Story Samples

I study stories.  I pull them apart and listen to them line by line, soundbite by soundbite.  I listen for natural sounds and sparse language.  I offer a collection of the of the best stories I know for you to study and learn from.

Steve Hartman and Les Rose’s Best stories

Everybody Has a Story, Soul Food
Everybody Has a Story, Balloon
Everybody Has a Story, Adoption
Everybody Has a Story, Veteran
Everybody Has a Story, Spaghetti
Everybody Has a Story, Alaska

Ray Farkas is a hero to many who make their living telling stories with video.

“To Pull a Farkas” as photographers called it, means get close with your wireless microphone and stand as far away from the subject as you can and be a “fly on the wall.”  Farkas moments are real and sometimes gritty.Les Rose, the photographer who shot the Everybody Has a Story piece above, says Farkas was an innovator and inspiration to him and to many in the craft.  Here are two of Farkas’ greatest stories :

Charles Kuralt 

He was CBS’s go-to feature guy in the 60′s and 70′s. I think he was the greatest video storyteller of the generation.
This is very possibly his best story. A real story of America.  The story is about the Chandler family.  I won’t ruin it by telling you more.  I will say that when Kuralt died, it was one of two stories they played on CBS Sunday Morning, his show. It was one of his favorites.

Kuralt could do entire stories without a single interview, with nothing but a standup. And yet the stories could be as compelling as any fancy edit you could dream of.

You know, we often think of crowdsourcing as a new idea. But here is an old story that is built entirely from photos that viewers sent in.

A really nice piece that students will love.

Bob Dotson Teaches Storytelling:

An old timers golf league --great examples of natural sound, action/reaction, surprises. Click image to watch

60 Minutes-The Blowout.  Inside story of the Gulf Oil Blowout.
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15362213%2520The%2520Blowout.flv

ABC’s Investigation of a Seually Abusive Swim Coach and the System that covered for him
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15295401%2520Coach%2527s%2520Secret.flv

Where are all the Jobs? WTHR Indianapolis investigates state claims that state officials have landed tons of new jobs.
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15554303%2520Where%2520are%2520the%2520Jobs.flv

KING-TV’s investigation of wasteful spending by the Seattle ferry system.
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15422002%2520Waste%2520on%2520the%2520Water.flv

KUSA-TV’s investigation into mortgage fraud
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15468008%2520Keys%2520to%2520the%2520Castle.flv

WJLA-Drilling for Dollars.  This shocking investigation shows how one of the larges dental chains in the country does millions of dollars in unneeded dental work on the poorest children to cash in on federal dollars.
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F153509drillingfordollars.flv

Byron Pitts-Children of the Recession-CBS News
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F211350children-cbs.flv

The guy who invented poetry magnets
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

Don’t Zoom from Al Tompkins on Vimeo.

Stories Need Surprises from Al Tompkins on Vimeo.

AUDIO

The most gripping radio story I have ever heard.  NPR’s Melissa Block reports from the epicenter of the China earthquake in 2009.

A grandson and his grandfather-”Listening is an Act of Love.”
http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=16088311&m=16094385&t=audio

Bonding for Profit-an investigation into the Bail Bond system and how it wastes a lot of money. So why do we keep using it?
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F15465307%2520Bonding%2520for%2520Profit.flv

Investigating the sexual abuse of Native American women.
http://dupontawards.org/mediaplayer.swf?file=Videos%2F929446nativeamericanabuse.flv

MultiMedia

Huffington Post’s College Debt Project

See the stories of students who owe tens of thousands of dollars each.

This may well be the first online multimedia interactive story.  It became quite well known as a movie, Blackhawk Down, but it started as a newspaper story, then this, which included lots of conversations with readers, tons of audio interviews and government video.  Remember, this is 1997.

In 2002, NPR’s Steve Inskeep was working in Afghanistan.  He carried a small still camera along with him.  When he found a story about a mistaken US military raid, he captured the evidence in still pictures.  That night, NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight both lead the newscasts with those still photos taken by a radio reporter.  It was a big moment for multimedia and made a loud statement about why radio should think about telling visual stories online.   I wrote about the story for Poynter.org.

A remarkable multimedia project by the Milwaukee Sentinel examining the long ignored problem of infant mortality.

 Las Vegas Sun’s gambling addiction multimedia project

The 2011 Online News Association Award Winners

Here are the winners in each category, with links to their winning entries:

Knight Award for Public Service
Barnegat Bay Under Stress – Asbury Park Press

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Large Site
BBC News

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Medium Site
The Globe and Mail

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Small Site
voiceofsandiego.org – Voice of San Diego

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Micro Site
NJ Spotlight

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English, Small Site
OWNI

General Excellence in Online Journalism, Non-English, Large Site
LA NACION

Breaking News, Large Site
Coverage of the uprisings in Egypt – Al Jazeera

Breaking News, Small Site
A Snow Storm Hits New York and WNYC Listeners Map the Cleanup – WNYC Radio

Specialty Site Journalism, Affiliated
NPR Music – NPR (Tie)

Pipeline – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/post-gazette.com (Tie)

Specialty Site Journalism, Independent
edweek.org – Education Week, Editorial Projects in Education

Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Large Site
Breach of Faith – Los Angeles Times

Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism, Small Site
Dialysis – ProPublica

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Large Site
Traumatic Brain Injury: Coming home a different person – The Washington Post

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Medium Site
Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon – CBC News, Radio-Canada, ALT Digital Design Studio

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Small Site
Crisis Guide: Pakistan – Council on Foreign Relations / MediaStorm

Multimedia Feature Presentation, Student Site
Global Warning – Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Large Site
CNN Belief Blog – CNN Digital

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Medium Site
Ward Room – NBCChicago.com

Online Topical Reporting/Blogging, Small Site
OpenSecrets.org

Online Commentary/Blogging, Large Site
Arianna Huffington – The Huffington Post

Online Commentary/Blogging, Medium Site
No award

Online Commentary/Blogging, Small
No award

Outstanding Informational Graphic or Data Visualization, Professional
Tell-All Telephone – Zeit Online

Outstanding Informational Graphic or Data Visualization, Student
No award

Online Video Journalism, Large Site
Caught in the Crossfire: Victims of Gang Violence – Los Angeles Times

Online Video Journalism, Medium Site
Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon – CBC News, Radio-Canada, ALT Digital Design Studio

Online Video Journalism, Small Site
Powering a Nation: Spilling Over – UNC News21

Online Video Journalism, Student
Haiti’s Lost Children – University of Miami (Tie)

Now What Argentina? – University of North Carolina & Universidad Pontifica de Argentina (Tie)

Community Collaboration
The Tiziano Project | 360 Kurdistan