Every week, I 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.
South Carolina officer is charged with murder of Walter Scott (4/7/15, New York Times): There is no doubt about it.
The most powerful piece of storytelling this week, maybe this year, came from a citizen’s cell phone camera.
A South Carolina man captured video of North Charleston police officer Michael Slager shooting a man named Walter Scott five times in the back, killing him. The clip launched an arrest, an avalanche of coverage, and a new chapter in the conversation on law enforcement.
As for the accompanying article, New York Times writers Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo wisely let the video do most of the talking, playing it straight and telling a thorough story. The Times received the video from the Scott family’s lawyer, and it sure made its mark.
Everything the police said about Walter Scott’s death before a video showed what really happened (4/7/15, ThinkProgress): The video of Walter Scott’s death led to two revelations: not just the actions of the officer during the shooting, but his potential cover-up that occurred afterward.
In an age where so much data is recorded and printed, the North Charleston police department — and Ofc. Slager himself — made several statements about the shooting prior to the video’s release. When the video came out and launched the ensuing firestorm, Judd Legum at ThinkProgress wisely cobbled together all of the department’s initial offerings and turned it into a full column.
After Ofc. Slager was charged with murder, many asked the question, “Would he have been arrested if this video had not existed?” We will never know, but a piece like this points to the usual road — at least publicly — on which these types of cases travel when such evidence is unavailable.
On the road with Hannibal Buress, comedy’s most respected slacker (May 2015, The Fader): Let’s lighten the mood a bit with this final great story from last week, about the comedian Hannibal Buress.
Interestingly, I enjoyed this story for a similar reason for which I appreciated the Times’ piece on Walter Scott: the authors told it straight.
Hua Hsu pens this piece about an eclectic, somewhat controversial, and newly super-famous stand-up comic. Given a subject with so much personality, Hsu steers clear of editorializing or injecting too much of his own voice. He gives Buress the wheel and instead focuses on making every word count. I don’t mean that as hyperbole; as I read this piece, I could not help but notice Hsu’s pinpoint use of the English language, constantly finding the right verb or adjective to describe something.
Journalism students should study this article for its verbal precision.
Have a suggestion for “3 Great Stories of the Week”? E-mail me at matt@tellingthestoryblog.com.