Since I began telling people my wife was expecting our first child, I received a familiar piece of advice from acquaintances and colleagues:
“Welp, say goodbye to the next 20 years!”
The implication, of course, is that my priorities will take a back seat to those of my child or children. That’s not wrong. Nearly seven months since becoming a dad, I have happily sacrificed and compromised many other aspects of my life to take better care of my daughter.
But I have also strove to maintain my own ambitions and desires, in a way that fits best my new schedule and responsibilities.
This podcast is one example.
It’s suddenly a challenge to conduct podcast interviews from home. During the day I’m typically at work. In the evenings, I try to keep my voice down so my daughter can sleep. As a result I have interviewed fewer guests for my podcast in the last six months, but I have tried to produce new episodes on a semi-consistent basis.
The solution? These shorter episodes that double as spoken-word recitations of my recent entries.
As a journalist, my biggest adversary is perhaps my own cynicism.
It’s easy to lose that battle. I see the continual triumph of style over substance. I see the burnout suffered by many of my younger colleagues. I see a shrinking number of pieces that truly have an impact.
More than that, I see a far-too-frequent unwillingness to take on the mountainous issues of our time, mainly because of their mountainous-ness. How does one cover a subject, for example, like income inequality, which has been on the rise for decades but seems too widespread and abstract to truly digest?
In my role at WXIA-TV in Atlanta, I receive the chance every few months to produce a documentary, and I often get to choose the subject. I must run it up the ladder of management, of course, and it must fit within the confines and content of our evening newscasts, but I receive much more freedom in story selection than most.
So when I returned from paternity leave earlier this year, ready to embark on a new project, I chose the topic that affects Atlanta more than any city in America.
But I didn’t know how I’d broach the subject. I reached out to several experts in the region, often over the phone but occasionally in person, and I sought potential vehicles that would allow for the necessary depth, detail, and humanity. I emerged with three concepts, wrote proposals for each, and pitched them to my bosses for their preference.
I had heard about a program that provides a free 20-day crash course in construction for low-income Atlantans, regardless of their background in either construction or life. Many students have a criminal record. Most rely on public transportation. Some are – or recently were – homeless. But when they graduate, they leave with entry-level construction credentials and, 95% of the time, a job with a major Atlanta construction company.
Suddenly my project wasn’t only about income inequality. It was about the challenges and pathways for those in poverty who look to rise up. And it offered a chance to view the issue through the people who live it.
I essentially embedded with a class, from Day 1 to Day 20, and selected several students who agreed to tell me their stories, warts included. Three had served prison sentences. Two were parents looking to do right by their families. All had a purpose difficult to condense or categorize.
This week, four months after I began working on the documentary, I released the finished product online. It airs three times this weekend on WXIA, and it has already received hundreds of views on YouTube and positive reaction on social media. That’s without much promotion aside from my own.
I think often about our platform as journalists and how we choose to use it. Regardless of our status in the newsroom, we all make editorial decisions from the micro (e.g. how we choose to light an interview) to the macro (e.g. how we choose to present controversial issues). I am heartened by the number of web sites and outlets that have found a winning formula for producing relevant content and finding a wide audience. We often struggle to replicate this in local TV news, but I see examples all the time that push back my cynicism and strengthen my resolve.
Sometimes that’s the biggest hill to climb. I’m proud whenever I reach the summit.
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. You can also follow Matt on Facebook and Twitter.
The day my daughter first rolled on her back, I left for work two hours early. I set my alarm for 6 AM, dragged myself out of bed without waking my wife, and tiptoed out of our midnight blue bedroom. Leaving before sunrise is easy … or at least easier. I can kiss Olivia’s cheeks, stand over her crib for a minute, and see only her eyelids. This means I can avoid her open eyes and their enlarged pupils, which beam even in the dark with innocence and – I hope – adoration.
I left before dawn so I could record dawn. I’m a reporter for an Atlanta TV station, and I had scheduled a full day of shoots for a story that would air a day later. I planned to profile a local DACA recipient who paints murals on Buford Highway, our city’s famed 20-mile stretch of international cuisine and culture. I wanted to capture the highway at sunrise, when adults and children spill out from their apartment complexes and await their various buses.
