podcast to discuss how we hope people will benefit from it.

This is a great listen for anyone coming to the Southeast workshop, but it is important on a broader level for any journalist or storyteller who has thought about attending a workshop at all. John and I are big believers in the value of occasionally removing ourselves from the daily grind to focus on improving our skills. If you are not coming to Atlanta, you should think seriously about the other workshops and conferences that regularly dot the journalistic landscape.

Click here to learn more about the conference, and in the meantime, enjoy this podcast with the man who helped get it off the ground.

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