It is often said that, in the modern media world, perspective and complexity are difficult to find.

Perhaps more accurately, those qualities fail to catch on as much as simplicity and virality.

But certain stories lend themselves to a little perspective — particularly those that become universal enough to require more than a standard news cycle.

Here are three great stories from last week, on some topics that are anything but:

Bomani Jones’ brilliant take on Donald Sterling (4/29/14, Dan LeBatard Radio Show): How interesting this must be for Bomani Jones.

The sports columnist wrote an eloquent, thorough story back in 2006 about the racism of Clippers owner Donald Sterling. The article received little attention.

Now, by simply letting fly with improvised but heartfelt comments on a radio program, Jones’ thoughts on Sterling have indeed reached the masses.

The Sterling issue is at once remarkably simple yet deceptively complex, and in this 12-minute interview on the Dan LeBatard Show, Jones explains the complexity behind the simplicity, describing why he is not impressed with the far-too-late movement to remove Sterling from the NBA.

And last week, when the initial shock of the Sterling tapes began to fade as a news story — but the urgency and controversy required more coverage — perspectives like Jones’ began to rule the day, making for a much deeper discussion.

‘Happy Days’ no more (4/26/14, Washington Post): The Sterling story emerged out of nowhere and remained enormous all week.

Other stories simply remain, such as the continual plight of the middle class in 21st-century America.

The changes among the middle class have been covered extensively, but rarely do they receive such thoughtful yet digestible attention as they do here, in this piece by Washington Post writers Carol Morello and Scott Clement.

They break down statistics while providing empathetic personal stories, all while explaining the current state in a plainspoken yet sobering manner:

Wages for millions of American workers, particularly those without college degrees, have flat-lined. Census figures show the median household income in 2012 was no higher than it was 25 years ago. Men’s median wages were lower than in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, many of the expenses associated with a middle-class life have increased beyond inflation. This includes college tuition, whose skyrocketing cost has laid siege to a bedrock principle of the American Dream: that your children will do better than you did.

Tornadoes kill at least 18 (4/28/14, Big Picture): Sometimes perspective comes through simplicity.

And when tornadoes ravaged the south central United States this week, the most moving images were the starkest.

The folks at the Big Picture blog, who I have mentioned several times in this space, put together another brutal collection of wire photos, this time from the wreckage of the past week’s tornadoes.

Have a suggestion for “3 Great Stories of the Week”? E-mail me at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.