But I was slow to get out of bed, which meant I was slow to leave, which meant I arrived at Buford Highway minutes after the pink and orange blasts of sunrise gave way to blue. I missed the moment, and while I still got many of the shots I wanted, I wasn’t sure how I would fit them into my story. I asked myself, “Why did I leave my wife and daughter to get a few halfway-decent shots that most viewers will barely notice?”
But I know why. And the answer is now its own question I have yet to resolve.
This past week I was assigned to do the lead piece for a half-hour special about race in America. I pitched an idea about the city I call home, Atlanta, and how it has seen massive race success yet continues to have a massive race problem. I intended to write a new post for this blog about the experience, but I found it mirrored my previous experience in this arena 18 months earlier.
I continue to be heartened with people’s willingness to talk about race. The topic seems taboo to discuss with friends and family, but it shouldn’t be. Experiences like mine prove it can be done, even with complete strangers in an on-camera setting.
My story from last week is embedded here; the post that follows refers to a story I did in January 2015 for an hour-long special called “A Conversation Across America”.
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.
Running for a cause? (11/12/15, KARE-TV): One of the hardest jobs in reporting for television? Making investigative stories look good.
TV stories are often built around moments, and with many pieces, one finds those moments naturally and visually. Investigative journalists must produce those moments informationally and confrontationally — a much tougher task in a visual medium.
In this piece, KARE 11’s A.J. Lagoe and Steve Eckert show how it’s done.
Uncovering deception and monetary misuse from a local non-profit, the duo layers this story with “Didja see that?” moments. Eckert edits nicely the sequence that shows the misuse of funds over several years, and Lagoe leaves the viewer with a jaw-dropper through his final revelation and confrontation with the man behind the non-profit.
“You know this is making me very uncomfortable, right?”
I said this in the car recently on the way to a shoot. My drive time at work usually consists of reflection. As a multimedia journalist, I produce stories by myself, which means I rarely ride with someone in the passenger seat. I spend most of my time thinking about either that day’s story or my overall outlook.
But this time was different.
This time, I was accompanied by an intern.
And that intern had questions.
And those questions forced me to speak aloud about my career, my journey, and my job in a way I seldom do.
***
Summer brings into the newsroom a unique atmosphere. Colleagues take vacations, which leads to smaller staffing. Our viewers take vacations too, which usually means fewer story ideas and a reduced audience. The enormous May ratings period gives way to a less pressurized environment, and the June and July heat brings its own challenges in the field.
The season also brings interns — usually a handful on summer break from college. (more…)
In October 2014 I began posting a photo every weekday morning with the hashtag #GoodMorningAtlanta. The goal? To inspire, enlighten, or just plain help others start their day with a smile. See each week’s photos by clicking on the #GoodMorningAtlanta category, and view the daily photo by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
In October 2014 I began posting a photo every weekday morning with the hashtag #GoodMorningAtlanta. The goal? To inspire, enlighten, or just plain help others start their day with a smile. See each week’s photos by clicking on the #GoodMorningAtlanta category, and view the daily photo by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
What a difference a week makes.
A week after chilly, foggy, rainy conditions in Atlanta, we had a beautiful weekend ripe for photo opportunities.
And everyone seemed to head outside.
Here are five photos from the past weekend in Piedmont Park:
In October 2014 I began posting a photo every weekday morning with the hashtag #GoodMorningAtlanta. The goal? To inspire, enlighten, or just plain help others start their day with a smile. See each week’s photos by clicking on the #GoodMorningAtlanta category, and view the daily photo by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Let’s be clear: winter in Atlanta is far tamer than winter elsewhere in the U.S.
When I look at single-digit temperatures in Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, and Buffalo, I know we’ve got it good. (Sometimes I feel slightly differently in the summer, though.)
That said, cold weather still comes, the trees still lose their leaves, and a normally outdoorsy city becomes less so. With that in mind, here are five photos from warmer times in the city of Atlanta:
In October 2014 I began posting a photo every weekday morning with the hashtag #GoodMorningAtlanta. The goal? To inspire, enlighten, or just plain help others start their day with a smile. See each week’s photos by clicking on the #GoodMorningAtlanta category, and view the daily photo by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Winter has set in.
And even though winter in Atlanta pales in comparison to the winters of most American cities, it can provide some pretty gloomy days.
Here are a few examples, I hope, of poignant photography during the dog days of January; enjoy!
