scott rensberger

3 GREAT STORIES: Starring immigration, caverns, & sign language

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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.

Trump’s first roundup (2/20/17, The Marshall Project): In a fractious and volatile media environment, the strongest stories are sometimes the ones that cut through the noise and present simple facts.

This piece from the Marshall Project accomplishes that task with some deep research and poignant storytelling.

Writer Julia Preston examines the first round of ICE raids on undocumented immigrants since the election of Donald Trump as president. With little information from the federal government, Preston seeks out immigration attorneys and other sources to compile data.

In doing so, she develops a clearer picture of how the federal strategy has continued that of President Barack Obama … and how it has changed. One leaves Preston’s piece far more informed.

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3 GREAT STORIES: Starring drugmakers, safe spaces, & Morse code

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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.

Politics of pain: drugmakers fought state opioid limits amid crisis (9/18/16, Center for Public Integrity): The authors of this story refuse to bury the lead.

In a thorough and brutal report on various states’ efforts surrounding the current opioid crisis, reporters Liz Essley Whyte, Matthew Perrone, Geoff Mulvihill, and Ben Wieder lay it all out in the first paragraph:

“The makers of prescription painkillers have adopted a 50-state strategy that includes hundreds of lobbyists and millions in campaign contributions to help kill or weaken measures aimed at stemming the tide of prescription opioids, the drugs at the heart of a crisis that has cost 165,000 Americans their lives and pushed countless more to crippling addiction.”

They spend the rest of the article backing up that powerful premise.

Like any great investigative piece, the reporters here present both their methods and findings with enormous detail. They represent a collaboration between the Center for Public Integrity and the Associated Press, and they make a powerful storytelling team.

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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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