Every week I rush to the library to check out the latest Sports Illustrated (since I don't get it delivered to my mailbox because my Dad is selfish and wants it for himself at home, just kidding...but seriously). Anyway, unlike most readers who read the cover and then flip to the first page, I on the other hand go to the back page before all else. This is because one of my favorite journalists, Rick Reilly, has occupied this page with his weekely columns for as long as I can remember.
Reilly isn't the normal sports journalist, however, which is why I like his stuff so much. He doesn't do the same old, tired topics all the time. He strives to find unique and interesting personal stories by making the extra effort to look for and research them. In Reilly's view, every person has a story to tell, whether they are famous or not. He rarely covers professional sports in his writings, instead opting for areas that don't receive the publicity the deserve. One can find Reilly giving due to Division III athletics, cheerleading or special olympics, among other topics.
In this week's edition, Reilly writes about a 60 year old man from a small town in Vermont with cerebral palsy named Butch Varno. Varno has attened almost every Middleburry College football and basketball game since he was a teenager. It is a tradition that began when he was 13 that students from the college would drive to his house to pick him and his wheel chair up to take him to whichever athletic event. He sits field/coutside and has even given pre-game speeches to the teams. He loves the tradition at Middleburry: "These kids care what happens to me. They don't have to, but they do. I don't know where I'd be without them."
I think it's great that Reilly takes the time to look for and write about these emotional, feel-good stories that otherwise would never be heard or told. He goes beyond sports to show that there is so much more to them than just the athletes. Sports bring people together just as Reilly will continue to bring readers together every week on the last page of SI.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
"The Power of One Little Story"
Welcome, readers. My first blog is going to focus on a very interesting article from Poynter Online. The article was called "The Power of One Little Story" written by Roy Peter Clark. His lead to the article is as follows: "Writers rarely appreciate the influence over time of the stories they tell." Clark underestimated the own power of one of his stories that he wrote six years ago.
Clark wrote a story about Theresa Leone, a cousin of his who had escaped on 9/11 from the 57th floor barely before the tower crashed to the ground. Clark had not even realized it had been six years since this 9/11 until he received an emotional e-mail message from a reader named Michelle Clements who described it as "deeply moving" and said that she "will never forget her story."
Yes, that's right, Clements said "her story." She said this because she was talking about Leone's story, not Clark's. This made Clark realize how strong of an impact personal accounts have on readers. Sure, there were hundreds of stories about 9/11 after it happened, but the ones that stuck with readers were the ones of personal experiences that were filled with real emotions.
Clark discusses the impact of personal accounts in the article. "Its power comes, as you will see, not from my craft, but from the way in which narrative stories transport the reader to another time and place." He goes on to say how at the time he wrote the 9/11 story, he had no idea how much of an impression it would have on his readers, but he now understands the concept. "The greater the scope of the news event (9/11, Katrina, Iraq), the more power is conveyed by the small, focused human story."
I really enjoyed Clark's article because I believe in the power of focused stories as well. Any journalist can write an article about a major topic or event, but the great ones are able to find the angles that no one else can find. People like to read stories that bring them closer to the experience, the "little stories." I'll end with a last quote by Clark from his article that proves how writers don't always have to take the big approach to a story: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
Clark wrote a story about Theresa Leone, a cousin of his who had escaped on 9/11 from the 57th floor barely before the tower crashed to the ground. Clark had not even realized it had been six years since this 9/11 until he received an emotional e-mail message from a reader named Michelle Clements who described it as "deeply moving" and said that she "will never forget her story."
Yes, that's right, Clements said "her story." She said this because she was talking about Leone's story, not Clark's. This made Clark realize how strong of an impact personal accounts have on readers. Sure, there were hundreds of stories about 9/11 after it happened, but the ones that stuck with readers were the ones of personal experiences that were filled with real emotions.
Clark discusses the impact of personal accounts in the article. "Its power comes, as you will see, not from my craft, but from the way in which narrative stories transport the reader to another time and place." He goes on to say how at the time he wrote the 9/11 story, he had no idea how much of an impression it would have on his readers, but he now understands the concept. "The greater the scope of the news event (9/11, Katrina, Iraq), the more power is conveyed by the small, focused human story."
I really enjoyed Clark's article because I believe in the power of focused stories as well. Any journalist can write an article about a major topic or event, but the great ones are able to find the angles that no one else can find. People like to read stories that bring them closer to the experience, the "little stories." I'll end with a last quote by Clark from his article that proves how writers don't always have to take the big approach to a story: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
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