blind

3 GREAT STORIES: Starring May sweeps, 2016 edition

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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.

Miracle? Blind woman sees again after unrelated surgery (5/11/16, WBBH-TV): It’s that time of year again.

Or, should I say, it’s one of several “that times” of year again.

Sweeps has arrived. Local TV stations across the country have now entered the crucial May ratings period, and they stack their shows with long-form stories that get regularly promoted.

Thankfully for the viewer, those stories are often very powerful.

Consider this one from reporter Chad Oliver and photographer Scott Reilly at NBC2 in Southwest Florida. They tell a tale I would not have believed if not for the medical professional in the story who confirms it: a elderly woman, who had lost her sight, regained it seemingly accidentally through surgery on her neck.

The woman is a grandmother and firecracker named Mary Ann whose personality carries the whole story. Oliver smartly lets her do so, writing in a way that elevates her character while continually adding layers of story and surprise. It’s smile-worthy, for sure.

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3 GREAT STORIES: Starring Batman, Oregon, & Tamir Rice

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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.

Batman (1/9/15, NPR’s This American Life): Whenever I listen to This American Life on NPR, I marvel at its producers’ ability to consistently find truly fascinating stories.

They then turn those stories into enthralling hour-long programs.

This month’s “Batman” episode fills the bill. I actually rolled my eyes a bit at the title and constant references to the super-hero, which seemed somewhat forced and even subjective in glamorizing the program’s main subject.

But that subject — a blind man who can ride bikes and hike, among other things — and the program’s overall examination of the capabilities of the blind make for a superb listen. Producers Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller weave their way through a story that absorbs from start to finish.

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Beep baseball, and my two minutes of blindness

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It had been a frustrating morning.

Back in May I was made aware of a baseball team in my home city of Atlanta that played every Saturday during the spring. The team was special for a powerful reason: each of its players was deeply visually impaired, if not completely blind.

At the time I anticipated a tremendously moving story, but I could not find a day to shoot it before their season ended. However, I was told, the team — named the Atlanta Eclipse — would be a part of a truly special event in late July: the World Series of beep baseball.

(The sport is called “beep baseball” because the ball beeps, so that the players can hear it.)

I then learned that the World Series would feature 19 teams from around the country, as well as the defending world champions from Taiwan. Beyond that, it would be held in Columbus, Ga., a mere 90-minute drive from Atlanta.

I got excited. The story, I felt, had great potential; I would simply have to cool my heels for two months until the Series arrived.

But now, nearly two months later, I was frustrated.

I had arranged to shoot a practice several weeks before the Series, but the day beforehand I learned that a majority of the players would be unable to attend, for various reasons. I showed up on a rainy Saturday morning to find just three players — along with their aides and the team’s volunteers and coaches.

Because of that, and because of the weather, I did not have much to shoot. I got whatever video I could, but I knew it would pale in comparison to what I would see at the World Series.

Hence the frustration. No one was to blame, but I found myself spending valuable weekend hours on a shoot that had produced disappointingly little.

So I decided to play.

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